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Set a Baratza Encore between 0 and 5 for espresso, per Honest Coffee Guide's compiled Baratza Encore chart. Start in the middle of the window and adjust on taste: finer if the shot gushes and tastes sour, thin or salty, coarser if the shot chokes, drips past your target time, or tastes harsh and drying.
Baratza Encore espresso settings, and the bands either side
| What | Setting on the Baratza Encore |
|---|---|
| Espresso window | 0 to 5 [1] |
| The moka pot band on the same chart | 5 to 17 [1] |
| Full grind range of the grinder | 250 to 1200 microns [1] |
The neighbouring bands are there for context. If your espresso sits at one end of its window and still tastes wrong, the answer is usually a different variable, not another step in the same direction, because past that edge you are grinding for a different brew method. One honest warning about this row: the Encore was never built for espresso, and six positions is not a dialing range. Baratza sells the Encore ESP for exactly this reason, and its chart runs the espresso band out to 13.
Why espresso wants this part of the dial
Espresso forces hot water through a compacted puck at high pressure in well under a minute, so the grind is the main lever on how fast the water gets out the other side. There is no second chance inside the shot: the setting decides the flow, and the flow decides the taste.
Dial it in from the chart in 3 steps
1. Set the middle of the espresso window above and brew once, changing nothing else. 2. Taste against the two failure directions: finer if the shot gushes and tastes sour, thin or salty, coarser if the shot chokes, drips past your target time, or tastes harsh and drying. The full logic is in how to dial in espresso grind size and why espresso runs sour. For the rest of the recipe, see why espresso runs bitter. 3. Move in small steps and write each attempt down; the free dial-in logbook exists for exactly this. Weigh the dose and the yield while you do this. Changing grind and dose in the same attempt is how people spend a week convinced the chart is wrong.
How the Baratza Encore adjustment reads
The Baratza Encore uses a stepped collar with 40 numbered settings, 0 finest and 40 coarsest. Find your zero before trusting any chart: with the hopper empty, close the burrs until they just touch, call that zero, and count from there. A zero point calibrated differently from the chart's shifts every range by the difference, which is behind most complaints that a chart is wrong. The full Baratza Encore grind settings chart has every other brew method on one page.
Espresso on other popular grinders
| Grinder | Espresso setting |
|---|---|
| Baratza Virtuoso+ | 0 to 7 [2] |
| Timemore C2 | 6 to 12 [3] |
| Comandante C40 MK4 | 7 to 13 [4] |
| Niche Zero | 0.15 to 0.30 [5] |
| Turin DF64 Gen 2 | 0 to 20 [6] |
Get the grinder
The Baratza Encore is on Amazon: check the current Baratza Encore price. We link the search rather than quote a price that will be stale by Friday.
Related reading
FAQ
What grind setting is espresso on the Baratza Encore? 0 to 5 on the compiled Baratza Encore chart. Start in the middle of that window, brew once with everything else held steady, then move in small steps on taste.
My espresso tastes wrong on the Baratza Encore. Which way do I move? If the shot gushes and tastes sour, thin or salty, go finer. If the shot chokes, drips past your target time, or tastes harsh and drying, go coarser. Change one thing at a time and write down what you did.
Where do these Baratza Encore numbers come from? Honest Coffee Guide's compiled Baratza Encore chart, read from the published table and cited in the sources list on this page. It is a compiled chart built from that site's research and reader feedback, not a manufacturer document, so treat every range as a window rather than a verdict.
Sources
- [1] Honest Coffee Guide's Baratza Encore chart: https://honestcoffeeguide.com/baratza-encore-grind-settings/
- [2] Honest Coffee Guide's Baratza Virtuoso+ chart: https://honestcoffeeguide.com/baratza-virtuoso-plus-grind-settings/
- [3] Honest Coffee Guide's Timemore C2 chart: https://honestcoffeeguide.com/timemore-c2-grind-settings/
- [4] Honest Coffee Guide's Comandante C40 MK4 chart: https://honestcoffeeguide.com/comandante-c40-mk4-grind-settings/
- [5] Honest Coffee Guide's Niche Zero chart: https://honestcoffeeguide.com/niche-zero-grind-settings/
- [6] Honest Coffee Guide's Turin DF64 Gen 2 chart: https://honestcoffeeguide.com/turin-df64-gen-2-grind-settings/
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