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Baratza supplied a Sette 30 grinder to CoffeeGeek for testing. |
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Is it still kosher to call something a “Rocky Killer?” For decades, the Rancilio Rocky was considered the “gold standard” for the entry level, “prosumer” home espresso grinder, by many. Not by us at CoffeeGeek, but definitely by many.
And for many years — maybe as much as 20 years, ending 5 to 7 years ago — the Rancilio Rocky was one of the best selling espresso grinders in the world. But consider these things: the Rocky was designed in the early 1990s and hasn’t changed much at all, save for the introduction of a doserless chute model in the early 2000s. Sure, it’s built like a tank with lots of metal and beef, but it has a rather wide range on its grind fineness adjustment, so much so that going from one setting to the next could result in a shot that runs 3 or 4 seconds longer. And the 18 pound Rocky is slow… clocking in at less than a gram a second.
Plenty of grinders have come along since to challenge the $380 Rocky for home espresso supremacy. There’s the Quamar and Eureka doser grinders near the same price with much more grind fineness adjustments and much faster grinding speeds. The Ascaso grinders have been around for about 15 years and offer much finer grind adjustments as well. Even Breville’s offerings currently — the Smart Grinder Pro ($200) and the Dose Control Pro ($150) — offer better grind selections and faster speeds. And there’s Baratza’s lineup, from the $250 Virtuoso+ (faster, capable of a great espresso grind, digital timers), to the $470 Vario, $379 Sette 270 and $549 Sette 270Wi offerings (many more grind selections, faster, some with built in scales, all with better customer service).
All of these grinders could be called Rocky Killers, and probably a few are, surpassing the Rocky in sales and fans.
A recent offering from Baratza looks like a true Rocky killer though, in that, it offers much of what the Rocky does (built for espresso use, but can do other grinds, has 30 grind settings (the Rocky has 40), but beats the Rocky completely in a) speed, b) grind output quality, c) digital 1/100th a second timer, d) fantastic after sales customer support, and e) it’s $130 cheaper. It’s the Baratza Sette 30 grinder. And that grinder is the subject of this Quickshot Review.