Baratza Sette 270 quality issues been resolved yet? - Page 24

September 22nd, 2019, 4:51 am

pcrussell50 wrote:Here's a consideration for you Steve...

1) Yes Baratza customer service is top notch. They will do their best to make sure you have a working grinder both on and off warranty. But you are in New Zealand. Shipping costs and time out of service can be an issue.

2) Since you have a Pavoni, you have the ability to profile your shots or pull them traditional style. If you really like to push boundaries, you can experiment with light roasts and flat burrs are the hotness in that space. Plus you already have a Pharos for conical. In my opinion you should consider the Vario. It's only a little more dear than the Sette. And there is almost nothing that goes wrong with it that you can't fix yourself, if it ever does. Mine has just had its ten year birthday and it has never failed to work. Ever. It makes amazingly good grinds at ordinary commercial grinder pace (not nearly as fast as Sette), and can go fine enough on the kind of light roasts that you would want to profile, which is outside the area where the Sette is at its best. Plus, the metal upper and lower burr carriers of the Forte will fit on it for extra peace of mind if you like. Mine is off at Baratza getting that treatment as we speak. Maybe for naught as it was still working fine when I sent it.

3) it is possible that all new Varios come with the aforementioned metal Forte bits nowadays. You would have to confirm that though.

4) unless you are seriously obsessed by the speed of the Sette, I think the Vario gives more range of useful grinding for not a lot more money, plus it does not have a sealed, non-user-serviceable drive train which might be a consideration all the way in NZ

HTH

-Peter

Thoroughly appreciate the detailed insightful response.
I think you are spot on with your recommendation. - I remain partial to the Sette, but may need to reconsider options.

September 22nd, 2019, 2:32 pm

I happen to have an early Vario as well. I used it for a long time and wore it out, pretty much completely. It suffered a few wear-related issues over the years I used it, most easily addressed myself. But eventually it was so sloppy that it wouldn't grind anything approaching usable espresso. It went on the shelf and I went through a series of other grinders until getting the Monolith Conical for my home and the Sette 270wi for my weekend place.

The Vario went in for repair earlier this summer. Baratza upgraded it to the Forte metal grind chamber and I had brew-burrs put in as well. It's now my pour over grinder, and it does very well for that with the steel burrs in it.

I don't think the new Varios off the shelf have the metal chamber though, I think it is still the same plastic, albeit with lots of production improvements over the years.

FWIW, I think the Sette 270wi makes a better espresso than the Vario ever did.

September 22nd, 2019, 3:19 pm

nuketopia wrote:FWIW, I think the Sette 270wi makes a better espresso than the Vario ever did.

Could well be. My ten year old Vario has spent the last eight years grinding super fine for long pre infusion light roasts. Which is the duty I have my Monolith FlatSSP on nowadays. I have scant data on how well the Vario would do in the more medium thick syrupy espresso porn kind of grinding ranges where the Sette is known to excel. After the Vario gets back with the Forte bits, I'm getting it hyper-aligned to roughly Kafatek specs. While the burrs will not be the SSPs like on the Flat, I'm curious to see if there is any improvement in the super fine ranges that I normally use.

-Peter

#234: Post by **Haskens** » September 22nd, 2019, 4:53 pm

I had my sette 270 for just over 3 months. Had no performance issues other than a bit of grind setting drift but it was minor enough that it didn't bother me. It's a great grinder in the sense that it produces consistent grinds, is amazingly fast, is very low retention so great for single dosing and is ridiculously cheap for what you get. That said it is an entry level grinder and you shouldn't expect to get the most flavour out of your beans from a sette...and it is ridiculously loud.

I ended up replacing it with a Super Jolly with SSP burrs, because even though the workflow is much more contrived, the taste in the cup and the build quality are in completely different leagues. I would've kept it if it was at all competent in the brew range but it is pretty much useless outside the espresso range.

September 23rd, 2019, 12:04 am

Funny, I replaced my SJ with a Vario years ago. As to the Sette versus SJ, as to taste profile, etc) they are apples and oranges. Dealing with JUST taste preferences, if you like your shot more "homogenized"...individual flavors a bit less distinct, but overall showing more of the caramels and cocoa then the SJ will please. However, if you previous more "layered" flavor profiles, with the more fruity elements showcased, then the Sette may be your thing.
I've had no issues with my 2+ year old Sette (I have the newer adjustment ring.

#236: Post by **Haskens** » September 23rd, 2019, 1:40 am

Interesting, I found it to be exactly the opposite of what you said - the SJ with its larger flat burrs highlights fruity, floral and acidic notes much more, and much more so with ssp burrs. The sette for me produced rather muddled shots, but was good for developed roasts that were more chocolatey and old school. Everyone of my coffee geek friends (not that many) who have tried the two side by side while I still had the sette seemed to agree. Anyways the sette is a great grinder for the price, but while I had it I was constantly thinking of upgrading.

#237: Post by **boren** » September 23rd, 2019, 4:48 am

After 10 months I have no reliability issues to report with my 270Wi. The combination of excellent fluffy grind, automatic built-in scale, relatively compact size and very low retention is just what I want in a grinder. So much so that I can't think of a single grinder, at any budget, which would be better for my needs (except of course the Etzinger etzMAX, which looks like a 270Wi in disguise).

September 23rd, 2019, 12:07 pm

Haskens wrote:Interesting, I found it to be exactly the opposite of what you said - the SJ with its larger flat burrs highlights fruity, floral and acidic notes much more, and much more so with ssp burrs. The sette for me produced rather muddled shots, but was good for developed roasts that were more chocolatey and old school. .

Also interesting...as both Jim Schulman and myself found the Sette most pleasing with light medium to medium dark (stopped well before 2nd crack) as optimum. Lots of factors involved, of course. What roast, SO, or blend. Roast degree, age of the coffee, which roasting company. Normally, SJ's...Iowned 2 produced darker, less fruity shots accenting caramels and cocoa. I believe you'd find this to be the general consensus. Of course, as always YMMV.

Back on topic, it's good you found no issues with your Sette, other than wanting a different flavor profile from your grinder. Your SJ is a longstanding excellent grinder, if you're OK with the bit of extra fiddling.

September 23rd, 2019, 12:32 pm

This is as I recall where the Sette shines in flavors as well. Also dialing the way-back machine all the way back to 2009, I remember when the Vario hit the scene and Jim had it in (or exceeding) the SJ, which was huge news at the time. And no fidlding with retention. And now even less so, if you flip the flapper out of the way. Of course now the SJ can accept SSP burrs, providing an alternative particle profile from to the stock burrs.

Also, cooking and food prep hobbies being what they are, aesthetics play enough of a role that people are willing to make sacrifices in functionality in order to have the look and feel that makes them happy. "Fiddling" with a Super Jolly might be preferable to some, than the "fiddle-free" experience of a modern grinder made of light weight engineered materials. Some people enjoy how trucks drive and some prefer how sports cars drive. To each his own.

-Peter

#240: Post by **Haskens** » September 23rd, 2019, 5:29 pm

i suppose these things are subjective but I'll defer to the the opinions of more experienced folks who have replied here for anyone else reading. I do miss the fiddle free nature of the sette, but as i mentioned earlier the taste improvement particularly with the ssp burrs makes the fiddling worth it to me. I do plan on getting a niche zero, to use for darker roasts and as a brew grinder. I currently have the virtuoso which does a good job for brew but it would be nice to have a conical option for espresso as well. Your comments have made me think I should try getting some darker roasts and trying them on my SJ...I haven't had a darker roast espresso in a while. Sorry, I know this is all mostly off topic, but interesting discussions.