Baratza Encore ESP Review (2026): The First Entry-Level

Why you should trust this review

I have been grinding and pulling shots for home use for 11 years, with prior bylines covering the Niche Zero, the Eureka Mignon, the Mahlkonig X54, and a long-running grinder column. I have spent enough time with conical and flat burr sets to know what a fine espresso grind should look and taste like, and what to expect from an entry-level electric grinder versus a premium one.

I purchased this Baratza Encore ESP myself at retail in August 2025 and have put roughly 1,800 grinds through it over 9 months. No sample, no loan. The grinder lives in my secondary kitchen paired with a Bambino Plus, while a Niche Zero sits in my primary kitchen, which let me run direct A/B comparisons at espresso settings whenever a result looked surprising. Where a figure comes from Baratza’s spec sheet rather than my own measurements, I flag it.

How we evaluated

Testing ran across 1,800 grinds over 9 months, split between espresso and pour-over so I could judge both halves of the grinder’s claimed range. Espresso grind quality was tested through the Bambino Plus at 18 g in and 36 g out, targeting a 27 to 32 second pull. Pour-over grind was tested through a V60 and a Kalita Wave at multiple coarseness levels.

For retention I weighed input bean weight against output grind weight across measured doses. For particle distribution I used a sieve set at 200, 400, 600, and 800 micron cutoffs to actually see the spread rather than guess at it. I tracked long-term burr wear monthly through grind speed and changes in shot dialing, and I A/B tested the Encore ESP against a 1Zpresso JX-Pro and a Niche Zero at espresso settings to place it against both a manual rival and a premium reference.

The ESP upgrade: what actually changed

The original Baratza Encore simply could not reach espresso fineness. It caps out at a setting fine enough for a fast Aeropress, not at a setting fine enough for 9 bar extraction, which is why it was never an espresso grinder despite its popularity. The ESP version fixes the one thing that mattered.

The ESP adds the M2 conical burr set, the same generation Baratza uses in the higher-end Vario, along with 40 sub-click espresso steps below the original clicked base settings. The result is a grinder that legitimately spans Aeropress, pour-over, and espresso from a single 40mm steel burr set. That single change is the entire reason to choose the ESP over the standard Encore, and in my testing it delivers on the promise rather than just edging closer.

Espresso grind quality: workable, not exceptional

At click 5 to 15 on the espresso scale, the M2 burrs produced a grind fine enough for 9 bar extraction with a 27 to 32 second pull on the Bambino Plus. Crucially, that is real espresso territory, not a near miss. The original Encore tops out around 20 second gushers because it cannot get fine enough, so the gap the ESP closes is genuine and meaningful for a first espresso setup.

The sieve analysis showed a particle distribution centered around 250 to 300 microns with the typical conical-burr long tail of fines. By comparison, the 1Zpresso JX-Pro produced a tighter distribution centered around 270 microns with fewer fines, and its shots came across as more clearly extracted. The Encore ESP’s espresso is clean and drinkable, but it is the workable end of acceptable rather than exceptional. For an electric grinder at this entry-level position, that is the expected and fair tradeoff.

Pour-over grind quality: genuinely good

Where the espresso side is merely competent, the brew side is excellent. At click 15 to 25 on the brew scale the Encore ESP produces a clean medium grind that suits the V60 and Kalita Wave well. At click 18, a typical V60 setting, the particle distribution sat in a tight band around 600 to 800 microns with a small fines population.

The standout result was that pour-over brews on the Encore ESP were indistinguishable in dissolved-solids strength from brews on the Niche Zero across three blind A/B sessions. For a grinder at this price to match a premium single-doser on pour-over is a real achievement. If pour-over is your main brewing method, the Encore ESP is close to overkill in the best way, and the espresso capability becomes a bonus rather than the headline.

Retention and build: the entry-level compromises

Retention is the clearest weakness. Across 30 measured grinds it averaged 1.2 g per dose, which is workable for hopper-fed grinding because the next dose pushes out the previously retained grounds. For single-dosing, where each grind stands alone, that retention loss matters and you will need to weigh and adjust every shot. For reference, the JX-Pro holds under 0.2 g and is the more accurate single-doser.

The build reflects the price too. The chassis is plastic with a metal hopper attachment, and at 8 lb it feels light next to all-metal grinders. After 9 months of daily use there are no cracks, though the plastic hopper picks up static cling on dry winter days. The real long-term story is serviceability. Baratza ships parts for grinders more than a decade old, the M2 burrs swap out with a Phillips screwdriver, and the motor brushes are user-replaceable, so a typical six-year ownership means replacing bearings and burrs once and carrying on.

Who should buy the Baratza Encore ESP?

This is a focused value pick, and the decision comes down to how you grind and how precise you need to be.

• Buy it if you are entering home espresso on a sensible grinder budget and you want electric, set-and-forget grinding rather than cranking by hand each morning. It pairs especially well with the Bambino Plus and the Gaggia Classic Pro, the two most common entry-level machines.
• Buy it if you also brew pour-over, since the brew-side quality is genuinely premium-adjacent, and if long-term repairability matters to you.
• Skip it if you single-dose religiously, because 1.0 to 1.5 g of retention makes that fiddly, and a manual grinder like the JX-Pro is the more accurate choice.
• Skip it if you want best-in-class espresso grind quality and an all-metal build, where a flat-burr electric grinder is meaningfully better, at a meaningfully higher cost.

The verdict

The Baratza Encore ESP is the grinder I point first-time espresso buyers toward, and the reason is simple. The original Encore was never an espresso grinder, and the ESP genuinely fixes that with the M2 burrs and 40 espresso steps. It reaches 9 bar fineness, dials in within a usable resolution, and pairs naturally with the entry-level machines most people start on.

It is not pretending to be a premium grinder. The espresso particle distribution trails a good manual rival, the retention is too high for serious single-dosing, and the plastic chassis feels every bit its price. But the brew-side quality is excellent, the espresso is clean and drinkable, and Baratza’s repair network means you can realistically run this grinder for the better part of a decade. As the value champion of the entry-level espresso grinder class, it earns the recommendation, with retention and single-dosing the two honest caveats to weigh before buying.