Article summary
DYK: The Best New Product Award for 2016 was given to the Baratza Sette 270Wi. This award was given to the grinder by the Specialty Coffee Association.
When coffee is ground by weight, there’s nothing that can make your dose inaccurate. This is exactly what the Sette 270Wi, the grinder that we cover in our Baratza Sette 270Wi review, is about.
As a recognizable model from Baratza’s line of coffee grinders, the Sette 270Wi is one of the best espresso grinders from Baratza and in the market as well. Apart from the digital scale that is part of the technology by Acaia, the Sette 270Wi also has 270 grind settings— 30 macro and 9 micro. The grinder furthermore has an incredibly large hopper, supporting arms for in-portafilter grinding, and makes for very little retention. This, and much more, is what you can expect the Baratza Sette 270Wi to bring you when it’s time for a rich espresso.
Key features:
- 40mm cone burrs
- Flip-down hopper door
- 10-ounce bean hopper
- Grinds about 5 grams of coffee a second
- 270 grind settings (9 macro and 30 micro adjustments)
- Grinds by weight
Pros
Excellent for espresso and finer grinds
Uses the finest technologies by Acaia to weigh the coffee as it grinds it and give you precise coffee ground quantities
With 270 grind settings, there isn’t a brew method you can’t use if you perfect the grounds used for it first
Thanks to the straight-thru mechanism the Sette 270Wi is super-fast, grinding about 5 grams a second directly into your portafilter or coffee collector, hands-free both ways
Cons
It is a costlier grinder
Sturdy and reliable with a unique design
Baratza does a great job at upgrading its products over time. That said, the Sette 270Wi is a well-refined version of the Baratza Sette 270W. Multiple things take place into this transformation, with the final result being a sturdy, stable, and a user-friendlier grinder.
The Baratza Sette270Wi is compact, but with large capacities for its hopper and coffee collector. The hopper is, naturally placed on the top, while the collector comfortably sits at the lower end of the grinder if you don’t have a portafilter placed there, of course.
To be able to fit different portafilters and its coffee collector, the Baratza Sette 270Wi has an integrated pair of adjustable portafilter arms which you can move around to accommodate your ground holding media. What’s interesting is that you can also adjust the angle of the portafilter as it’s sitting on the arms, with the grinder fitting just about any portafilter out there.
When it comes to the control panel of the Sette 270Wi, the grinder has it on the front. There are three buttons for three preset grinding weights, a pulse button, two buttons for weight adjustments, and a button to stop the grinding process.
The changes in weight are visible on the tiny display located in the center top of the Baratza Sette 270Wi. Bellow the control panel are two scales with 270 grind settings divided into macro and micro ones.
In terms of its color palette, the Sette 270Wi by Baratza features nice layers of black and silver that don’t let the grinder be monotonous. Its body is, like we said, sturdy and stable, with resembling the shape of the number 7.
Overall, the Baratza Sette 270Wi performs as powerfully as it looks, which we’re about to discover in the next lines.
Grind by weight with the Baratza Sette 270Wi
What makes the Sette 270Wi better than the Baratza Encore and other entry-level grinder is that it grinds by weight.
Baratza knew what it was doing when it decided to collaborate with Acaia and integrate Acaia’s technology to the Sette 270Wi. Thanks to this technology, the grinder is capable to, with its digital scale, precisely measure the grind doses that you choose. In fact, that’s exactly what the ‘i’ in the name of the Sette 270Wi stands for— the intelligent Acaia technology. This technology helps the grinder not only weigh the coffee, but it also eliminates the influence of some external factors that might prevent the grinder from weighing the dose correctly— absolutely fascinating!
As we already mentioned, the Baratza Sette 270Wi comes with three buttons that, when pressed, let you choose a preset dose. The buttons are programmable and they let you control the weight of the dose to the tenth of a gram; this is why the grinder needs its precise digital scale.
One more thing that is interesting about the weighing technology of the Sette 270Wi are its software updates. That said, the Baratza Sette 270Wi can be connected to an Acaia app via Bluetooth and have its software updated once Acaia makes some changes to it—hooray for precision!
270 grind settings: the macro and the micro way
The grind settings of the Baratza Sette 270Wi are located at the front of the grinder; it’s actually two setting scales that the grinder has.
The top scale is consisted of 30 macro settings that range from coarser to finer options. The micro scale is right underneath the macro scale and it allows you to choose from 9 adjustments to fine-tune your grind.
The Baratza Sette 270Wi is especially great for grinding coffee for espresso, meaning that it truly shines when it’s set to grind the coffee finely. You will get nice results if you go a bit coarser or drip-brew, but this is definitely a grinder that you’d like to use with your espresso machine.
40mm cone burrs and a mechanism for straight-thru grinding
The burrs of the Sette 270Wi are cone burrs that grind fast, but not too fast. Baratza did this intentionally to make the grinder less noisy and also more efficient.
The position of the burrs and the position of the path through which ground coffee passes before it reaches your portafilter help the grinder have very little retention. This means that almost all the grounds will end up into the portafilter or the coffee collector, with very little coffee sticking to the 40mm burrs or the inside of the grinder. That said, the grinder leaves very little coffee for you to dust off later, and dusting off is easy thanks to the easily removable burrs.
A 10-ounce removable bin hopper
The hopper of the Baratza Sette 270Wi has a capacity of 10 ounces. Large and durable, this hopper will always have the grinder ready for the next grind.
Once you’re out of beans in the hopper, refilling it is easy because it is removable. Just turn the long knob attached to the hopper to close its bottom, and you’ll be free of any mess that could happen if you were to spill any beans. What an awesome hopper!
A cool solution to under-dosing
If you feel like you need a bit more coffee for your espresso, the Baratza Sette 270Wi has you covered with a handy pulse button. Grind as much as you want by pressing and holding the pulse button for as long as you think the grinder should grind. Once you’re done, stop pressing the button and you’ll be ready to go espresso!
FAQ about the Baratza Sette 270Wi
Are the burrs of the Baratza Sette 270Wi made of stainless steel or ceramics?
The burrs of this grinder are made of stainless steel.
Is this a good grinder for Turkish coffee?
Yes, it is.
Is the Baratza Sette 270Wi going to support my 51mm portafilter without me holding the portafilter?
Yes, it will. It’s a hands-free grinder.
Conclusion
What an amazing grinder! We really like the Baratza Sette 270Wi and its multiple features. If you’re looking for complete commodity in grinding and you’re also a lover of brew methods that use finely ground coffee, this is the right grinder for you. Sturdy, durable, stable, quiet, and consistent, the Baratza Sette 270Wi will keep you espresso happy for years!