Updated as of 3/12/21 11:00 AM CST.
ENCORE WHITE - $99 - IN STOCK
ENCORE BLACK - $99 - IN STOCK
VIRTUOSO - $149 - OOS
VIRTUOSO+ - $195 - IN STOCK
SETTE 30 - $195 - IN STOCK
VARIO - $299 - OOS
SETTE 270 - $299 - OOS
SETTE 270Wi - $379 - OOS
FORTÉ AP - $720 - OOS
FORTÉ BG - $735 - OOS
The very popular Baratza certified refurbished grinders are ALL BACK IN STOCK!
https://www.baratza.com/shop/refurb
Shipping Added at Checkout, Tax added at checkout if applicable
Most credit cards will double the warranty. Baratza offers 1 year and the CC Company will add the second year warranty (even if it's refurbished). Check your CC T&C's to verify but all 4 of my credit cards included it.
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103 Comments
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As for the tamping pressure, having to tamp with your entire bodyweight would lead me to believe you have too coarse a grind and/or too low a dose. Did you have negative affects going to a finer grind or larger dose size? My first espresso machine was a fairly similar Breville Duo-Temp, and I don't remember having to tamp that hard to get a proper extraction.
For what it's worth, when I was looking at mid-range grinders, I picked the Vario over the Rocky. (That was 5+ years ago, before the Sette was released.)
As for the tamping pressure, having to tamp with your entire bodyweight would lead me to believe you have too coarse a grind and/or too low a dose. Did you have negative affects going to a finer grind or larger dose size? My first espresso machine was a fairly similar Breville Duo-Temp, and I don't remember having to tamp that hard to get a proper extraction.
As long as their rating is accurate, I wouldn't see any major need to immediately swap out the burrs unless they were damaged or out of spec on inspection. Barring any actual damage, the lower burrset should have years of life left, and considering it's is a $26 part, I would think the previous owner wear would be built in as part of the 'refurb' discount.
But...it's worked flawlessly so far (knock on wood). Month 10, 2 months left on warranty. Just loud, but a worthwhile tradeoff for feature-set and ease of use.
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- Very different physical designs. The Sette is much less compact, at a couple inches taller, and several inches deeper. (The Vario is ~5" deep vs the Sette @ over 9".) The Sette also weighs about 2lbs more empty.
- Both have 3 custom presets and a manual option.
- The Sette has a standard IEC power plug input. The Vario is hardwired. Definitely not a dealbreaker either way, but the plug-in power cord would make moving and cleaning a bit easier on the Sette.
- The hopper and stock portafilter holder are much nicer on the Sette. The Sette hopper has the on-off switch like the Forte. The Sette portafilter forks are more substantial, rubber lined, and adjustable, vs the sheet metal or non quick adjust options on the Vario. (I do believe Barazta started shipping the Vario with the upgraded on-off hopper and metal portafilter holder in later generations, but those were additional add-on options when I got mine several years ago.)
- Sound signatures while running are VERY different. The Vario sounds like a upper-mid range grinder, with a lower frequency sound signature. The Sette sounds very plastic, and somewhat cheap. With a quick phone sound meter, they both seemed to have similar SPL outputs @ ~45dBA over ambient, but the Vario peaks much lower at ~280Hz, vs the Sette at over 500Hz. The Vario is much more pleasant, and 'sounds' quieter, although the meter would say otherwise. Both are very loud compared to a more pro level grinder though. For reference, a Ceado E6P was only ~20dBA over ambient.
- The burrset designs are very different. The Vario uses fairly traditional 50mm ceramic flat burrs, with the lower set rotating against the stationary uppers. The Sette uses very nontraditional 40mm steel conical burrs, where the outer burrs rotate.
- The Sette grinds coffee very quickly. My typical 15.5g dose went through in ~6s, vs 15s+ on the Vario.
- The adjustments on the Vario and Sette are equally fast, but different. The Vario has two vertical sliders. The Sette has two concentric rotating knobs. It took ~2min to get the Sette to roughly match my typical grind size by sight/feel of the grinds, and another two shots to get it dialed in. This was after realizing I needed to add two shims to the burrset to get it in the right range. (This Sette shipped with three shims; one installed, and two included with the accessories.) I ended up at a 4-H setting with two shims, 15.5g in, 23.5g out, 32s from first seeing espresso come through the naked portafilter to stopping the extraction.
- Grounds seemed to be slightly less prone to clumping on the Sette, but could have just been due to the difference in age between the machines. The Sette grinds were very light and 'fluffy' and did not require any clump breakup/WDT.
- Grounds retention was a mixed bag. From a in:out ratio, the Sette has very little grind retention, but it seems to be recycling some grounds retained around the lower burrset. While I was only getting a 0.1-0.2 of a gram retention of what I put in to what I was getting out, the lower burrset does retain some grounds. I pulled the lower burr out, and managed to clean out ~1.5g off the plastic chute assembly, and another 0.15g off the upper burrs. Not terrible by any means, but more than some other grinders (like the Vario.)
- Cleanup is so much easier on the Sette, and should be one of the main selling points. I can pull the lower burrset out with a twist, brush out the grounds on the lower and upper burrs, and be done. Versus the Vario, I didn't need any special tool to unlock the burr, I didn't have to pry out the burr, and I didn't need any picks or long brushes to sweep out the area around the burrs, the rubber flap gate, and grounds chute. There were more grounds retained in the Sette; about 1.7g vs the Vario at about 0.4g, but it was a much quicker, more pleasant process with the Sette. This is probably the quickest, easiest, and best cleaning I have achieved with any grinder I have used firsthand.
Key points/TLDR: The Sette (vs Vario): is slightly taller, much deeper, and more grating to the ears, but grinds fast, produces good to excellent grind for espresso, and is a breeze to clean.It doesn't have a timer. So, I have to count off in my head or use the microwave oven's time to grind the right amount of beans. A friend gave me a Quisenart for my birthday. It times itself, is no muss, no fuss. I press a button and go about getting stuff ready and the grinds are ready when everything's ready for them. The only issue is static electricity in the grinds hopper/bin which is an issue with a lot of machines of a lot of brands.
The Quisinart just works. The Encore is too finicky and delicate and prone to breakdowns and parts wearing out. It's more difficult to use and the grinds of both machines are the same.
It doesn't have a timer. So, I have to count off in my head or use the microwave oven's time to grind the right amount of beans. A friend gave me a Quisenart for my birthday. It times itself, is no muss, no fuss. I press a button and go about getting stuff ready and the grinds are ready when everything's ready for them. The only issue is static electricity in the grinds hopper/bin which is an issue with a lot of machines of a lot of brands.
The Quisinart just works. The Encore is too finicky and delicate and prone to breakdowns and parts wearing out. It's more difficult to use and the grinds of both machines are the same.
https://youtu.be/wS8igZyhNFw
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I also picked up a Gaggia Classic Pro to go with it. This will be my first espresso setup.
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