DF64 II vs Baratza Encore ESP: which espresso grinder to buy

Burr size and shape both change how the grinder behaves under load. The DF64 II's 64 mm flat burr set is larger than the Encore ESP's 40 mm conical burr, which lets it grind through the same dose with less heat buildup and generally a narrower spread of particle sizes at a given setting. A flat burr and a conical burr are simply different geometries for cutting beans down to size, and the larger flat burr is the format most single dose, stepless grinders in this price range are built around. Neither difference changes what the machine can do without a good espresso machine behind it; the grinder is only half of getting a shot right.

The Encore ESP moves between 40 discrete settings, which means there can be a gap where one setting runs a shot too fast and the very next setting runs it too slow, with nothing in between to try. A 1:2 ratio target of an 18 gram dose yielding 36 grams of espresso in 25 to 32 seconds sometimes falls exactly between two of those steps. The DF64 II's stepless collar has no clicks at all, so you can nudge the setting by a hair and land exactly inside that window instead of choosing the lesser of two imperfect options. This matters most with beans that are fussy about grind size, and matters far less with beans that pull a good shot across a wide range of settings.

Single dosing means weighing in exactly the beans you plan to grind for one shot rather than filling a hopper that sits partly loaded between uses. The DF64 II is built around this: there is no hopper to speak of, so beans never sit exposed to air and light for days at a time, and switching between two different bags of beans does not mean flushing out a chamber of old grounds first. The Encore ESP is hopper fed, which is more convenient for grabbing a scoop and grinding without a scale in hand, at the cost of some stale grounds retention and beans sitting loaded longer than a single dose grinder would allow.

Slightly, yes, and that is a fair tradeoff for the control it offers. Every grind on the DF64 II starts with weighing beans on a scale such as the Timemore Basic 2.0 at $55.00, since there is no hopper to scoop from. The Encore ESP lets you grind straight from a loaded hopper with no scale required for the beans themselves, even though weighing the shot's output still matters on either grinder. For someone making one drink in the morning, that extra step is a few seconds. For someone grinding for a household quickly, the hopper workflow on the Encore ESP is genuinely faster.

Buy the Baratza Encore ESP at $199.95 if this is your first grinder or you want the simpler hopper workflow, and pair it with a real espresso machine such as the Gaggia Classic Evo Pro. Buy the DF64 II at $399.00 once you already understand ratio, dose and extraction time and are running into the limits of a stepped adjustment, or if you already own a machine like the Breville Barista Pro and want the grinder to stop being the weakest part of the chain. If $399.00 feels like too big a jump but stepless adjustment still appeals, the DF54 at $229.00 offers the same single dose, stepless design in a smaller 54 mm burr for close to the Encore ESP's price.