1 yr. ago • 94%

Budget Burr Grinder Showdown: Refurbished Fellow Ode vs. Baratza Encore

Edit: forgot to mention that the fellow ode is usually like 250 but the refurbs are 150, is a refurb a bad idea in itself?

I pretty much have $150USD to spend on a nice burr grinder and I am pretty sure that one of these two would do the trick. I grind small amounts at once, like say 30-50g, but that's too big for most hand grinders plus I don't want to have to operate one while lacking caffeine. I want a machine but I want it not to suck. I don't have an espresso machine, or a Turkish coffee maker, and these two supposedly do everything from aeropress to French press so that seems good for me. Mostly going to be doing V60 and also drip coffee for the partner who prefers quantity over quality. Need to get a drip coffee maker too but I figure most of them are similar, probably will get a Krups or Bunn. I have a Fellow kettle so I kinda want the Ode to match but I also have some things I hate about the Fellow kettle like small size and lack of utility for things other than pour over coffee. Does the Ode have similar pitfalls? I like the small batch grinding capacity, whereas the Encore seems like a traditional hopper style grinder that you're supposed to pour a whole bag into. But I have been told that the Encore is the way to go for entry level burr grinders. So what do y'all think?

24 comments

I will always recommend baratza. If you can spring for Encore ESP it will future proof you in case you want to go down the path of espresso. Otherwise the Encore will def serve you well.

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- I think it will be a long time before I can afford a decent home espresso setup but thanks for the rec, it looks like a good machine.
  
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  Just to elaborate on why recommend Baratza products... they are good products to begin with but also easily user-serviceable / repairable / upgradable. Also their customer support is top notch. That's not to say you should expect them to break, mind you.
  
  I think you'll see similar sentiment in almost any review of them that you see.
  
  On the other hand if you want to go cheap, the Cuisinart burr grinder is probably the best you can do sub-$100. It will be good (but not great) for anything but espresso I think. https://www.cuisinart.com/shopping/appliances/coffee_makers/DBM-8P1/
  
  Edit: when it's time for the drip maker I highly recommend the breville precision. It's pricy but worth it. If it's out of price range just try to get something that's good cup certified... https://sca.coffee/certified-home-brewer
  
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I just got a Turin SK40 to upgrade from a Solus. It's amazing. The Solus has really bad static and got coffee grounds all over my countertop. The Turin has zero static. Amazing piece of hardware, check it out. There's another one that allows quicker grind adjustment too. They really seem like the best grinders you can get for under $500.

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- Wow it looks really cool but they are sold out ! https://www.turingrinders.com/products/turin-sk40-single-dose-grinder and espresso outlet won't get them until late October https://www.espressooutlet.net/turin-sk40-single-dose-stepless-grinder/ where did you get yours?
  
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  I got it from espresso outlet. The SD40 is pretty much the same thing if you don't need the super fine adjustments of the SK40. There's a bunch of YouTube videos showing them both off.
  
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I know this isn't one of the two you were asking about, but I've been using this Shardor conical burr grinder every day for about two months now, and I love it. It was only $60, and perfect for my needs (Chemex pourover). Consistent grind, not too loud, and it looks pretty on my counter. I can't be sure how long it'll last, but it feels solid and well-built, and is very easy to clean. I weigh my beans first, then dump them in, so the hopper is kinda useless to me, but I can see how some people might like it.

Fellow's stuff looks really chic and nice, but I can't justify their prices.

Mods feel free to delete this if we're not supposed to post Evil-Corp links.

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- In the $60 USD range I had been looking at the Krups Precision (also EvilCorp link) https://a.co/d/iHgMfnp or the Cuisinart https://a.co/d/eqAxbD3 which are both that price and pretty well rated. I just need to upgrade from a blade grinder, it's making all my efforts at making a consistent cup moot.
  
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  Totally, I was shocked how big a difference the grinder makes. Honestly I think whichever one you choose you’ll get better consistent brews than any blade grinder.
  
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So I ended up getting the Ode 1.0 after all. Hear me out: It was $143 on Amazon, with the same Fellow warranty and such. & Fellow has the 2.0 burrs available for $68 so with both things I am still only in it for $211. This compares unfavorably with the Turin/iTop/Xeoleo/generic Alibaba SD40 machine because those can be had for only $167 on Alibaba. It's also more expensive than the other contender, the Solis Scala Zero, which came in at $100. I was going to go for the Opus maybe at $165 too, but then I kinda realized that I was buying the wrong kind of grinder for my brewing style.

Basically I want to brew light roast beans and bring out their flowery clear notes so I basically figure flat burrs are the way to go. Once I decided that I wanted flat burrs the Ode was the way to go. The 2 year warranty on the Fellow when registered on their site is also good, and I have had good experiences with their "VIP" customer service team. They also do longevity testing on their grinders, and it's super easy to dial in when exhausted. I am a basic bitch essentially is why I got it. I won't ever do espresso at home until I have the money to upgrade to a much better setup, and that would imply that I have the money to get a SK40 or DF64 for espresso anyway. I figure that because I am literally only doing filter coffee the Ode with 2.0 burrs will be good. I brewed my first cups with it, and it seems fine. I think the 2.0 burr will be a worthy upgrade when I can afford to do so next month. I also needed it quickly because partner needed grounds for their new Capresso drip machine. It seems like the most bog standard crappy plastic coffee machine, but they like the coffee it makes, so that's a win, but it's probably due to the new grinder.

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I remember reading a lot about Ode not being able to grind fine enough for V60s. There have been upgrades to the burrs but afaik the original one was a bit iffy. That is the reason I did not buy one a few years back. It might be something to take a gander at, and also to check what burrs are in the refurbished Ode.

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- Damn that would be bad, V60 is what I am doing the most of. Any reviews I should read?
  
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  Don’t fret. I have the original ODE and the v2 changes which included the updated burrs. It’s does a fantastic job for v60 pour over. It was also fine on v1 burrs just better with v2 burrs. Discounted refurbished is the way to go to cost effectively up your grinder game. Static is handled with a spray bottle; not a big deal - just part of the ritual.
  
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  I can't remember any from the top of my head. There was decent amount of discussion about it on in reddit r/coffee.
  
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The original Ode had a few issues which the Ode 2 fixed. One thing was the burrs, which you can replace. You can order the new burrs or some other SSP burrs from Ode. One thing that cannot be fixed is the static and retention issue.

I just got the Fellow Opus and I am very happy with it for pour over and moka pot.

While the Encore is very good, the Opus is better.

You can get the Opus for $195 normally.

Watch a few videos for more info.

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I’ve had the Baratza Encore for years. Great little machine. Highly recommend.

I mostly use it for aeropress/drip coffee machine.

My only issue is I get coffee grounds on the counter top a lot. :p

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I had the Baratza Encore for years and it served me well. I replaced the burrs once and it needed that again since I got a coffee bean-sized small rock in my beans that wore them down by the time I could turn it off. The grinder did an admirable job of attempting to grind down the stone but didn't succeed. The grinder still worked but it was grinding very slowly. I could have replaced the burrs again which I will and that grinder will go to the office for use but it had been requested that I get a more quiet grinder. It is not that the Encore is so loud but it's an electric grinder after all.

So in my research, I came across the 1Zpresso manual grinders. I ended up with the K-Max. It's great and I highly recommend it. I'm only grinding 18g of coffee at a time for my cup but it's pretty fast, easy, and quiet. If you are grinding a lot of coffee it might be too annoying. As far as grind quality I think it does a better job than the Encore and it just feels great to use. Anyway, an option people might want to consider.

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I think the Turin SK40/SD40 or the Solis Scala are the new contenders. The Solis is half the price but seems not as cool as the Turin, idk.

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