Recently, I've bought a Baratza Sette 30 as a gift for my mother who's just starting out in espresso. Considering she is going to pair it with a machine that uses pressurized baskets, I thought she would therefore benefit from the ease and consistency of a stepped grinder. Therefore, I thought I'd pick up the Sette 30 (for which I got an amazing deal in Belgium). Having read some reviews online about all types of Sette's I thought: before gifting this grinder, first let's try it out for a couple of weeks to figure out its quirks and spot any defects, if present.

However, to my total surprise I started to love this thing. For context. I've been using it with my GS/3 MP and as frame of reference; I'm currently using a Mythos Barista (low speed, TI-burrs).

What was to be expected

It's quick and it dispenses coffee with hardly any clumping. Also, it has a low retention - I use it here only to single dose and it only retains a gram or so right after cleaning. It easily grinds fine enough to choke my machine, even with a long pre-infusion.

What surprised me most was

- It's most awesome feature; I found it to be hilariously simple to clean. Why aren't all grinders made to be taken apart this easy? This is a major plus for me since I feel the Mythos is just to cumbersome to totally take apart and clean regularly. The Sette I clean almost daily - can't stress enough how happy that makes me feel.

- Using it for the first time I had my hearing protection at hand, however, its noise-levels are not as bad as I thought they would be based on the descriptions of others (maybe it's in the ear of the beholder?). I'd say they are pretty much in line with the noise-level of my aligned Mythos (before alignment, it seemed to be slightly quieter though).

- The adjustability is pretty decent for a stepped grinder of this sort. I think each incremental step results in +/- a five second increase in the time required to hit a certain output weight using my GS3 e.g. on 9 it takes 25 seconds to hit 36 grams whereas on 8 it takes +/- 30 seconds.

- It makes darn tasty shots! Granted I've only used it with medium roasts at relatively short brewing ratio's (everything between 1:1 and 1:2) whereas I'd usually opt for lighter roasts at longer brewing ratios (at least 1:2). Next, week my order from 'The Barn' comes in so I'm going to test it with a lighter roast. I'll update my findings here.

Concluding. The Sette 30 is a great little entry level grinder - in my opinion superior to the Macap M2m that I used to own (which did have slightly more adjustability but was far less user friendly overall). I've been enjoying it so much that I've been contemplating whether I'd want to switch out my Mythos for something like a Sette 270 or an Etzinger Etzmax. First, let's see how this little Sette will handle some light-roasts. Cheers.

I had a similar experience with the Sette 270wi: Baratza Sette 270wi vs Monolith Flat

Baratza also has amazing customer service which is something definitely worth mentioning when you are deciding on gear.

lloydalvarez wrote:I had a similar experience with the Sette 270wi: Baratza Sette 270wi vs Monolith Flat

True, I think I've read your review back when deciding whether to pick this one up. Really interesting stuff. Actually, tried it with a light roast too today (Caffénation's Mister LGB, also a monthly must try for those who are in the EU and interested in that sort of thing). Had it set at 8 (same setting that I used for my shorter medium roasted shots earlier this week). A little bit of pre-wetting (10s) and 30 seconds of shot time gave me a nice 1:2 shot.

In terms of taste: nothing to complain about here either. Definitely more fruity than my medium roast shots all the while being plenty highly extracted.