Baratza Forté BG

What it does well

The burrs are built for filter. Baratza says the steel flat burr is precision-milled in Europe for "high clarity of flavor." Seattle Coffee Gear says the Ditting burrs "result in fewer fines for the ultimate pour over or drip brew."

Dosing is flexible. Baratza lists both a timer accurate to 0.1 seconds and a scale accurate to 0.1 grams. You can save three presets, which helps when one grinder serves several brewers.

The range is wide for a brew grinder. Honest Coffee Guide gives it a span of 230 to 1,150 microns, and lists a setting for every brew method except Turkish.

The build is the other draw. Seattle Coffee Gear notes the upgraded metal internals and all-metal case. Home Grounds praises the build quality, finds the grinder quiet for its power, and expects five to ten years of service with care.

Where it falls short

Price is the obvious one. Home Grounds lists cost as the main drawback, and says the Forté is priced slightly too high for the average home user.

It is not an espresso grinder. Honest Coffee Guide lists an espresso band on its scale, and its range reaches 230 microns. But Baratza sells the BG for brewing, and Home Grounds says the Forté is not the best choice for dialing in espresso.

The controls are more involved than a single dial. You set grind size with two levers, macro and micro, and dose from a touchscreen. Baratza says each macro step splits into 26 micro steps.

Who should buy it, and who shouldn't

Buy it if you grind a lot of filter coffee every day, for a household, office or small café. It suits people who want weight-based dosing and a grinder built to last.

Skip it if you brew a single cup a day, since Home Grounds aims it at heavy use. Skip it if you want espresso from the same grinder, since the Forté AP or another all-rounder is the better fit.

Skip it too if you prefer single dosing. The Forté is built around a 300 g hopper, though Baratza says its shut-off hopper lets you swap coffees without tipping the grinder.

How it compares

The Fellow Ode Gen 2 is the most common brew-only flat-burr alternative. It is smaller, single-dose and simpler, without a scale or touchscreen.

The Baratza Vario+ shares the Forté's metal grind chamber, according to Coffee Works. It uses ceramic burrs that favour espresso, and Baratza lists timer-only dosing.

The Forté BG vs DF64 Gen 2 comparison sets a hopper-fed brew grinder against a single-dose all-rounder. The Forté BG vs Mahlkönig EK43 pair shows it against a café brew standard.

Owning it

Baratza includes a burr removal tool, so you can swap burrs or clean the chamber yourself. See how to clean a burr grinder and how to replace grinder burrs for the steps.

The grinder ships calibrated, with a calibration tool to adjust its range. If you recalibrate, follow how to calibrate a grinder, since the settings chart assumes the factory range.

Baratza's US warranty is one year, and Baratza lists replacement parts on its own site. Use the settings chart on this page as your starting point.