Espresso takes most of the dial, roughly 5 to 40, in very fine steps. Everything from AeroPress to French press fits between about 40 and 60.
Settings by brew method
| Method | Setting (dial) | As the source puts it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Espresso | 5 to 30 | Espresso 0 to 40 (quick start), reviewers start at 12.5 | manua.ls Maker |
| AeroPress | 40 to 46 | AeroPress 40 to 46 | manua.ls Maker |
| Pour-over / V60 | 45 to 54 | Pour-overs 45 to 52, drip brewer 48 to 54 | manua.ls Maker |
| French press | 53 to 59 | French press 53 to 59 | manua.ls Maker |
These are starting points. Beans, roast, water and your own taste all move them, so start in the middle of the range and adjust one step at a time.
Notchbook is a free app that remembers the setting that worked on your Baratza Encore ESP Pro for each coffee and brew method, and keeps a journal of every brew. Get it free on Google Play. The iPhone app is coming soon. More about Notchbook.
About the Baratza Encore ESP Pro
- Type
- Electric grinder
- Burrs
- Conical, 40 mm
- Adjustment
- Stepless (dual-pitch, digital readout)
- Step size
- about 2.2 µm per step
Dialling in from here
- Sour, thin or fast? Grind finer. Why coffee tastes sour
- Bitter, dry or slow? Grind coarser. Why coffee tastes bitter
- Espresso: how to dial in. Filter: pour-over grind size.
Compare with other grinders in the grind size chart.
What reviewers found
The $299 successor to the Encore ESP. It keeps the same M2 burrs and adds a stepless dual-pitch collar with a 0 to 60 display, a timer and a flow-control disc 0:00.
Specs
| Burr | M2 steel conical made by Etzinger, the same as the ESP. Burr size isn't given 0:00 |
| Adjustment | The display reads 0 to 60 in half steps. 0 to 40 is the espresso range at about 2.2 µm of burr travel per half step. Above 40 it's about 10 µm per half step, and 60 is the coarsest 0:00 |
| Feed | A flow-control disc slows the beans going in, which nearly stops stalls and cuts down on regrinding 9:41 |
Starting settings
These are the settings each creator gave, measured from their own grinder's zero. Use them as a starting point.
| Method | Setting | Context | Confidence | By | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pour-over | 50 | 15.35 g very light Panama Geisha in a V60, about 2.5 min drawdown. Lance Hedrick picked 50 as a rough midpoint between 40 and 60 | stated | Hedrick | 13:13 |
| Espresso | 30.1 | About 20 g of a dark roast. 20 choked the machine and 27.5 was still far too slow, then 30.1 gave about a 24 s shot | stated | Hedrick | 20:28 |
| Espresso | 16 | 18 g very light Geisha. Go a bit coarser for darker roasts | stated | DGC | 2:35 |
| Espresso | 14 to 15 | 18 g medium-roast Brazil natural. 15 was slightly sour and 14 sweeter | stated | DGC | 4:09 |
| Pour-over | about 50 | Light roast. Go just past it and come back finer | approx | DGC | 5:39 |
| Espresso | 15 | 18 g Brazil natural, medium roast. 42 g in about 25 s, slightly sour | stated | DGC | 2:04 |
| Espresso | a bit coarser than 16 | Darker roasts | approx | DGC | 5:09 |
| Espresso | between 17 and 17.5 | Changes of 0.5 moved the shot time by roughly 1.5 to 4 s, depending on the coffee | approx | DGC | 14:20 |
Cup profile
- Good mouthfeel and solid clarity for a conical. Pour-over comes out sweet, juicy and a bit like white tea. Dark-roast espresso gave bitter chocolate, toasted marshmallow and a mild caramel bitterness 0:00.
Strengths
- A fine stepless espresso range plus a quick coarse range. You can take the burr out without tools, the gearbox is quieter, and it has an ioniser and US support 0:00.
Weaknesses
- The burr holder is plastic, and chaff flies about with light-roast filter. Timed doses varied by about ±1 g at espresso 0:00 28:17.
Verdict
Lance Hedrick found it a very approachable all-rounder in 2025. A ZP6 would beat it at pour-over, and enthusiasts may prefer a DF54 0:00.
Daddy Got Coffee's take
- 2025: his top pick around $300. The conical burrs are forgiving, and it has auto-off and a timer mode. A change of 0.5 around 17 moved the shot time by about 1.5 to 4 s. The anti-static helps but doesn't get rid of static completely 1:02 14:20 16:53.
Sprometheus's take
- 2025: the upgrade is in the workflow rather than the cup. The stepless ring moves a shot about 1 s per half step, compared with about 3 s per step on the ESP. It adds a hopper shut-off, grind by time to within about 0.5 g, a deioniser and auto-off, and the burrs spin at 550 rpm. It shipped too coarse for an 18 g 1:2 shot until he fitted the two spare shims. Shots were full, balanced and forgiving and never came in under 19% extraction, even with light roasts. It's barely quieter than the ESP, though, and retention grows as you go finer. $300 8:11.
Sources
- Daddy Got Coffee: I Ignored This Grinder. Huge Mistake! Baratza ESP Pro (2025-05-31)
- Sprometheus: Encore ESP PRO | Baratza's Flagship Grinder Facelift (2025-07-04)
- Lance Hedrick: Too Little, Too Late for Relevance? Baratza ESP Pro Review (2025-07-16)
- Daddy Got Coffee: How to Dial In Espresso (Perfect Shots on ANY Machine) (2026-03-01)
Summarised in our own words from the creators' videos, with every point linked to the moment it comes from. Notchbook isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of these creators, so please watch the originals for full context. Sources