Baratza Encore ESP Pro: A Classic, Modernized

In recent years, the Baratza Encore ESP has been one of the most recommended espresso grinders, primarily due to its price point and excellent espresso grinding performance. This remained true despite its drawbacks: a plasticky build quality, retention issues, excessive noise, and somewhat imprecise grind adjustment.

Baratza has listened to feedback over the years and launched the Encore ESP Pro, a modernized version that addresses—for the most part—its predecessor’s shortcomings. But is that enough to recommend it today, when the market is flooded with high-quality, attractive, and affordable grinders that pose stiff competition? Let’s find out.

Baratza Encore ESP Pro

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Burrs: Conical, 40mm | Motor: 70W DC, 550 RPM | Settings: 1-40 Espresso, 40-60 filter | Capacity: 300g hopper, 45g single-dose lid | Plasma generator ionizer: Yes | Display: Yes | Modes: Single dose with automatic shutoff, timer | Dosing cup: compatible with 54mm and 58mm portafilters

Impressive Adjustment Range, Especially for Espresso

At first glance, the Baratza Encore ESP Pro might seem like simply an Encore ESP with a digital display added for aesthetic purposes—after all, the grinder’s core components (burrs and motor) remain unchanged from its predecessor: 40mm conical M2 burrs with a 70W DC motor running at 550 RPM.

But that’s far from the whole story. There are several significant upgrades, and they’re anything but minor. The most important, in my view, is the vastly improved grind adjustment range. Baratza claims that the ESP Pro has 200 % higher resolution than the ESP, and they’re not lying. The ESP Pro achieves this with a range that goes from 1 to 60, in 0.5‑step increments but with continuous (stepless) adjustment.

The key point is that, from 40 downward—the range that corresponds to espresso—the difference between them is only 2.2 microns. In practice, this translates to you having 80 ultra‑precise micro‑adjustments to fine‑tune your beans for espresso.

Light roast, medium roast, or dark roast: this grinder handles them all. The Baratza Encore ESP Pro delivers fantastic performance regardless of bean variety, roast level, or brewing method—though it’s clear Baratza designed it primarily with espresso in mind.

Grind adjustment is handled via the adjustment collar, which can be moved smoothly even when beans are already in the burrs. The adjustment is easy and remarkably intuitive, thanks to the digital display.

The Display: More Than Just a Pretty Face

This is where the display truly shines—it’s not just there to give the grinder a modern look, but to show you precisely which setting you’ve selected. The screen displays several things in a condensed format: the grind setting in large numbers, a small “ESP” indicator in the bottom right when you’re in the espresso range, and the grinding mode (single-dose or timer) in the left.

You can switch between these two modes by holding down the center dial for a few seconds. When you do, the numbers switch to show seconds, and you can turn the dial to set your desired timer value.

The timer goes up to 60 seconds with one-millisecond intervals, giving you plenty of range to grind whatever you need. The only downside is that the timer setting isn’t saved: every time you unplug the grinder, the timer resets, and it only retains the setting while plugged in.

As for single-dose mode, it features automatic shutoff—the grinder stops automatically after a few seconds once the beans run out. Of course, you can also stop grinding at any point manually. The center dial doubles as a button that starts and stops grinding at will, but also turns on the grinder’s display.

Single-Dose or Hopper—Your Choice

Another advantage the Encore ESP Pro has over its predecessor is the ability to use it as a single-dose grinder. While the Baratza Encore ESP could be used this way with third-party mods, the Baratza Encore ESP Pro comes ready out of the box with two lids: a small 45-gram single-dose hopper and a larger hopper that holds up to 300 grams of coffee beans.

Both lids attach and remove easily, and both sit on top of the adjustment collar. The hopper also features a handy locking mechanism that prevents beans from flowing into the burrs unless you release the lock, which also lets you remove it without spilling any beans in the process. Practical, easy, and convenient.

This is where the two operating modes come into play: while the timer mode is designed for use with the hopper, the single-dose lid is meant to be used with automatic shutoff mode. Single-dose mode works exactly as it does on other grinders: you weigh your dose on a coffee scale, pour the beans into the small hopper, and start the grinder—except with the Baratza Encore ESP Pro, it stops automatically, unlike other grinders where you have to stop it manually once the beans run out.

If you’re using the hopper with timer mode, you’ll need to adjust the time based on your desired dose. A good practice is to use single-dose mode at least once to see roughly how long it takes to grind your desired dose, then fine-tune from there, millisecond by millisecond.

Retention, Static, Noise, and Workflow

This is where we encounter the Baratza Encore ESP Pro’s more delicate issues. Baratza promised significant improvements in static and retention compared to the Encore ESP, and this is true… to a point. As for retention, there is some improvement. With the Encore ESP, it wasn’t unusual to see up to 1 gram of retention per dose, while with the Encore ESP Pro I’ve never measured that much. The maximum retention I’ve experienced has been 0.5 grams, but it typically ranges between 0.1 and 0.3 grams.

This retention varies considerably depending on bean variety, roast level, and grind setting, with retention increasing as the grind gets finer. However, I’ve also found significant inconsistency between uses: for example, it’s common to grind a specific dose and see the grinder retain only 0.1g, only to immediately grind the same dose again and find 0.5g retention. On occasion, it hasn’t retained anything at all and has expelled every bit of coffee I put in. Obviously, this can lead to some frustrations in everyday use.

Baratza has also heavily promoted the ionizer at the grind chute of this Encore ESP Pro, and the truth is it works quite well. However, the ionizer’s good performance is undermined by a rather questionable design decision: the large gap between the grind chute and the dosing cup, combined with the chute not being perfectly centered over the cup, which is primarily responsible for ground coffee particles scattering and flying around, ultimately ending up outside the cup.

In contrast, one very positive aspect is the speed at which it grinds. Generally, a typical 18-gram dose takes only about 10 seconds to grind with the Encore ESP Pro. That’s pretty fast, faster than most grinders in this range and price point, and it does so with a very acceptable noise level: while it’s not the quietest grinder on the market, it’s not the loudest either, and it’s certainly much quieter than the Encore ESP. Something I have noticed is that it produces less noise with the single-dose lid, which dampens the noise during grinding quite a bit, while with the hopper it is a little louder.

Overall, it’s clear that the workflow of this Baratza Encore ESP Pro has improved significantly compared to the previous Encore ESP, and retention is no longer the serious issue it once was. That said, there’s still room for improvement, and I believe acquiring a bellow and a platform to raise the cup and reduce the gap with the grind chute are worthwhile purchases—though the grinder is so new that I haven’t yet seen compatible accessories of this type.

Obviously, using the ground coffee bin instead of the dosing cup eradicates the static problem, since all the ground coffee that exits the chute falls into this container. But this bin is not practical during an espresso workflow, being more useful for those brewing filter coffee or grinding in large batches.

Other Features, Cleaning, and Maintenance

The Baratza Encore ESP Pro incorporates other improvements over the Encore ESP—minor in this case, but worth mentioning. For example, it includes an anti popcorning disc that works very well. I previously read some user complaints about this disc, mentioning that beans tended to get stuck on it, but that hasn’t been my experience; I imagine these issues arise if you use the RDT technique.

Another feature is what Baratza calls the “flow control disc.” This is a disc with a small opening that’s screwed onto the burr and rotates with it, controlling the flow of beans falling into the burrs. In practice, it’s a mechanism that achieves something similar to slow feeding, since the beans fall in a controlled manner, which—in theory—promotes more uniform grinding.

As for burr cleaning, the good news is that this is an incredibly easy grinder to disassemble for cleaning, and reassembling it is just as straightforward. And if the burr gets damaged, it’s as simple as replacing it with one from Baratza’s website (remember, it’s the same as the Encore ESP’s and, incidentally, the same as some Sage espresso machines with integrated grinders).

Some users have reported clogging issues, though these seem to occur primarily when using RDT spray, which is not recommended for grinders with plasma generators; in these cases, ground coffee can easily clump and accumulate at the chute exit, causing clogging.

Ultimately, grinder maintenance and cleaning are key to proper performance, and this is just as true for high-end grinders as it is for budget-friendly ones like this.

Wrapping Up: Performance, Grind Quality, Design, and Final Thoughts

Another improvement over the ESP (and the original Encore) is the design. Baratza has managed to provide a more premium experience with this Encore ESP Pro—using a similar size and form factor—simply by using metal for the housing, refining some aesthetic details, and introducing the digital display. The lighting detail in the chamber, apart from being aesthetic, also offers the convenience of being able to see better what falls into the cup or container. Next to the Encore ESP Pro, the Encore and Encore ESP now look like obsolete grinders that have lost all their appeal.

But what really matters in a grinder is that it grinds well—especially for espresso, as in this case, for a grinder marketed specifically for it. If you have any doubts about its quality, don’t: the Baratza Encore ESP Pro grinds exceptionally well, and it pairs perfectly with coffee machines such as the Bambino Plus, which it manages to get the most out of thanks to the traditional espresso flavor profile that both devices achieve together.

Starting around setting 30, you can easily choke your espresso machine with dark roasts, and from 20 downward it grinds so fine you’ll choke even the best espresso machine you can imagine with light roasts. Simply put, the Baratza Encore ESP Pro handles all types of brewing methods with ease. It has plenty of power, grinds fine, consistently, quickly, and without excessive noise. It could only be a bit cleaner in terms of static and retention—but if that were the case, it would be perfect and probably cost a lot more.

Comparing it to a grinder like the DF54, for instance, I believe the Baratza Encore ESP Pro shows better performance for espresso: it has far more precision and micro-adjustment capability, which is ideal for espresso because sometimes you only need a very, very small adjustment to achieve perfect dialing in, and the Encore ESP Pro gives you that.

However, it does have slightly more retention and more static issues than the DF54, which has a cleaner workflow. As a conclusion, I think the DF54 is better suited for filter coffee and the Baratza Encore ESP Pro for espresso. I’m also basing this on the flavor profile each produces: you can really notice the DF54’s flat burrs because they achieve better flavor separation, while the Encore ESP Pro’s conical burrs integrate those flavors more and produce espresso with denser body. Overall, I prefer the espresso flavor I’ve achieved with the Baratza just a touch more than what I got with the DF54, and I think traditional espresso lovers will prefer it too.