Baratza - Encore™ ESP Pro (ZCG595BLK1AUC1A)

If you typically buy fresh roasted small batch coffee, especially single origin, I think you should look for something with more clarity like the DF54. It will deliver a more uniform grind size which helps flesh out the flavor profile. If you want something easy to dial in with a wider sweet spot for grind setting then the Encore ESP is a great choice, especially for a beginner. Maybe even step up to the ESP Pro which has a digital display and a more upscale look and feel. Personally I think it’s worth the extra cost over the regular ESP. If you think you’ll be into espresso as a hobby, you’ll probably end up with both a conical and flat burr grinder anyway as they each have their pros and cons.

If you are still at that stage then I think the workflow of the ESP pro would be a great fit. Like I said, even if you get more advanced, the ESP pro will still be useful for pour over and med to dark roast espresso or those times when you go back to cheaper beans.

You want to get an espresso focused grinder and a reputable brand under $300. I have three good options. In order of preference considering (grind/burrs, retention, user experience, durability) 1.) Varia VS3 ($270) changeable burr options & quiet 2.) 1Zpresso J Ultra ($199) hand grinder with great accuracy and flavors 3.) Baratza Encore ESP Pro ($299) old faithful but the Varia looks better and quieter with many burr options I’m sorry but I don’t recommend the DF54. Too many complaints and user issues. Turin has a lot of fans though, I’m just not one of them 🤷‍♂️🤠

Baratza ESP Pro. $300 at launch in August. I really feel it’s the ESP Pro/ESP and Df54 in the 300 and under range for electric grinders. I like that the pro had a lot of quality upgrades (stepless, digital display, construction, auto stop) over the standard ESP. I chose the Baratza over the df54 due to access to domestic customer support/repairability. Paired with a regular bambino. Dreaming of a Mazzer Philos one day!

I’ve got an esp and I think it does a great job. Got it on sale on Amazon for $199

Baratza Encore ESP Pro, $299. This is after I had a Fellow Opus ($199) which was just so terrible to live with, I had to have it replaced \*twice\* since you can't actually fully take it apart to clean like the manual states, since there is no way to put it back together (I wish I was joking, but the main bolt if not taken apart on its side, once out, is impossible to put back in place). The Baratza has been awesome with the exception of massive clogging initially which I thought maybe was due to doing RDT or the bellows I got for it. I stopped that, and still had clogging after cleaning it fully (everything comes apart just fine) but then decided to run Grindz cleaning tablets through it this second deep clean, and so far it's not clogged at all for a while. My theory is either using RDT made the inside surfaces collect grinds more easily to then clog again, or maybe there are coatings or whatever from the factory that just need to be cleaned out with the Grindz tablets. In any case, without using any RDT and no bellows it's been working just fine now, and it's such a good piece of kit. Hopefully regular Grindz cleanings is all I need to do with the occasional deep clean here and there. Grind performance has also always been great and consistent, whether it's espresso (really great microadjustments in the ESP range) or pour over.

Baratza Encore ESP Pro, it's what cured my rage after the Fellow Opus. Whatever you do, do NOT get an Opus. With the Encore ESP Pro you're good to grind just about anything from a reputable brand for $299.

Yup, it's fantastic for this tbh. You can go from espresso to mokka to pour over to cold brew. It can grind for anything. Half of the range is the ESP range which has much smaller microsteps to fine tune for Espresso and the second half of the range it gets larger steps between each 0.5 increment to account for non-espresso grind needs.

Short answer - grind quality *absolutely* affects taste. What’s your budget ? A technovorm moccamaster and a Baratza encore is a great set up. Yes better to keep brewer and grinder separate - both for drip coffee and espresso.

Yes I think the ESP Pro is one of the top contenders for OP’s needs

This. I have all the grinders for commercial use gb80 gbw , e65 gbw, varios, mazzer zm etc. For my home setup I just pre weigh and use a baratza esp pro. Extremely happy with it, especially at 179.00.

I've been having a great experience with my Encore ESP Pro so far. I'm new to espresso, but aside from some initial initial issues with burr calibration out of the box (which I fixed by removing one of the 2 shims that come preinstalled), it's been performing beautifully for me! I also have a hand grinder (Comandante C40) which I love, but for espresso I realized that an electric grinder would be ideal for the effort required to grind so finely. I still do find that I prefer my hand grinder for single serving brewed coffee because i've been doing that for years before I got into espresso.

Esp pro! $50 more will be worth it. Upgraded to a 078 from a timemore c2 recently after 2.5 years. Won’t lie, the work flow is amazing at 5am before a hospital shift or just when you’re feeling lazy. 30g grinds in a breeze — yes please lol seriously, the electric grind is really nice — hope you agree.

Heck yeah, let us know what you go with! You may already have seen this but Lance Hedrick did a recent in-depth review of it on YT. Looks bad ass at that price imo. I owned the og ESP and for the money it was a tank. I’ll be honest, the noise level of that model was a little much for me — sounds like they’ve improved on that which is a big win imo.

I just got the new Baratza ESP Pro for the same reason and really like it. Tbf it’s my first electric, but was 100% worth the upgrade from my K6. The single dose hopper replacement really nice. Easy to adjust, can do timed grind if you don’t do single dose. It’s pretty quiet and ive not noticed any difference in flavor. Note that I mostly drink cortados, flat whites and Americanos, so maybe not the best person for advice for shots.