Baratza Encore

[w0fms]

This $129 grinder, with free shipping, definitely seems like a lot of bang for the buck comparatively. If it's not as good for espresso as machines that cost 4 times as much I may never know, but it sure does improve my auto-drip grind. Plus, the noise the Encore makes is much less and it's a more pleasant sound.

It's pretty nice, isn't it? I doesn't have much "dial-in" range for Espresso but still is useable for Espresso. It is a quiet grinder and produces VERY little dust. This means the burrs are actually working-- shaving the beans rather than crushing them. The cheap burr mills are dull and they crush the beans and that's where the dust comes from.

The only complaint is that it shaves off the remaining chaff really well and the centripetal force throws the chaff out of the collection chamber cup. Over time it gets into the inside of the grinder and it's worthwhile to take it apart to clean it out.

But it's a great deal for $129. I imagine that some day I will buy a "micro-adjustable" grinder just for Espresso also, but then use the Encore for everything else.

Fred

[Hansfutz]

I just ordered an Encore, and I'm pretty excited about it! I've been using a Skerton for about 6 months and looking forward to saving the elbow grease in the mornings!

I use a Clever Coffee Dripper most of the time.

Any recommendations on settings?

[martin]

I'm sure the manufacturer has some guidelines in the manual for different brewing methods. Start from there and adjust to your taste.

[Doug Rees]

About a month ago, I purchased a Technivorm K-741 and a Baratza Encore, both from SCG. Both of these items are the "entry level" products of their respective manufacturers (though neither is cheap). The K-741 has consistently brewed great coffee, though its higher wattage sometimes causes the circuit breaker in our old house to flip out and I wish Technivorm would make a machine with a larger capacity. But almost every kind of coffee we've brewed in the K-741 has tasted better than what we had before.

My thinking in getting the Encore is that we are unlikely to brew anything except drip coffee in the near future, and the Encore should be fine for that purpose. If and when we try espresso, we might be in a better position to buy a more expensive grinder, although the Encore will apparently do espresso grinds (though not to perfection). After about a week's use, the Encore would whir, but no grinds came out. It was as if the machine was empty, although there were plenty of beans in the hopper. In examining the machine, I noticed that some beans seemed to be lodged inside. How they got there is beyond me, but I suspect that someone else in the household has misused the grinder. I emptied the machine, opened it up, took out the top burrs, and shook the crap out. Quite a bit of stuff came out. Then I blew out the machine, cleaned the top burrs, put everything back together, and ran some Grindz through it. Since then, the Encore has been working perfectly; and I can really taste the difference it makes, compared to our old blade grinder.

[w0fms]

Doug, if you pull the unit apart and set it up for the finest grind (see Baratza's site) then you will get 3-4 "clicks" of adjustment for Espresso. If you are using a manual machine, that plus tweaking dosing and tamp is really "good enough". But if you lived for Espresso, you'd quickly get annoyed by the work caused by not having the micro adjustment.

I actually love Cappucinos but I've drifted away from drinking them but a few times a month because of all the headaches I've had preparing the Espresso. I've killed two consumer grade machines because of hot water within the stores return period! (yes in less than 90 days). I've had better luck with a MyPressi Twist, but even that had to have a part replaced under warranty. Really, I need to invest in a $700+ machine and a $300 grinder to make it a everyday thing and for me it's not worth it.

I've settled on a strong steep with a Clever Dripper and I'm happy with that now for 95% of my coffee needs. When I really want a real Cap, I do dig out the MyPressi though. The combo of a MyPressi and the Encore, as cheap as it is, does better than any shop locally...The Encore is a great value.

Fred

[Sammy Jankis]

I want to offer my review for the Encore, and this appears to be the best place. I have owned the Capresso Infinity for a year or so. Grind retention bothered me as I have posted in the past about a fix. So I figured I would move on.

I have now used the new units 4 times and my coffee with every brew method I try (Espro Press, Siphon Pot, Bee House) is night and day. I'm now tasting things that certain coffees that I didn't really prefer, pop with flavors I hadn't tasted in previous roasts.

I can only figure it is because, either my Capresso wasn't calibrated correctly, it wasn't consistent in grind or Baratza Encore is really finally calibrated.

Plus grind retention is 0.1-0.2 for every 45 grams versus Capresso Infinity at 1.75 only 0.9 after shaking and beating. That is more a half a gram per day for me....so every 90 days I get a free batch.

Not much, if I could go back I would tell myself that getting a better grinder is more important than spending money on a nicer roaster.