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Ask what grinder to buy with a first espresso machine and the Baratza Encore ESP comes up more than any other. It’s small, it’s around $200, and unlike most grinders at that price it was built with espresso in mind.
The Trick: Two Ranges on One Dial
The Encore ESP has 40 settings, but they aren’t spread evenly. Settings 1 to 20 cover espresso, in small steps. Settings 21 to 40 cover filter coffee, in steps that get bigger as you go coarser. That’s what makes it work. Cheap grinders with evenly spaced settings usually have one or two espresso clicks at most. Here you get twenty.
In practice each click in the espresso range moves a shot by roughly five seconds. That’s enough control to dial in medium and dark roasts on a Bambino or Dedica.
What’s Inside
- 40 mm conical burrs (Baratza’s M2)
- A 300 g hopper and a 120 g grounds bin
- A dosing cup that catches grounds for one shot
- About 2 g of retention, so you’ll lose a little coffee on each double
CoffeeGeek scored it well as a big upgrade over the original Encore, while noting it trails Baratza’s more expensive Sette 270.
The Weak Spots
It’s loud. There’s no timer. The grounds come out somewhat clumpy, so a WDT tool helps more than usual. And for very light roasts, the steps can feel too big; you’ll sometimes want a setting between two clicks. For cortados made with a medium or dark roast, that rarely matters.
The Encore ESP Pro
In 2025 Baratza added the Encore ESP Pro. It fixes most of the complaints:
- A stepless adjustment with a 60-position dial, 40 of those positions for espresso and very close together.
- A metal body, ball bearings and a better gearbox for steadier burr alignment.
- A display, a timer, an anti-static ionizer and a single-dose mode.
- About 0.5 g of retention in one reviewer’s test.
- A dosing cup sized for 54 mm and 58 mm baskets.
Its list price is about $100 higher, though it has been seen on sale near the standard model’s price. If it’s within $50, buy the Pro.
Who It’s For
The Encore ESP suits someone with an entry-level machine who drinks medium to dark roasts in milk drinks. That’s most cortado drinkers. If you want to chase light roasts or you’ll upgrade the machine soon, look further: our grinder guide covers the Eureka Mignon step up, and the DF64 is the popular single-dose option. If noise or counter space is the issue, a hand grinder may suit better.
Twenty espresso clicks for the price of one nice dinner. Hard to argue with.