Coffee

8459 readers

3 users here now

☕ - The hot beverage that powers the world!

Coffee gadgets - It's always great to learn about new gadgets. Please share your favorite hardware or full setups. It might inspire newcomers to experiment!

Local businesses - Please promote your local businesses. If you are not the owner of the business you are promoting, kindly ask the owner if it's okay. It would be great if the business has a physical store to include an exterior or interior shot.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

martijn

[email protected]

Budget Burr Grinder Showdown: Refurbished Fellow Ode vs. Baratza Encore (self.coffee)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Lowered_lifted to c/coffee

24 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Edit: forgot to mention that the fellow ode is usually like 250 but the refurbs are 150, is a refurb a bad idea in itself?

I pretty much have $150USD to spend on a nice burr grinder and I am pretty sure that one of these two would do the trick. I grind small amounts at once, like say 30-50g, but that's too big for most hand grinders plus I don't want to have to operate one while lacking caffeine. I want a machine but I want it not to suck. I don't have an espresso machine, or a Turkish coffee maker, and these two supposedly do everything from aeropress to French press so that seems good for me. Mostly going to be doing V60 and also drip coffee for the partner who prefers quantity over quality. Need to get a drip coffee maker too but I figure most of them are similar, probably will get a Krups or Bunn. I have a Fellow kettle so I kinda want the Ode to match but I also have some things I hate about the Fellow kettle like small size and lack of utility for things other than pour over coffee. Does the Ode have similar pitfalls? I like the small batch grinding capacity, whereas the Encore seems like a traditional hopper style grinder that you're supposed to pour a whole bag into. But I have been told that the Encore is the way to go for entry level burr grinders. So what do y'all think?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Lowered_lifted 3 points 1 year ago

So I ended up getting the Ode 1.0 after all. Hear me out: It was $143 on Amazon, with the same Fellow warranty and such. & Fellow has the 2.0 burrs available for $68 so with both things I am still only in it for $211. This compares unfavorably with the Turin/iTop/Xeoleo/generic Alibaba SD40 machine because those can be had for only $167 on Alibaba. It's also more expensive than the other contender, the Solis Scala Zero, which came in at $100. I was going to go for the Opus maybe at $165 too, but then I kinda realized that I was buying the wrong kind of grinder for my brewing style.

Basically I want to brew light roast beans and bring out their flowery clear notes so I basically figure flat burrs are the way to go. Once I decided that I wanted flat burrs the Ode was the way to go. The 2 year warranty on the Fellow when registered on their site is also good, and I have had good experiences with their "VIP" customer service team. They also do longevity testing on their grinders, and it's super easy to dial in when exhausted. I am a basic bitch essentially is why I got it. I won't ever do espresso at home until I have the money to upgrade to a much better setup, and that would imply that I have the money to get a SK40 or DF64 for espresso anyway. I figure that because I am literally only doing filter coffee the Ode with 2.0 burrs will be good. I brewed my first cups with it, and it seems fine. I think the 2.0 burr will be a worthy upgrade when I can afford to do so next month. I also needed it quickly because partner needed grounds for their new Capresso drip machine. It seems like the most bog standard crappy plastic coffee machine, but they like the coffee it makes, so that's a win, but it's probably due to the new grinder.