Baratza Sette 270
A fast, low-retention espresso grinder that Baratza itself lists as ABS plastic - the burrs are the only part of the coffee path that isn't polymer.
The verdict: Mostly plastic
Baratza is unusually direct here, which makes this an easy call: the product sheets for all three Sette models state "Construction Material: ABS Plastic," and the grounds bin is described as "made from an antistatic plastic, with a molded spout." Those are among the very few places any grinder manufacturer names an actual resin.
The marketing describes a straight-through design where coffee simply falls from the burrs into the portafilter. The real path is a plastic hopper, then a ported plastic cone burr holder that the service manual calls the black cone burr holder and has you unclog through its six openings, then 40mm steel Etzinger burrs, then a plastic exit chute the manual tells you to pull away from that holder, then a plastic grounds bin. The path is genuinely short and retention is genuinely low - but every surface in it except the burrs is polymer.
The one metal upgrade Baratza offers is trivial: the 270 and 270Wi get a metal hopper shut-off handle where the Sette 30 gets a plastic one. No metal or glass hopper has ever been offered for any Baratza grinder, and the only alternate hopper sold - the Single Dose Hopper - is also plastic.
Verification: Manufacturer confirmed
What it's made of
| Part | Material | Food contact |
|---|---|---|
| hopper identical across all three Sette models; only the shut-off handle differs | Plastic other / unspecified | Yes primary |
| hopper shut-off handle metal on the 270 and 270Wi; plastic on the Sette 30 | Metal unspecified | Yes primary |
| cone burr holder service manual calls it the black cone burr holder and describes scraping its six ported openings to declog | Plastic other / unspecified | Yes primary |
| burrs 40mm steel conical, made by Etzinger in Liechtenstein. The ring burr rotates and is integral to the crown gear | Stainless Steel grade unspecified | Yes primary |
| exit chute / nozzle service manual has you remove it by pulling away from the cone burr holder | Plastic other / unspecified | Yes primary |
| grounds bin Baratza states it is "made from an antistatic plastic, with a molded spout"; 120g usable | Plastic other / unspecified | Yes primary |
| body product sheet states "Construction Material: ABS Plastic" | Plastic other / unspecified | No |
A distinctive fast espresso grinder - about 3.5g per second - built around a rotating ring burr driven off a crown gear, which lets the whole assembly sit almost directly above the portafilter. Macro and micro adjustment rings give 30 settings each. The 270 adds programmable timed dosing over the Sette 30; the 270Wi adds a built-in scale for grind-by-weight. Designed in Seattle, manufactured in Taiwan.
Pros
- Very fast, and retention is genuinely near zero thanks to the short path
- Etzinger steel burrs are excellent for espresso at this price
- Baratza publishes parts diagrams and sells nearly every component
- Honest spec sheets - the brand names the resin rather than hiding it
Cons
- Baratza's own spec sheet gives the construction material as ABS plastic
- Hopper, cone burr holder, exit chute and grounds bin are all plastic
- The straight-through marketing overstates it - there is a discrete plastic chute
- Loud, and known for needing periodic declogging of the ported burr holder
Notes
- The Sette 30, 270 and 270Wi share the same coffee path and the same materials; only dosing features differ
- Baratza's Single Dose Hopper accessory is also plastic - there is no metal or glass hopper for any model
- The Forté is the better Baratza on materials, with a manufacturer-confirmed aluminum grind chamber - though its hopper, chute and bin are still plastic
Categories: Electric Grinders
Sources
Every material claim above is backed by these. This is the scattered info we centralized.
- manufacturer https://breville-production-aem-assets.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ZCG1270/Sette+270+Documents/Sette-PLEV-v2.7-012324.pdf official parts list and exploded view; product sheet states "Construction Material: ABS Plastic" and describes the grounds bin as made from an antistatic plastic with a molded spout. Service instructions describe removing the exit chute by pulling away from the cone burr holder
- manufacturer https://www.baratza.com/en-us/product/settetm-270-zcg1270 marketing describes coffee falling from the burrs down into the portafilter; confirms 40mm steel conical burrs and Taiwan manufacture
- manufacturer https://www.baratza.com/en-us/product/black-single-dose-hopper-for-sette-series-grinders-zgas916blk0zxx1 the only alternate hopper Baratza offers, and it is also plastic
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