The Sette 30 is the base model in Baratza’s Sette series. Eight years in the making, the Sette family of grinders were highly anticipated when they were released back in 2017, scooping up awards and acclaim from espresso lovers everywhere. This impressive family of grinders feature a long list of innovations in the design. Coffee is ground from the hopper straight-thru the burrs and immediately dispensed with a miniscule half gram retention. The outer burr, rather than the inner burr, does the spinning, a revolutionary change that results in twice the grinding surface area and ultra-fast grinding.

Features and Performance

Baratza’s proprietary gearbox and powerful high-torque motor combine forces to minimize heat while maximizing efficiency and output. Just how fast is it, you ask? Well, depending on the setting, the Sette 30 grinds 3.5 to 5.5 grams per second, which is twice as fast as the Vario. Color us impressed. We did notice that the Sette grinders are louder than Baratza’s other grinders due to the open straight-thru design, but their high speed more than makes up for a little noise in our book.

The entire Sette family shares the same durable 40mm steel burrs (the Sette 30’s are housed in plastic, while the 270 models are housed in steel); and they can all be fitted with Baratza’a BG, or brew grind, burrs, which are less sharp and produce fewer fines, making them perfect for coarser brew methods. The S1 burrs are designed to grind for espresso or medium coarse brew methods such as AeroPress or Hario V60; to grind for coarser brew methods, you can swap them out in a swift thirty seconds for drip, pour over and whatever else you like. Sette the stage for super shots with the Sette 30.

Why You Should Get It

Using the Sette 30 is as intuitive as it gets. You can adjust the grind size across 31 settings by twisting the adjustment dial, for a sweeping grind range of 230-950 microns. Jot down your favorite settings to easily and reliably reproduce results. To accommodate various brew methods, the portaholder pegs can be repositioned to hold the included 5.6 oz grounds container; and you can easily swap beans by twisting the plastic stopper closed and removing the hopper. The Sette 30 allows you to program one preset by time, which accurately doses the specified amount with an accuracy of 1/10th of a second.

We love the Sette 30 for all its innovations, versatility, consistency and speedy delivery of fluffy grounds. It’s an excellent entry level espresso grinder that we recommend for anyone with a single-boiler or pressurized espresso machine who’s looking for a great grinder at a veritable value. If you want to pair a Sette with a prosumer machine and need more fine tuning and dosing presets, take a look at the Sette 270 models. The standard 270 has stepless micro adjustment between its 31 macro settings and three programmable timed dose presets, and the 270Wi has those same great upgrades while also incorporating accurate weight-based grinding into the mix.