Baratza Sette 30 Electric coffee grinder

Product Information

If you’re based in the US and looking for a first grinder to pair with a manual lever machine such as the Flair or an entry level espresso machine, I think the Sette 30would be your best choice. Alternatives?

Please bear in mind that not all manufacturers provide correct imagery and we may put a similar or alternative image to the actual product for illustration purposes only.The actual item you receive may differ from that which is displayed, for example the box may have changed or a model may have been upgraded or changed after we have added the product online. When making espresso, it’s essential not to have clumps in your grinds, and the Sette models create incredibly fluffy grounds, which makes distribution a breeze. Sette means ‘seven’ in Italian, and that’s how this grinder is shaped if you look at it from the side. Shaped like a 7 seen from the side As expected for a Baratza grinder, the overall grind consistency on the Baratza Sette 30 is excellent, especially for fine grind settings. It has the same high-quality burrs as its older brother, the Sette 270, producing excellent fluffy and consistent grinds. As noted above, the grind consistency does fall as the grind size gets coarser. The reason for this is that this grinder uses an AP (All Purpose) or S1 burr set from Etzinger, which is aimed for espresso. So consequently, it is now well documented that this is not particularly good if a coarser grind setting will be your mainstay. However, Baratza has now brought out a new BG or S2 burr set, which can be easily inserted into the Sette range and aimed at the coarser grind settings.

Meanwhile, Baratza has continued innovating with a range of grinding options, more recently introducing the stunning Vario W+, a fully integrated real-time weight-based grinder. Yes, there are some variables in accuracy, but it is negligible. Hence, you don’t need to weigh coffee beans manually. Pro-Tip: Can later be upgraded with the micro-adjustment ring, effectively turning it into a “270”. On the other hand, there aren’t any good single-dosing alternatives in the same price range as the Sette 30, making it an attractive option for people just getting into espresso. So with excellent dosing accuracy, near zero grind retention and those beautiful fluffy grinds what are you giving up compared to more expensive grinders? Well it’s the ability to make super-fine adjustments to grind size. In my case, it was just 3 steps down from my dialed in grind size of seven to a setting of four which choked my machine. For high-end espresso, three steps of adjustment isn’t going to do it for many users with prosumer level machines. Now, there are ways around that. You can always adjust the dose weight to change the extraction. Some would consider that a cheat, but it’s a valid workaround for others. Good to Pair with Single Boiler Entry Level Machines

I write this, because this is more or less exactly the tests I ran, and tasting each of the finished brews, the adjusted finer grind + 1g less for 400ml brewed resulted in a better tasting cup. The longer brew had hints of over-extraction; the astringency, the more noticable bitters, yet the finer grind plus marginally less coffee resulted in a much more balanced cup of coffee. Why drop the dose by .2 (up to .5g per 100ml)? Because your mean average micron size is getting smaller, and thus providing more surface area for brewing water to extract from – you don’t need as much coffee. As a side note, I hope down the road Baratza considers doing this kind of modification to a Sette 30 style grinder: having a dedicated espresso grinder where all 30+ settings fall within the Turkish to fine moka pot grinding range would be quite nifty. Zero retention means that you don’t waste any grounds by purging through the previous bean every time you change coffee bean or grind setting. Well, excessive fines in drip coffee is indeed a bad thing. They can clog up your paper filters, halting flow of the brewed coffee. Ditto for cloth filters. Even if the brewing filters don’t get clogged up, having excessive fines can lead to over-extraction problems. But the real question is, even though the Sette grinders do produce more fines the coarser you go, are there too many fines? I happen to think the Sette series from Baratza are the best “looking” grinders you currently can buy for your home. That stylized silhouette of the “7” (Sette is 7 in Italian), the compact size, the small footprint, the balanced action of it all – this is one gorgeous grinder series. The 30 looks as good as the 270s, because it’s the same housing for the most part.So how well does the Baratza Sette 30 AP fare on the grind range? The secret’s in the name – it has 30 macro grind settings allowing you to fine-tune your grind. This makes it ideally suited to home brewing with single boiler or entry-level espresso machines or for brew methods like AeroPress or pour over where micro grind size is a little less critical. How easy is the Baratza Sette 30 AP to use? So with upgrades and new features emerging all the time, does the Baratza Sette 30 AP still hold ground? Here we take an in-depth look at this popular model to understand why it’s won the hearts of so many home baristas. Can the Baratza Sette 30 do espresso? With the straight-thru design, grind retention is very low and again right up there with the best in the business at around half a gram - and it’s often less than that depending on factors like bean type and ambient humidity. And I love the grind quality into a portafilter. Nice and fluffy. Pretty much clump free and even distribution with little to no spill.

Espresso + Select Filter Grinding - Designed to grind for espresso brewing and filter coffee that uses grind settings on the finer end (Aeropress, Hario V60). As we have already compared the Sette 30 and 270, here I’m going to add how Sette 270Wi is different in the lineup. Don’t discount the importance of great customer service either, or the fact that Baratza is an established company dedicated to making grinders. The fact that the Sette 270 has been on the market for a few years and remains popular also speaks to its quality and reliability, Another area the Dose Control Pro beats the Sette 30 is in the grinding range capability; out of the box, the Dose Control Pro can most definitely do an acceptable press pot grind; but it struggles to get down to “turkish”; long before you get there, the grinder will emit screeching sounds of the burrs grinding against each other. And, the Dose Control Pro is quieter than the Sette 30 in operation. The Baratza Virtuoso+ does have a wider grinding range, and can go from a proper espresso grind all the way up to a press pot (1200um) grind; the Sette 30 can’t touch press pot grinding. It’s speed is a lot slower however; the Sette 30 is easily 2.5x faster than the Virtuoso+ when grinding equal amounts.But there are many such things in common that don’t need much explanation; that’s why we have covered this in the table below. Details There isn’t a standalone pulse button on the panel, but it is possible to grind a bit extra if you haven’t got the timing right. Simply press and hold the start button to bypass the timer – the machine will continue grinding until you lift your finger. The Baratza Sette 30 AP is a high-quality grinder specialising in fine grinds from entry-level espresso to V60 and AeroPress. And the good news is it can later be upgraded with the micro-adjustment ring, effectively turning it into a “270”.