Encore ESP

The burrs, explained

Conical 40mm burrs grind between a cone and a ring, which tends toward a fuller, more traditional espresso profile with a forgiving body — small grind errors punish you less. They also run slower and quieter at a given motor size, which is why conicals dominate hand grinders and kitchen-friendly designs. It is a hopper-fed design: load beans once and dose on demand — the lowest-friction morning, at the cost of bean-switching agility.

Key facts

• The espresso-tuned Encore: finer adjustment range in the espresso zone
• Baratza support and parts availability are the best in the category
• Hopper-fed workflow; not designed for single dosing
• 40mm conical burrs — competent, not fast, and that is fine at this price

Our verdict

Who it's for: the default first espresso grinder. At $199 typical street it earns SpecScore 82 — and remember the house rule: if the budget forces a choice, the grinder wins. A $199 grinder in front of a modest machine beats the reverse every single morning.

Once it's on the counter, the first week is dial-in week — the dial-in calculator turns sour-or-bitter guessing into a one-variable correction.