Over the last few years the awareness of burr grinders has expanded significantly. The whirly blade grinder is taking an ever larger role as a spice grinder. The burr grinder choices are large and growing, some offering new weighing, timing, and dosing features. The prices range from about $50 on up to several hundred dollars, some of the higher end ones allegedly able to grind for espresso, too. I am in the market for a burr grinder for automatic drip only. I have an espresso grinder I like already. I have a couple of features I like, mainly a timer and a bin for the grounds rather than a chute or dosing into a portafilter or conic filter. I like that Baratza grinders are designed to be repairable. Does anyone have a specific grinder they would recommend or say to avoid ? Please comment freely.
I’m on my second Baratza in 14 years and have been very happy with them. Some parts I was able to replace myself, but one was too stuck for either me or my husband to remove without disassembling the whole thing. On my second go I sprang for the upgraded model with the timer/auto-stop and light and feel the convenience was worth it. It can grind espresso as well.
So did you go from Encore to Virtuoso? The Virtuoso is the one I am thinking of getting.
I’ve got the Baratza Encore for everything from Moka Pot to French Press. (I believe we both have the Sette for espresso?) I bought it thru Baratza’s “Refurbished” page, so it was about 2/3 of the “new” price but came with only a 6 month warranty. I bought it as a gift for my dad. He used it for about 5 years, until he had to go into 24-hr care, at which point I inherited it. That’s when I discovered that, at some point, it had been dropped. I had to completely disassemble it to find out what to replace, but Baratza had all of the parts available and it only ended up costing about $45. That was 10 years ago, and the grinder is still going with no additional maintenance since then.
Yep, exactly. It was annoying to have the grinder run interminably if I went in the other room.
The Encore is a great grinder, but I agree with @ChristinaM about the convenience of the timer. It sounds as if you got a great deal. Yes, I believe we both have the same Sette for espresso. I love it. I have my regular beans dialed in at 8.73 for a doppio. Yes, it is that accurate. I also love that the beans fall straight into the portafilter, eliminating clogging. Sorry about the events that led to your receipt of the grinder. I hope he can still get decent coffee.
Yeah, at the time I bought it I don’t think the Virtuoso existed? Not that Dad would’ve appreciated the extra features anyway… 
I might’ve made a different decision if I hadn’t inherited it back from him. I was upgrading from the older Solis-made Starbucks Barista burr grinder, so the Encore was a significant step up for me at that time.
As a side note, the Encore isn’t any quieter than the Sette, but it does grind at a different pitch. Maybe @ChristinaM can say if the Virtuoso is any quieter than the Encore?
Thanks for the condolences. Dad passed in 2016, so I’m sure he’s now drinking all the cream-&-sugar-filled cups he desires. (There was always at least 1/4" of undissolved sugar in the bottom of every cup he drank!)
If heaven is as wonderful as we imagine, the coffee must be superb. My dad died in 2000. He drank his coffee Navy black. I picked up that trait. I can handle a cafe con latte for breakfast, but from morning on it is black coffee or espresso. Grinder noise is just a fact of life, a happy sound.
It’s not very quiet, no. My Encore had gotten crazy loud as it started needing repairs, though. The newer one sounds…normal.
My recommendation would be to avoid Baratza and spend a bit more for a more reliable grinder, such as a Wilfa Uniform or a Fellow Ode 2. The Baratzas I’ve used – apart from the Vario and Forte – are all made mostly of plastic and tend to require frequent cleaning and servicing, particularly in terms of parts replacements. While Baratza does have excellent customer service and charges very little for replacement parts, I find the hassle irritating.
More importantly, it’s nearly impossible to get really high quality auto drip grinds from a conical burr set. There are a few exceptions, but overall I think flat burrs – especially those designed specifically for filter and pour-over – work far better at showcasing a coffee’s flavors most clearly. The Wilfa Uniform and Fellow Ode 2 are widely considered among the best grinders for pour-over and filter drip, short of spending $1K+ on a commercial grinder (or something like the Baratza Forte BG). For $300 you’ll get a grinder that brings you about 90-95% of way to coffee nirvana.
Good luck!
I have a Baratza Encore. Have had it for as long as I can remember. Works for me.
I agree that it’s the plastic parts (the little push paddles, for example), that tend to wear out and are a pain to replace. Here’s a review of one of the grinders you mention:
https://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/wilfa-uniform-grinder-first-look/
I love my Encore–been using the same one for almost 7 years now, with one full burr replacement. I only grind the amount of coffee I’m going to brew at that moment, so I don’t need a timer.
I have decided to go with the Virtuoso. I like the construction and the timer. The ones suggested by @am47 sound great, but I drink very dark roasts, not particularly nuanced. The difference in price will buy me about nine pounds of HEB French roasts. The lighter and more complex roasts go through a Sette to make espresso.
I’m almost 2 years into using the OXO conical burr grinder, which meets your criteria for having a timer and a catch-bin. I make pour-over coffee and cold brew, and it works perfectly for different grinds. I’m very happy with it.
I picked it based on an earlier version of this Serious Eats review, figuring I qualify as “most people.”
