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If you want better coffee at home, the single biggest upgrade is usually not a fancy brewer. It is a good grinder. Freshly ground beans, ground evenly, make every method taste better. The Baratza Encore is one of the most common first steps into that world, a compact burr grinder that sits quietly on the counter and does one job well.
Who makes it
Baratza is a coffee grinder specialist. The Encore is designed and engineered in Seattle, Washington, and manufactured and assembled in Taiwan. Baratza calls it the top barista recommended grinder for filter brewing, and pitches it as your first step from simple set it and forget it brews to carefully dialed pour overs.
Baratza also leans hard into repair. It says that with proper care the Encore's components are designed to last around 10 years of home use, and that it has the parts and knowhow to fix any issue if they do not. That is unusual in small kitchen appliances, where broken often means binned.
What the Encore is
The Encore is an electric conical burr grinder. Beans go in the hopper on top, two cone shaped steel burrs crush them to a consistent size, and the grounds drop into a bin at the front. You choose the grind size by twisting the hopper.
- Burrs: 40 millimeter conical steel (M3), threaded mount
- Grind settings: 40
- Burr speed: 550 revolutions per minute (RPM) with no load
- Grind speed: 1.3 grams per second at setting 10 to 2.2 grams per second at setting 30
- Bean hopper: 300 grams (10.6 ounces)
- Grounds bin: 120 grams (4.2 ounces)
- Motor: direct current (DC) motor, 70 watts
- Dosing: manual
- Size: 13 by 15 by 34 centimeters
- Colors: black or white
- Warranty: 1 year manufacturer warranty
Why it is cool
Burrs beat blades. A blade grinder chops beans into a random mix of dust and chunks, so some coffee over extracts and some under extracts. Burrs grind to a much more even size, which is what lets you get a clean, balanced cup and repeat it tomorrow.
The range is wide. Baratza says the 40 settings take you from coarse grounds for cold brew all the way to fine, with just a twist of the hopper. In practice the Encore shines for filter coffee: drip machines, pour over, the AeroPress and French press.
The slow burr speed matters too. At a no load speed of 550 revolutions per minute the burrs turn at a measured pace, and Baratza says the precision machined burrs and powerful DC motor will grind your dose just how you like it, again and again.
It is easy to live with. The design is minimal and compact, and Baratza says it was designed to be seen on your counter. You set the grind by turning the hopper itself. No screens, no apps.
And it is fixable. Because Baratza sells parts and supports repairs, an Encore can keep working long after many cheaper grinders would be thrown away.
Dialing in your grind
Start in the middle of the range and adjust from there. If your coffee tastes sour or thin, grind a little finer. If it tastes bitter or harsh, go a little coarser. Change one setting at a time and taste the difference, and you will soon find the sweet spot for each brewer. French press usually wants coarse grounds, drip and pour over sit in the middle, and the AeroPress can go a little finer.
Grind only what you need just before you brew. Ground coffee loses its aroma quickly, so the fresher the grind, the better the cup. Keep the hopper topped up with only a few days of beans and store the rest in an airtight container.
Who should buy it
Buy the Encore if you brew filter coffee at home and are still using pre ground beans or a blade grinder. It is the classic first burr grinder, and it pairs perfectly with a pour over dripper or a drip machine.
Look elsewhere if espresso is your main drink. While the settings reach fine grinds, dedicated espresso grinders offer finer control for dialing in shots.
Building a coffee setup? Pair it with the Hario V60, the Chemex Classic or the AeroPress Original, and compare it with the Fellow Ode Brew Grinder Gen 2. Find more in our buying guides hub.
