#baratza-sette — Public Fediverse posts

Back when we told you about the Baratza Encore ESP going on sale, that was a milestone for a company that never, ever puts their products on sale, or at least haven’t in their nearly 20 years manufacturing and selling coffee grinders. 

Well, apparently that sale was so successful, they’ve decided to do it again, this time putting two grinders in the Sette lineup on sale, both at 20% off, and both just until July 21, 2024. 

The two grinders are the Baratza Sette 30, and the grinder we use at the CoffeeGeek Lab as our standards-evaluating espresso grinder, the Baratza Sette 270Wi. Sadly for Canadians, this sale is US only.

The Baratza Sette 270Wi

The 270Wi, normally $600, is on sale until July 21 for $480. That’s a killer, killer deal.

I’ve always felt this grinder never gets enough love from the specialty coffee community, especially from the youtube influencers out there. I still consider it one of the best espresso grinders you can buy today under $1000. Why? 

• It was the first grind by weight espresso primary grinder available for sale to consumers
• It has the equivalent of an Acaia Lunar (a $250 scale!!!) built right in 
• It is one of the fastest grinders you can buy today for the home
• The output is nearly zero retention (amazing for a grind on demand grinder with a full bean hopper), obliterating the need for single dosing.
• The output is fluffy, uncompacted and very evenly distributed in a portafilter basket
• The output’s grind particle size and distribution of particle sizes is optimal for espresso
• The dial in process for the grinder is fantastic, with the dual micro / macro settings available

Seriously, with the Sette 270Wi, I don’t really need to WDT (it can help, but the help it provides is marginal compared to most other grinders), and I can get the espresso grind packed, prepped, tamped and locked into the espresso machine in under 20 seconds, from the time I press the grind button. It quite literally can provide the fastest “grinder to shot pull” timings you can get today.

It is our standards-setting machine, so it gets tested and used almost on a daily basis. If anything, my appreciation for this grinder has only grown over the years.

Here, the Sette 270Wi is being put head to head with the Vario+ from Baratza.

The burr set is super tuned for espresso output, being designed and engineered by Etzinger, one of the world’s premier artisan burr designers. 

The implementation of Acaia’s scale is brilliant too, because it goes beyond the mechanics of the scale mechanisms. Built into the Sette is a kind of predictive “AI” that analyses every grind session, recording the final weight, and adjusting the grinder automatically the next time to accurately compensate for any “float” of extra grind weight at the end of the grinding session when the grinder automatically powers down.

What does this mean in real world terms? Let’s say you set the weight output for 18.5g. You go through a batch of coffee from a particular roaster, and every time the grinder gets within .1g or less of that target output. Then you change the coffee in the grinder, and try again. Different coffees grind at different output speeds. The first grind with this coffee at 18.5g is relying on the past dozen grind sessions to accurately deliver 18.5g. But this time, with a different coffee, 18.7g comes out. The grinder recognizes this, so it adjusts the “float” time at the end of the grind by milliseconds shorter, so the next grinding session, it will once again deliver 18.5g.

Pretty genius.

There’s two flaws with the Sette 270Wi. First, it is loud; easily the loudest grinder I use on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. Second, while it does a “good” job on brew grinds (from AeroPress to V60), fines production are frankly horrible for anything coarser, like no bypass brewers, Chemex, and Pour Over. If you do use the grinder for these methods, get a sifter to sift out the fines after.

Other than that, everything about this grinder is golden, especially if your primary brew method is espresso. I consider it good enough that it is the grinder we use to a) evaluate espresso blends and single origins, b) test espresso machines with, and c) test other espresso primary grinders against.

Then of course, there’ Baratza’s legendary after sales service and support to consider. 

If you are in the market for a premium espresso primary grinder, the Sette 270Wi, especially at this sale price of $480, should be at the top of your list.

The Baratza Sette 30 Grinder

The Baratza Sette 30, normally $300, is on sale until July 21 for $240. That puts this grinder into a very competitive market. 

We did a full and comprehensive review of the Sette 30 (nb, currently being updated to our 2024 design change, should be completed by July 10), and I’d encourage you to go read that before pulling the trigger on this model. 

I’m not as sold on the Sette 30 as I am with the Sette 270 series for one reason only: it is missing the micro adjustment to fine tune your grind output. It doesn’t have a built in scale either, but does have a very accurate digital timer, down to 0.01 seconds, which is unheard of anywhere near this price point.

It does have the exact same burrs as the 270 series, and outputs the coffee the same way: fluffy, uncompacted, well distributed. It is also just as fast as the Sette 270 series, making it one of the fastest grinders on the market today. You miss out on the “dial in ability” the 270 series delivers, but you can usually get a grind setting within about a 2-4 second window on your shot pulls, and get it consistently when dialing in.

This is the compromise, and one we’ve had to do with a lot of grinder under $400 for a long time: it can have the most amazing grind particle size distribution and output, but because the “clicks” between grind settings is fairly high, you also have to do a dose adjustment to get the shot times you want the most. In the case of the Sette 30, if your target is 18.5g in, 45ml / g out, in 30 seconds, it might give you 27 seconds at one grind setting, and 33 seconds at the next. So you have to adjust your dose up or down .2, .4g to hit your ideal brew times, if that is your goal. 

All this said, the grinder is a Baratza grinder, so that also means awesome after sales support and service. At $240 on sale right now, you’re getting a lot of the benefits of the upper tier Sette grinders at a budget entry point. If you don’t want to spend more than $250 on a grinder, you could do a lot worse than the Sette 30.

https://coffeegeek.com/blog/deals/baratza-products-on-sale-again-the-sette-30-and-sette-270wi/

#baratza #baratzaSette #deals #espressoDeals #espressoGrinder

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Article Sette 30Gallery

Sette 30 Grinder

Sette 30 Grinder

Sette Grind Selection Dial

Sette 30 Forks Position 2

Lower Burr Assembly

Grinds Chute, Adjustment Dial

Baratza Sette 30 Control Panel

Etzinger Burrs Inside

Baratza Logo on Sette 30

Testing the Grinders

Baratza Sette 30 Stray Grinds Tray

Bean Hopper Open/Close Switch

Baratza Sette 30 in Action

Sette 270 vs Sette 30

Sette 30 vs the Dose Control Pro

Grinders Compared

Burr Sets 270 vs 30

Sette 30 Controls

Sette 30 Box

Brewing Types

Sette 30 grinder compared

Testing Fines with the Kruve

Baratza Sette 30 with a Chemex Brewer

Removable Catch Tray

Sette 30 Control Panel

Sette 30 Forks

Upper Burr Assembly

Baratza Sette 30 with Breville Bambino Brewer

Sette 30The Review

In the spring of 2017, Baratza had an identity crisis with their latest grinder venture, the Sette 30 grinder. It was introduced at SCA’s Annual Trade Show with the intent of being marketed as a state of the art, fast and capable pourover and drip grinder. The idea was, take away most of the nifty portafilter stuff and the ritzy and unique Acaia scale that the Sette 270Wi had, simplify the interface, use more plastic while still having the same interior bits of the 270 lineup, and sell it for under $250 (ed.note: as of 2023, the grinder is now $299).

The issue, Baratza found out, was that their 270 burr geometry (which they also planned to use in the 30 model) as designed by Etzinger, had problems doing a full range of drip grinds up to press pot grinds. Even so, this burr set is amazing: it is absolutely blazing fast at espresso grinds (up to 4.5g a second) and the peak on grind size was tight when grinding for espresso. That meant not much fines, and not much coarse bits – most of the grind was within a set range of micron particle sizes.

But the Etzinger burr set had some limitations: the more coarse you set it, the more it produced fines. And weirdly, the slower the output as well. That meant by the time you got to drip, the fines produced would make up a larger percentage of the overall grind (though still very acceptable numbers) when compared to the fines in an espresso grind. And by the time you tried to go to a press pot grind size of 1200 microns, the output was slow (down to 2.5g a second) and an unacceptable amount of fines were being produced.

Baratza realised this, and decided to change tact on the forthcoming Baratza Sette 30 grinder. It was instead marketed as an entry level espresso grinder that could also do coarse turkish, moka pot, pour over, drip, siphon and chemex grinds. But mainly it’s marketed as an entry level espresso grinder.

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Buy here to support CoffeeGeek! NotableFeatures

• Literally the fastest home grinder you can buy - it can do an espresso grind at as fast as 4.5 grams per second output.

• Virtually no ground coffee retention between grinding sessions, means you're never putting stale ground coffee in any real quantity into the portafilter.

• That you get a very accurate 1/10th a second digital timer built in at this price point is actually quite impressive.

• Baratza has industry leading after-sales support and service, even out of warranty, adding value to this product.

• You're getting about 80% of the Sette 270Wi, and 90% of the Sette 270, for half the 270Wi's price.

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I happen to think the Sette series from Baratza are some of the best “looking” grinders from a major manufacturer that 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.

As you pull everything from the box, you may start to see where some cost savings were achieved (especially if you’ve seen a 270 series grinder from Baratza up close). The bean hopper looks the same, but upon closer inspection, the open/close mechanism for the hopper is all plastic (it’s metal on the 270s). The forks that hold the portafilter and grinds basket is very basic, and not the complex design seen on the 270 series. The burr housing collar and grind selection wheel on the 30 is all plastic too, where it’s beefy metal on the 270s. And the front control panel is more simple, without any presets.

The good news is, inside, much is the same as the 270 series. The Sette 30 features many of the internal improvements the 270 lineup has seen in their evolution over the past few years (today’s 270 lineup is better inside than the 270 at launch time). It has the same motor, the same burr set, the same interior design, and these are all great things.

Here's the minimal Sette 30 box, showing the type of burrs included (AP, now called S1 by Baratza).

Baratza has two burr types for their grinders, and they are indicated on the box.

Baratza has these nifty graphics on the box to show the grinder's best uses: espresso, aeropress, and pourover.

Inside the grinder is put in cardboard forms and has a simple infosheet describing basic usage.

The grinder's packaging is fairly minimal; the Sette 30 is a very sturdy grinder, but I'd like to see more secure packaging.

Everything the grinder ships with: removable basic 3 prong cord, wire brush, grinds bin, whole bean bin, and rubber stray grinds mat.

Again, fairly minimal overall - but all the things you need to get the job done. There's no full manual, tools, or Grindz cleaner like older models had. The whole bean hopper does have a closing door for easy removal with beans loaded.

The grinder, soaking dry, weighs in a 3.85kg (or about 8.35 pounds; by comparison, the Sette 270 weighs 4.1kg). It comes with removable bean hopper that can be closed to retain the beans upon removal; a grinds hopper; a very simplified fork design (adjustable between a “universal” portafilter setting, and a grinds hopper holder); a removable grinds tray; a few spacers to adjust the burr set if you want the grinder to grind coarser, a couple of hex keys, and a heavy duty plug. There’s also a quick reference sheet, but no actual manual.

Checking over the control panel, it doesn’t have presets, but just has one setting for grind timings, which is infinitely adjustable. Under 10 seconds, the adjustments can be made in 1/100th a second increments. Over 10 seconds and it jumps to 1/10th a second. Also, one nice improvement I harped a lot to Baratza about: pressing the time adjustment buttons now feature three speeds – first, a very slow adjustment speed, then a medium speed, then a super fast, jumping multiple-seconds at a time speed, which is great if you’re switching between grinding out 18g for espresso, and 150g for ground coffee. Previously, the 270 only had two “speeds” in the timing adjustment, and you could sit there holding the button for 10, 15 seconds adjusting the grind timer from, say 4 seconds to 35 seconds. With the 30, you can make this adjustment in under 5 seconds.

A bit on the burr group. Our box shows the Sette 30 shipped with their “AP” burrset. This is their burrset more tuned for espresso. They also had a second burrset, called their “BG” burrset, which was more tuned for drip and pour over grinding. In April this year, Baratza changed the names of their burrs to S1 and S2 (archived). The burrs themselves didn’t change, just the name. I’ll talk more about the Etzinger burr set geometry later in this review.

No presets on this model, it only remembers one setting: adjust up or down 3 speeds, start grinder, pause grinder, or stop and reset.

30 (actually, 31) settings on the Sette 30 grinder, the espresso range on our test unit was in the 3-7 area.

Bean hopper has a nice open/close option for removing with beans still inside, something the Virtuoso lineup didn't have.

The mechanism and control on the Sette 30 is plastic; it is more metal on the 270 lineup.

The included grinds bin, which can hold a fair amount of ground coffee.

Happy that Baratza included this and designed it so well - the fit is superb, and almost feels "magnetized" in place. Makes cleaning up stray grinds much easier.

All in all, Baratza has cut costs on the Sette 30 were it has little impact on the grinder, save perhaps one area, which I’ll detail in the next section.

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I have to admit, I was very confused during the initial launch, then re-think and re-launch of the Baratza Sette 30 grinder. I understood the limitations of their Etzinger burrset’s geometry (which, btw, Baratza is working on with Etzinger), so it made sense they would move away from marketing this grinder as a drip/pourover/siphon/chemex/press pot grinder.

When Baratza re-announced the Sette 30 as an espresso grinder in the summer of 2017, I got excited, and thought that this was an interesting move from a company that previously resisted efforts to design and make an espresso-only coffee grinder. I also assumed, upon hearing the grind range on this new grinder was only 30 settings, that all would be tuned for espresso – from a coarse turkish, choke your espresso machine grind at 1, to a coarse, maybe it’s better for moka pot grind at 30.

Turns out though, they didn’t make that move. The Sette 30 is not an espresso only grinder; because the range from 1 to 31 on the grind selection dial is identical to the range in the 270 lineup’s “macro” grind settings. This means the grinder, out of the box, has a grinding range of around 200 microns to about 900 microns at the absolute maximum. For reference, espresso is in the 300-400 micron range, moka pot is 350-500um, pourover, drip and siphon is in the 500-900um range (sweet spot’s around 750um) and press pot is above 1200um.

Micron Sizes Compared Ideal Espresso Grind 350 microns Beach Sand 250 microns Table Salt 150 microns Ideal Turkish Grind 125 microns Width of Human Hair 90 microns Limit of Visibility 45 microns

So why did Baratza do this? To save costs. Baratza uses the same grind gear teeth geometry in the Sette 30 as they do in the Sette 270 lineup, because the internal upper collar that holds the rotating burr is identical to that from the Sette 270.

If Baratza wanted to re-engineer the Sette 30 so all it’s 30 settings fall within a turkish-to moka pot grind range (and thus give it much more fine tuning ability for espresso), they would have to re-design, re-engineer and re-manufacture a new rotating burr housing, which would have driven up the cost of the Sette 30 by a substantial amount.

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.

Back to our review: all this means is some positives, and some definite negatives. The negatives are that there’s only about 4 or 5 grind settings to play with for espresso, and that’s if you’re going from almost stalled to a lungo shot (pouring out espresso at a rate of about 3g/second). The positives are, this grinder is still a multi-purpose grinder, capable of doing any grind from “near turkish” (250um) all the way up to a decent drip/pourover/siphon grind.

What does this mean for the end user? It means you have to resort to something we used to have to do with grinders like the Rocky and home Anfim espresso grinders: you have to settle for the fact that you only have a couple of grind settings you can use for your espresso grind, and rely on changing your dose weight to “dial in” an espresso shot. No more “let’s stay rock solid with 18 gram doses for a double shot”, relying on the grinder’s super fine adjustment ability to dial in that dose weight.

No, with the Sette 30, you first have to find your near-ideal grinding fineness selection, and then up or lower the dose to get your desired shot timings. If you feel your espresso tastes best when 45ml comes out in 30 seconds, but setting “7” on the Sette 30 at 18g delivers that shot in 36 seconds, and setting “8” at 18g delivers it at 26 seconds, your option is to either grind at “7” and use less coffee, or grind at “8” and use more coffee in the filter basket.

Make no mistake, this is a detriment to an otherwise amazing and feature packed grinder. Is it a deal breaker? I’d say no, because you’re still getting the following:

• A grinder that grinds 18g in as little as 4 seconds
• A grinder that produces a very even grind at the espresso setting, with minimal fines.
• A grinder that outputs the grind in a near perfect way – fluffy, no compaction, and centre-dosed.
• A grinder that has nearly zero waste.
• A grinder with a super accurate 1/100th a second timer that produces your target grind weight +/- .2g every single time.

All for under $250 (ed.note: now $300, in 2024).

Because of the limited grind control for espresso use, you will also have to balance you dose (using the 1/100th second timer) to find your ideal dose + grind for your espresso machine. Sette 30Usability

The Sette 30 from Baratza isn’t as easy to use as their 270 lineup if your primary use is espresso. Reason? The 270 lineup can hold a portafilter hands free. On the 30, you have to hold and rest a portafilter on the basic forks. Not a big chore for something that can take only 4 seconds or less, but still, that’s a tiny tradeoff for the lower price.

Forks in the portafilter balance position.

Forks in the Grinds Bin holder position. Can also balance smaller pourover cone holders.

Forks in the Grinds Bin holder position. Can also balance smaller pourover cone holders.

The forks on the Sette 270 vs the Sette 30, in the down, portafilter position.

The control panel on the Sette 30 is very basic as well; there’s no presets like the 270 lineup, and you’re just dialing the one set time up or down. On a Sette 270 series grinder, you can have different presets programmed for different brewing methods; with the 30, you have to remember that you would need to run the grinder for 3.85 seconds for your espresso dose, and 11.2 seconds for your 55g auto drip grinding needs (as examples).

As covered extensively in the previous section, the Sette 30 only has one grind adjustment, the same “macro” adjustment from the 270 series. So there’s not much to play with there in terms of dialing in espresso. But at least you can jump the setting up to moka, pourover, siphon, auto drip and chemex grind levels.

What the Sette does offer in usability are many of the things cloned from the 270 lineup: there’s the easy to remove bean hopper, which holds your beans in place. The machine offers nice positive feedback when using the control panel; you’ll never have to guess if you pressed a button or not. The dosing from the grinder is quite spectacular and on par with the 270s: super fluffy, non compacted grinds falling directly in the middle of the grinds basket or your portafilter. There’s also the nice rubberized stray grinds “tray” at the bottom of the machine that so perfectly into the machine’s base, I swore it was magnetized when I first used it.

Lastly, the machine is loud. But it’s not as loud as the original Sette 270s that shipped 3 years ago. Baratza has worked on the noise issues with the grinder and my best guess (since I don’t have an original Sette 270 to test) is the noise is about 20% lower than the initial models. Still, it’s one of the loudest home grinders out there. A lot of the noise comes specifically from the coffee being ground and how the vertical pass through design of the grinder seems to amplify this noise.

Very basic controls on the Sette 30, but does have a 1/100th second timer (up to 10 seconds). Connect with us on Social Media MastodonFacebook-fInstagramYoutube

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For this Full Review, I’m not doing a comprehensive test on the amount of fines produced, one that could be considered “lab quality accurate”.

Instead, I’m going to do a rather rudimentary test using the Kruve sifter system on test batches of ground coffee put out by the Sette 30. This test won’t be as accurate as the lab tests we’ve sponsored in the past, but should provide a general idea on how many fines the Baratza Sette 30 produces at a given grind fineness level.

This test used the following parameters:

• Grind coffee in the Sette 30 at 3 different settings: espresso (target is 350um), fine siphon coffee grind (target is 600um) and Chemex (target is 800um).
• Grind 30 gram samples, 3x for each target weight (9 samples total)
• Using the Kruve sifter, vigorously shake and knock it for 30 seconds per sample.
• In the Kruve, for espresso, fines are defined as under 250um; under 400um for siphon grind; and under 500um for Chemex.

Here’s the results.

NB We lost this data migrating from the pre 2020 version of CoffeeGeek, and have run the test again using a DiFluid grind particle analyser. The results are more accurate this time, showing a range of particle sizes from 100 microns to 1000 microns. The revised chart is below:

I also need to stress again that this is a near zero retention grinder design (a huge positive, something competing manufacturers cannot currently touch), and the way the grinder doses is also best in class. 

I also need to stress again that this is a near zero retention grinder design (a huge positive, something competing manufacturers cannot currently touch), and the way the grinder doses is also best in class. Here’s some looks at the burr assembly and parts included.

Fully assembled, this is where the grinds exit, continuing a straight fall path for the beans. The grind adjustment collar is part of the lower burr assembly.

Here's the lower assembly with the installed conical burr. Note the plastic tooth-ring : this is the part of the grinder that Baratza did not re-design for more fine tuned macro grinder fineness levels.

The burrs inside the machine -- the upper burr set -- is the one that stays stationary (non spinning) while grinding.

Here's a comparison of the Sette 270 (and 270Wi) burr group to the 30's. As you can see, the 270 is more robust, with a metal tooth gate, metal construction and the inclusion of the micro adjustment system. Sette 30Non Espresso Use

There’s been some chatter here and there that the Sette grinders aren’t good for anything but espresso. I’ve heard it from cafe owners, home baristas and enthusiasts; Baratza has heard it too. I’ve talked extensively in this article about the burr geometry of the Etzinger burrs inside the Sette 30, and how the production of fines increases the coarser you go. The thing is, is that a bad thing?

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 don’t think so. Sure, they produce marginally more fines by the time you get to the drip grinding range (as compared to Baratza’s other grinders with different burrs, or other manufacturer grinders in the $500+ range), but it’s not enough of a difference to affect the cup quality, once you know how to work with the fines being produced. How do you do it? It’s a bit counter-intuitive, so let me walk you through it.

The Sette 30 works great with the Chemex and manual pourover coffee; just go a bit finer on the grind, compared to other grinders.

Let’s say you want to brew a Hario Cloth Dripper brew of coffee using 400ml of water, and having a complete extraction time of 4:10. You set up the Sette 30’s grind range to around 25 or 26, giving you an average mean particle size of 650-750um. You dose 7g per 100ml, or 28g of coffee. Go through your pourover ritual, and find it might be just a tad stalled, taking 4:30 to do the brew.

The initial reaction is, “I gotta grind coarser to get the flow rate up” on this brew. But that’s not what you do with the Sette series. You grind a bit finer instead! Hard to believe, but it’s true. If you go one or two clicks finer, and dose a tiny bit less (say 6.8g per 100ml, or 27g roughly instead of 28g), you will find you hit your ideal extraction rate time of 4 minutes, 10 seconds.

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.

I think, because this is truly counter-intuitive for most coffee folks, this is the reason why there’s some chirping about the Sette lineup not being able to do drip, pourover, or chemex coffee. The coarser you go, the weirder the extraction gets for these brewing methods when using a Sette; instead, go a tad finer, adjust your dose, and it’s all golden.

Bottom line? In my opinion, the Sette lineup is quite capable of doing grinds for the following brewing methods: near turkish (almost gets there to that talcum powder range); espresso; steam espresso machines; moka pots, vietnamese coffee, siphon coffee, manual paper pourover, manual cloth pourover, automatic drip, and chemex (with is 3 layer thick on one side filter). It can also do some (not all) cold brew methods. It cannot do anything close to a press pot grind, or the grind you need for cold toddy brewing.

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There’s two ways to compare the Baratza Sette 30 to other grinders; you could compare it to grinders under $250, no matter the primary use those other grinders have; and you could compare it to more expensive grinders designed primarily for espresso use.

In the Under $250 category, the 3 grinders the Sette 30 competes with are the Breville Smart Grinder Pro ($200), the Breville Dose Control Pro ($170), and Baratza’s own Virtuoso+ Grinder ($250).

The four grinders in this comparison are the Breville Smart Grinder Pro, the Sette 30, the Sette 270, and the Breville Dose Control Pro.

Versus the Baratza Virtuoso+

We can’t directly test the Sette 30 against the new Baratza Virtuoso+ for grind output, quality, and speed, since we do do not have a Virtuoso+ as of this review date, to test against the Sette 30. We do have a recent model Baratza Virtuoso (now discontinued), but it would not be fair to put them up head to head. Still, we’re using the Virtuoso in our stable as an informal comparison, since internally, it’s very similar to the current + model.

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.

Both have digital timers, but the Sette 30 has a 1/100th second timer, and a longer timer range; the Virtuoso+ has a max 40 second digital timer that has a 1/10th second ability. The Virtuoso+ does have a “pulse mode” where it will operate manually, as long as you press the control dial; which works similar to the older Virtuoso’s front position button for manual grinding into a portafilter.

The Sette 30 lets you remove the bean hopper with the beans remaining inside; you will have to dump out the beans on the Virtuoso+ before removing the hopper to clean the burrs or do other maintenance. The Virtuoso+’s grind output is slightly on the clumpy side (for espresso, this is a possible detriment); but the Sette 30’s output is fluffy and clump free.

The Sette 30 is a near zero waste grinder; the Virtuoso+ doesn’t have a direct vertical path for ground coffee, so there’s always some ground coffee that remains inside between uses.

For use with a portafilter, the Sette 30, while having a very basic fork / basket holder design, can still accommodate a portafilter (while being balanced by your hand) right out of the box. To get this kind of option with the Virtuoso+, you have to buy a separate “Portaholder” device from Baratza for $12.

The Virtuoso+ does have a nifty set of LED lights inside the grinds bay, for lighting up the amount of grinds caught in its bin. In a way, it needs it because of the enclosed design; it also works nicely lighting up your portafilter when you grind directly into it using Baratza’s optional portaholder. This option isn’t really needed on the Sette 30 because of the open design of the grinder.

Both grinders are priced the same ($250), but you would have to add $12 if you want the portaholder option with the Virtuoso+.

Versus the Breville Dose Control Pro

Breville’s Dose Control Pro ($150) (ed.note: we wrote a new review of the Dose Control Pro in 2023) is $100 less than the Baratza Sette 30, and has some things better than the Baratza, some things worse.

The Dose Control from Breville is their budget point entry grinder.

The Dose Control Pro comes with two dedicated portafilter holders, one for a 58/57mm portafilter, and one for a < 54mm portafilter, offering hands off grinding. Also, there’s many more grind selections available on the Dose Control Pro for espresso usage, including a master adjustment by changing the alignment of the internal burr group; what this means is, you have about 6 or 7 workable “clicks” to adjust your espresso grind on the Dose Control Pro, and a reserve of another dozen or so adjustments, depending on how you tune the interior burr placement.

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.

Like the Sette 30, the Breville Dose Control Pro has a removable bean hopper that has a mechanism to keep the beans from spilling out, and it’s digital timer (controlled by a dial knob) has a pause function if you want to remove your portafilter halfway through a grind to settle the coffee in the basket.

The Sette 30 absolutely beats the Dose Control Pro in several areas. First, in timing; the Sette 30 has a digital 1/100th second timer (until 10 seconds, then goes to 1/10th second); the Dose Control Pro’s biggest flaw is it’s timer is in 1 second intervals. On grind quality, I definitely give the nod to the Sette 30; there’s less fines at espresso, and it’s super fluffy non compacted coffee delivery (the Dose Control Pro gets clumpy). In speed, there’s no question – the Sette 30 is easily 2x faster, if not more so.

The Sette 30 also comes with a grinds bin, something the Dose Control Pro does not have. And lastly, there’s the companies behind them; Breville still operates on a policy that, if the grinder breaks, it’s headed to the garbage heap, and the Dose Control Pro doesn’t enjoy the 2 year warranty that many newer Breville products have (it’s still 1 year). If a Baratza grinder breaks, Baratza stocks almost every part available for the machines and will walk you through after-warranty repairs. That’s worth a lot to me.

Versus the Breville Smart Grinder Pro

Many of the differences between the Baratza Sette 30 and the Breville Dose Control Pro also apply to the Breville Smart Grinder Pro, since the Smart Grinder Pro has similar internals to the Dose Control Pro – same burr group, similar motor (the Dose Control Pro is 130W; the Smart Grinder Pro is 160W), similar grinding speed, similar grind selection range, both come with two portafilter cradles, etc etc.

That said the Smart Grinder Pro has a lot of features that neither the Dose Control Pro or the Sette 30 have. Most of it has to do with usability and control. At $200 ($50 less than the Sette 30), you get a lot more control and functionality in the Breville unit.

The Smart Grinder Pro from Breville comes absolutely packed with features and settings, but does grind a lot slower than the Sette 30.

Without getting into too much detail (we covered a lot more in our 2016 review of the Breville grinder) (ed.note: We rewrote the Smart Grinder Pro review from the ground up in late 2023. It can be found here), the Smart Grinder Pro’s control and timers are almost on steroids. It has a 1/5th second digital timer (0.2sec resolution), but the timer is also “hooked into” the grind selection you do, so it remembers four different timer settings for you, for espresso, drip, “perc” (also Chemex coarse) and press pot.

And then on top of that, once you set the programmed time for 1 “cup” for each of the ranges, the machine will automatically calculate how much time to grind for 2 cups, 4 cups, etc, should you rotate the control dial to say how many cups you want to grind for (in the espresso range, it is limited to a single or double). The Smart Grinder is also loaded with sensors; including one that knows if you have the portafilter cradles in place when trying to grind for drip coffee (a notice on the display says “remove cradle”).

The Smart Grinder Pro comes with a grinds hopper as well as the two aforementioned portafilter cradles. The hopper is smartly designed too – it has measurement markings for three types of coffee grinding (drip, perk, press). Also, the Smart Grinder Pro comes with an internal activation button when grinding directly into a portafilter – just push the PF into that button and the grinder stars. Overall, the build quality is a bit better than the Dose Control Pro, but I’d still give the nod to the Sette 30 for overall build quality. And of course, the Smart Grinder Pro is eminently capable of doing a press pot grind, where the Sette 30 is not.

The Baratza Sette 30 beats the Smart Grinder Pro in all the same areas it does the Breville Dose Control Pro: it has a much better motor (which should handle more intensive grinding sessions); it has the 1/100th second timer; it’s grind output is much better; it is much faster, the espresso grind quality is better. And there’s the after warranty support, not to be shirked at.

Versus the Baratza Sette 270

This is where things get interesting. How important is dialing in the grind to you, for espresso? If it is a deal breaker on the Sette 30, then the Baratza Sette 270, at $130 more, will deliver.

The Sette 270 has Baratza’s famous “Macro / Micro” adjustment range, one that works much better than the one found on their Vario and Forte models. This gives you a lot more adjustment ability when dialing in espresso.

For that extra $120, you also get more robust build quality, including all metal mountings for the burr area, and you get the more advanced portafilter holder design that lets you use the machine hands free. You also get more detailed user controls on the Sette 270, including the three time presets you can easily program and change.

The only advantage the Sette 30 has over the 270 is price; everything else is either the same, or better on the 270 model.

The Baratza 270 series offers a lot more functionality, including the multi timer settings, better portafilter fork, and more. Subscribe Today COFFEEGEEKNEWSLETTER Sign up for the twice-monthly Coffee Pulse Newsletter from CoffeeGeek, with original, exclusive content, prize giveaways, and updates on the newest website content. Newsletter Signup

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Is the Baratza Sette 30 a “Rancilio Rocky Killer”? Frankly, too many grinders today are Rocky Killers, including all the ones mentioned in this review; they grind faster, some have much extended grind selection ranges for espresso, they dose better, they work better. The only thing Rocky has is it’s built like a tank; the motor’s commercial, the burr group is commercial, the housing is commercial. But it’s a grinder from a bygone era and doesn’t do what espresso enthusiasts demand today – grind fast, grind well, have a lot of grind selections, and don’t waste coffee.

So let’s set aside the Rocky Killer moniker once and for all. Is the Baratza Sette 30 a best buy? In some areas it is. For $250, you get one of the world’s fastest grinders, one that outputs a fantastic, even espresso grind, fluffy and clump free, and you get a nifty and accurate 1/100th second digital timer. I can remember spending $150 to add such a timer to a Super Caimano espresso grinder a few years back.

There’s also something you can’t put a price on: you get a grinder from a company that backs it up, both under warranty and after. Try getting a Breville serviced 3 years after you bought it; the company will offer to “repair” the grinder, but their idea of repair is to junk it, and send you a refurb; there’s almost no options to DIY the repair yourself with parts from Breville.

The Sette 30 is well suited for espresso; paired up with a machine like the Breville Bambino Plus, for $750 total cost, you can have a great home system that even froths your milk automatically.

The real achilles heels of the Sette 30 is the fact you are severely limited on dialing in an espresso grind, and the fact it won’t do anything remotely resembling a press pot grind. There’s also the problem with fines when you’re grinding for drip or chemex.

When you consider Breville offers two grinders that are $100 and $50 less than the Sette 30, and both are true “all purpose” grinders with better dial-in ability for espresso (albeit both slower, and both with marginally worse output on grind quality than the Baratza), there’s a strong argument for considering either the Smart Grinder Pro or the Dose Control Pro over the Sette 30. And then there’s Baratza’s Virtuoso+ grinder: you give up speed, “top of class” dosing of ground coffee, and the portafilter holder, but you get a grinder capable of press pot grinding, and you get the same after-sales support. Lastly, there’s the Baratza Sette 270 to consider: if you really want super fine tune control and better usability with presets, the $130 extra might be worth it to some.

Overall, we really liked the Sette 30 from Baratza. You get many of the benefits of the 270 and 270Wi range, in a beautiful package, for $250 – that’s less than half the price of the Sette 270Wi from Baratza. It’s grind output (for espresso) is head of the class, the speed is untouchable, and it looks great doing what it does. Still, we can’t give it our “best of class” award because of the too-limited espresso grind range and because it’s not an all purpose grinder: it cannot do a press pot grind, which is important for many coffee consumers. The grinder would score better for us if it was truly just an espresso grinder, with most of its grind range usable for turkish to moka pot grind.

While the Baratza Sette 30 is not best of class, it has a lot going for it, and if all the coffee you brew is from the espresso to drip pot range, this grinder will definitely suit. It’s advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and many home coffee enthusiasts would be happy to have this on their counter. We rate it as a very good product, and just a half point shy of making our “recommended” listing.

Sette 30Final Ratings

• 7.5 Design It’s pretty to look at, but the decision to not better tune the grind adjustment for espresso gets a big knock.
• 8.0 Usability Again, easy to use, good controls up front, but the lack of real dial in ability for espresso is a detriment.
• 7.0 Features One more time for the lack of a micro adjust system for the grinder. Also the very basic fork could have been better.
• 9.0 Performance Very fast grinder with excellent output for espresso.
• 8.0 Value vs. Cost The market is competitive and there are possibly better choices for espresso primary grinders at this price.
• 9.0 Quality of Build Built with Baratza’s typical excellent quality.
• 10.0 Service / Warranty It’s Baratza. They get a 10 here every time.
• 9.0 Included in the Box The grinds bin and grinds catch are nice additions.
• 8.5 Resale Value It’s not too bad; other Baratza grinders have better resale value.
• 8.5 Overall It’s a good grinder with excellent output, let down a bit by the lack of dial-in ability.

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