I just tested one of the most famous budget coffee grinders — and it lives up to its hype

Low price but not low performance

the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior
(Image: © Tom's Guide)

Tom's Guide Verdict

Coffee grinders can be fickle beasts. Adjust the grind setting one click too far and your whole brew is ruined. Thankfully, there’s none of that nonsense on the Baratza Encore ESP. The famous budget-friendly grinder lives up to its hype, and is the perfect entry-level grinder.

Pros

  • +

    Relatively affordable, as far as grinders go

  • +

    Super easy to use

  • +

    No learning curve whatsoever

  • +

    Can take apart the burrs easily

  • +

    Very low clumping

Cons

  • -

    Doesn’t go fine enough for Turkish

  • -

    Sometimes inconsistent grind

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

The Baratza Encore ESP is the newest model of the famous budget coffee grinder, aptly named Baratza Encore. The ESP is purportedly better for espresso, with the ability to grind finer (more on that later) than the original.

So that’s the main difference: the ESP has a wider range of grind consistency, making it a more versatile product. So is it one of the best coffee grinders? If you’re on a budget, then, yes, 100%. It won’t impress coffee snobs by any means, but the Encore ESP is a perfect first grinder.

The grind isn’t as uniform as other grinders I’ve used, but I’ll let you decide if that’s a dealbreaker. Find out the full story in this Baratza Encore ESP coffee grinder review.

Baratza Encore ESP review: Cheat sheet

  • Who is it for? It’s perfect for a first time home grinder
  • What does it do well? It’s super easy to use and there’s absolutely no learning curve
  • What does it cost? $199 / £159
  • What are its weaknesses? The grind isn’t as uniform and consistent as other grinders I’ve used

Baratza Encore ESP: Specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Price

$199 / £159

Weight

7 pounds

Dimensions

5.9 x 5.1 x 13.4 inches

Power

Electric motor

Burrs

Conical 40mm steel alloy

Burr power

550 RPM

Accessories

Cleaning brush, dosing cup, silicone mat

Capacity

Depends on the bean — around 5.6 ounces

Colors/Materials

Black/white, ABS plastic, steel burrs

Baratza Encore ESP review: Price & availability

The Baratza Encore ESP coffee grinder is $199 from Amazon U.S. and £159 from Amazon U.K.. It comes in black or white; I tested the black version, and I would recommend that colorway over white. Grinding coffee isn’t exactly a tidy pastime, and I worry how quickly white would age.

This is a pretty great price for an electric burr grinder. Our best grinder is the KitchenAid Burr Grinder, which is $179. At the other end of the spectrum (but by no means the most expensive grinder on the market) is the $649 Eureka Mignon Specialita.

the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

I’m actually not a massive fan of the Eureka — I think you can get a grinder just as good for a fraction of the price. I’ve just tested the $277 Comandante C40 MK4, which is a hand-crank grinder I actually adored. If you’re a real coffee nerd, I’d recommend the C40.

Baratza Encore ESP review: Design

Given that it’s a budget-friendly grinder, the Baratza Encore ESP doesn’t have the all-metal construction you might find on higher-priced grinders like the Varia VS3 ($299).

The ABS plastic exterior doesn’t have to be a con, though. It makes the grinder pretty hardy while being relatively lightweight. Inside there’s a 40mm steel burr, which you can completely remove for no-sweat cleaning.

a closeup of the baratza encore burr

(Image credit: Erin Bashford / Tom's Guide)

I was able to get the burr out, clean it, and put it back in without checking the user manual once. I’m not advising you to do as I do, but it’s a relief that you don’t have to get allan keys or screwdrivers out to do this.

Coming to the outside of the machine, there’s a switch on the right side and a button on front to start/stop grinding. I found myself using the switch over the button as I like the feeling of something tactile.

While the machine doesn’t have the raw, undiluted cool points of something like the $1,600+ Acaia Orbit or the $277 Comandante C40 MK4, it does what it says on the tin: grinds.

Baratza Encore ESP review: Grind adjustment

To adjust the grind, you simply move the hopper to the left or right, depending on which grind setting you’re after. ‘0’ is finest, and ‘40’ is coarsest. I noticed incremental differences between 0-20, but once I hit 21, the difference was instantly visible.

You can visually see exactly what grind size the Encore ESP is currently set to, so it will be super easy to change between bean types and brewing methods. No counting clicks or wasting coffee to test the current grind; much easier than the Eureka Mignon Specialita.

a closeup of the baratza encore esp grind dial

(Image credit: Erin Bashford / Tom's Guide)

The Encore ESP uses 40mm steel alloy burrs, so not as durable as Comandante’s proprietary martensitic (high nitrogen) stainless steel burrs. As I’ll go into fully in the ‘Performance’ section, I struggled to get a super fine grind even on 0 and 1.

If you’re one of the very few with a Turkish coffee setup or you like your espresso suuuuper tiny, this might be a skip.

Baratza Encore ESP review: Performance

To properly evaluate the Baratza Encore ESP ESP grinder, I evaluated it against: ease of use, static & clumping, uniformity, and retention.

Ease of use

The Baratza Encore ESP would be a perfect beginner grinder. It’s as easy to use as one of the most basic espresso machines, like the Breville Bambino Plus. There’s no fiddling with burrs and invisible dials; you simply move the hopper to the side to dial your grind.

I mastered the basics of the Encore ESP within minutes. Simply add beans, set grind, and go. It’s as easy as that. I would recommend this as the perfect first coffee grinder. No faff, no sweat.

the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Baratza Encore ESP ground a full hopper (150g) in 1 minute and 6 seconds with a max volume of 82dB — not too shabby considering its RPM is pretty low, at 550RPM. However, a low RPM isn’t necessarily a bad thing — it means it can operate quietly, for starters.

Static & clumping

a closeup of the baratza encore esp ground coffee

(Image credit: Erin Bashford / Tom's Guide)

I ground 75g of coffee to test the static and clumping. There was minimal clumping, with only one tiny (about 2mm in diameter) clump. This surprised me as there was a decent amount of static, which can lead to clumping; some grounds were stuck to the side of the catch chamber, and I had to dislodge the chute beans with my finger.

Static is an occupational hazard with coffee grinding — there’s no way around it, really. It’s to be expected, but at least the snug catch chamber caught all of the static so there wasn’t that much mess in my kitchen.

Uniformity

Uniformity is a bit of a sore topic for some in the coffee world. Some people are vocal proponents of an inconsistent grind for espresso: they claim an uneven grind makes the final espresso taste better. However, some people vehemently disagree (me being one of them).

I won’t get into that argument here: I’ll just show you this grinder’s uniformity results and you can make your mind up about how that fits in with whatever side of the argument you’re on.

the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

For pour-over, at least, most agree that a consistent grind is mandatory. If you have tiny particles and large particles, the tiny ones will sink and clog the filter and become overprocessed, whereas the larger ones will float and not extract.

To test consistency, I ground my coffee to the below sizes and sifted the results through my Kruve coffee sieves. I’m looking for big jumps: for example 0% on 300μm, but 95% on 500μm. This means the grind is consistent, as the particles of coffee fit through one sized sifter.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Grind size / adjustment setting

300μm

500μm

800μm

1100μm

1400μm

1 (finest)

0%

50%

99%

100%

100%

10

0%

60%

95%

100%

100%

20

0%

10%

90%

100%

100%

30

0%

5%

30%

50%

90%

40 (coarsest)

0%

0%

5%

40%

90%

the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

As you can see, there were a few big jumps, like the jump from 50% to 99% on the finest grind. Again, there was a kind of big jump between 60%-95% on the second finest. However, there were no massive differences like on the Comandante C40 MK4 (12 clicks was 300μm 1%-500μm 95%, for example).

I’m a little disappointed that the 30 setting sputtered towards coarse: some was fine enough for espresso (500μm), but some was even coarser than French press (1400μm).

Overall, the consistency wasn’t majorly impressive, but if you’re in the school of thought that believes an inconsistent grind is good for espresso, or at least that it won’t entirely ruin your drink, this could be a satisfactory grinder for you.

Retention

Another major indicator of good grinding is retention. If a grinder retains a huge amount of coffee after grinding, not only does you lose the precision of your dial-in, but it can negatively affect the flavor of your next coffee, too, as you will have some older grinds in your puck.

To test retention, I weighed out a specific amount of coffee, ground it, and weighed it again. Between grinds, I cleaned out the burrs and dosing container.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Weight before grinding

Weight after grinding

Retention

Average retention

18g

17.4

0.6

3.33%

36g

35.8

0.2g

0.56%

100g

99.1

0.9g

0.9%

150g

147.9g

2.1g

1.4%

Avg.

1.55%

As you can see, there was a little retention until I got to 100g, but once I filled the hopper, the Encore ESP retained a lot of coffee. Even so, this wasn’t as high a percentage as the 18g. As a result, I’d stick to max ~100g capacity to prevent major retention.

A decent amount of coffee gets stuck in the chute, so I’d recommend cleaning this after every single use. This was also a problem on the Eureka Mignon Specialita.

Baratza Encore ESP review: Extra features

Considering this is a budget grinder, I wouldn’t expect it to come with many features. And my expectations have been met here.

However, you can get upgrades — for an extra cost, of course. You can get a separate single-dose hopper and an accent kit to add a splash of color to your grinder.

Baratza Encore ESP review: Storage & maintenance

As you might expect from a grinder, you can buy a huge range of spare and replacement parts on Baratza’s website. This ranges from on/off switches, to screws, to 58mm portafilter dosing cup attachments. I love that you can buy spare parts as this massively increases the lifetime of the grinder. Props to Baratza for doing that.

The grinder’s pretty big, at over 13 inches tall and 6 inches deep. However, this is about average for a grinder; it’s not reached the heights of the Acaia Orbit’s 15.5 inches. If you’ve got the counter space, this is a medium-sized grinder that will do its job and look the part.

the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

As I discussed in the ‘Performance’ section, yes, it gets pretty messy, but I’ve yet to use a grinder that doesn’t make a tip in my kitchen. It’s just another occupational hazard of grinding coffee.

Baratza Encore ESP review: Verdict

For newcomers to espresso or specialty coffee brewing, there’s no doubt in my mind that the Baratza Encore ESP will be the ideal purchase. It’s so easy to use, there’s little to no learning curve, and it does grind good coffee.

the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

All that being said, I don’t think this is a good option for serious specialty coffee nerds. For those people, I’d recommend a hand grinder like the Comandante C40 — there’s just something about the routine and physical exertion that connects you to the process.

However, if you want a cheap (for a grinder), reliable, and easy coffee grinder, the Baratza Encore ESP is the one.

Erin Bashford
Staff Writer, Reviews

Erin Bashford is a staff writer at Tom’s Guide, covering reviews. She has a Masters in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from the University of East Anglia and 7 years of experience writing music, events, and food reviews. Now she’s turned her attention to tech for Tom’s Guide, reviewing everything from earbuds to garlic crushers. In her spare time you can find her reading, practising yoga, writing, or stressing over today’s NYT Games.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Read more
The Wacaco Exagrind on a wooden surface with a blue wall in the background
Wacaco Exagrind review: The ideal grinder for Wacaco coffee makers
the comandante c40 mk4 hand coffee grinder with a glass catch chamber and high nitrogen steel burrs
I tested this famous $300 hand-crank coffee grinder — and it's worth every penny
A selection of the best coffee grinders we tested
Best coffee grinder in 2025 — all the top options compared
De'Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo
I made a life-changing shot of espresso in this De'Longhi coffee maker — and now I want to buy it
Kingrinder
My morning coffee just got even fresher with this $22 coffee grinder
GE Profile Smart Grind & Brew
I tried this AI-powered coffee maker and it totally transformed my morning routine
Latest in Home Appliances
the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior
I just tested one of the most famous budget coffee grinders — and it lives up to its hype
the comandante c40 mk4 hand coffee grinder with a glass catch chamber and high nitrogen steel burrs
I tested this famous $300 hand-crank coffee grinder — and it's worth every penny
Cumulus Coffee Machine
I tried this high-tech coffee maker that makes nitro cold brew in seconds, and I'll never order an espresso martini at a bar again
Smeg Coffee machine in Jade Green
SMEG just dropped its color of the year, and it’s perfect for spring
a black cosori dual basket air fryer with two frying baskets and two windows, lights, with a cooking grate and even kebab skewers
I ate only air fryer food for 24 hours thanks to this dual-basket air fryer — and it was the best decision I’ve ever made
Ninja DG551 Foodi Smart XL
Hurry! This incredible Ninja indoor grill just dropped to $169 at Amazon — $110 off!
Latest in Reviews
the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior
I just tested one of the most famous budget coffee grinders — and it lives up to its hype
Soundcore AeroClip open-ear earbuds in champagne mist against a blue backdrop
Soundcore AeroClip review: sleek looks and stunning sound, these new open-ears just blew me away
the comandante c40 mk4 hand coffee grinder with a glass catch chamber and high nitrogen steel burrs
I tested this famous $300 hand-crank coffee grinder — and it's worth every penny
A purple Chilkey ND75 LP mechanical keyboard
This low-profile keyboard is what I needed to get me into modding — and it stuns with its performance
the majority d80 speakers, a pair of black egg-shaped speakers with mesh casing, HDMI, bluetooth, aux connectivity
I tested these £99 bookshelf speakers that look like they stepped right out of the noughties
the sony ht-s100f or sony ht-sf150 in uk, a black soundbar with buttons on the top, a remote, photographed with a panasonic TV
I just upgraded from my TV's built-in speakers with this $99 soundbar — and I'm never going back