I have been making do without an electric grinder for a while now and I have decided the time has come to get one back on the kitchen work surface. I usually make coffee with my aeropress or chemex, and sometimes grind coarsely for cold brew. I don’t have an espresso machine and while I could imagine myself dabbling with the weirder manual and stovetop espresso options out there, I know that I prefer the extraction from pourover so it would never be a Thing.
I am trying to decide between the Fellow Ode v2 and the Baratza Encore ESP. One the one hand I feel I can’t go wrong with a Baratza and the ESP would give me some extra flexibility. On the other hand, the Fellow Ode probably matches my coffee sensibilities perfectly. I can’t really see myself choosing other grinders because I have had a Baratza before in a former life and I know their customer service is amazing. It’s just those burrs on the Fellow Ode v2 that are tempting me. Any thoughts? Gotchas? Steers either way?
I have a Baratza Virtuoso. Not exactly the Encore ESP but it’s probably pretty close… roughly the same “platform”. I use it for drip, pour over, cold brew, and espresso. Very capable. Love the idea of the lower range having finer adjustments. On paper it is a perfect multi-purpose grinder.
Everyone talks about Baratza customer service, but I gotta say I have had some experience with them and… well the reality lives up to the hype. I will also add that because their machines are designed to be user-repaired/serviced, any trouble can be resolved easily and cheaply in my experience.
No experience with fellow ode v2, but their Stagg kettle is OK and so is their pour over. Very thoughtful design on both fronts.
You’re probably not gonna go wrong with either option it sounds like.
I don’t have either grinder (I’m a hand grinder user), so I’m just synthesizing reviews here, but from what I understand, the Ode 2 should be a much “better” option by enthusiast standards for filter coffee. The burrs are very well regarded and supposed to be competitive with SSP burrs which are sort of one of the gold standards in flat burrs.
The Encore ESP is a conical burr grinder that’s espresso capable, so it’s going to produce more fines and have a more full-bodied texture but with less clarity. However! some folks actually prefer that even for filter brewing. (E.g., let’s say you mostly drink dark roasts or you just hate tasting acidity, then high-clarity might actually not be what you’re looking for.)
Gonna be honest, I misread to the title as a reference to Grindr, and I was wondering what an inability to choose between hot guys had to do with coffee.
But as to your actual question, your knowledge of coffee is obviously way beyond mine mate. I hope someone posts an actual answer.
I’m an espresso handgrinder sort of person, but I do know that the Ode 2 is pretty well thought of for pour over. If you aren’t doing espresso I don’t think you can go wrong with it. James Hoffman did a video review on his YouTube channel a few months back.
I can’t comment on those models,but I have the Baratza Sette 270w. It’s over 5 years old now and the gearbox shaft itself a few months after warranty ran out… I contacted them and they told me it was a known issue in the older models that they had since fixed and then replaced the gearbox for free out of warranty. Ideally it wouldn’t have broken in the first place, but props to a company for fixing the problem when they had no legal obligation to.
