Baratza Encore

> I can’t say the same about my coffee grinders. I use the plural because I’ve owned a lot of them, all bought in their original packaging and dead within a year. They’re good ones, supposedly, with burrs not blades, but they stop performing before long Anecdotal, but if anyone is looking for a good coffee grinder that doesn't break the bank, can't say enough good things about my Baratza Encore. 10+ years of near daily use. All original still except I did install upgraded burrs a few years back. Baratza encourages repairs, builds them so they are repairable, and provides replacement parts for sale.

At least as far as coffee grinders go, find a reputable company that will repair them. My Baratza Encore stopped working after about a year or two of operation, and I sent it in for repairs. It was probably just a small short somewhere, but I'm not an electrician. They sent it back to me after a week or so, cleaned inside and out and working better than new. I keep saying I'm going to replace it with the one from Fellow (the Ode), but for the past 4-5 years I've been finding other things to spend money on and the Encore just keeps going.

Baratza Encore burr grinder! I might upgrade soon, but it's served me incredibly well for a year. Also got a Craigslist road bike from the 80s for ~$250 cad (less than $200 USD). It's needed a few repairs but has absolutely been worth it and impactful to the year. Also a good compact air sleeping pad for backpacking. Haven't used it as much as I'd have liked, but its made a few moments much more pleasant.

Conical burr grinders are much better. Kitchen aid isn't the only brand. I have a brazata encore that works very well and there's a good modding community for it as well. For example the burrs can be upgraded fairly easily which is typically needed if you want an expresso grind.

I own a vintage hifi setup (NAD3020 + AudioReference HR50) that costed me a few hundred bucks. I own a espresso machine that is a clone of the Lelit PL41 with PID and my grinder is a Barazza Encore with M2 burr. My comment came from a place of love. I’m happy to see people going the extra mile. Myself, I just want to be chill at home and aim for a balanced providing me joy without headaches. But I’m weird. Example: I love playing vinyls not because it sounds better but because it lacks dynamics and I find that… relaxing!

You can find a Baratza Encore used for ~$100. Gives a surprisingly uniform fine grind (not as good for coarser grinds like french press, though). Out of the box it's not perfect for espresso because the grind level is in steps that aren't short enough to easily dial in. There's a "stepless" mod and that makes it much easier to work with.