Features and Benefits:
• 54mm Ditting flat ceramic burrs
• 26 micron adjustment steps
• 230 grind steps
• Grind by weight (when using grinds container)
• Small footprint: 13 x 18 x 37 cm tall (approx)
• Three programmable doses
The Baratza Forte AP is one of the best premium 64mm flat burr grinders for home espresso. It was originally created as a commercial grinder, but quickly became popular as a home grinder.
There's no doubt this is a decent grinder for espresso, the ceramic flat burrs are known for highlighter chocolate notes, the grinding steps are very small at just 26 microns.
There are three programmable doses, which are very easy to change, the touch screen is really simple to use, the barista light is handy, it looks and feels incredibly well built, and overall this is a cracking grinder.
Personally, my only bug bear with the Forte AP is that the grind by weight doesn't work with the portafilter cradle, only with the grinds container.
It wouldn't be an issue at all if the feature that used to work on this grinder, still worked, but in the last firmware update they completely removed it, for reasons I can't understand.
This feature meant that you could grind by weight, and then convert that into a time, for using the portafilter forks, so until you changed the grind size, you'd get the same weight. That was flipping genius, and then they updated the firmware, and removed it, which was odd.
It's not a huge deal, you can just weigh the dose and then work out the time, but it would have been so much easier if they kept this feature.
Apart from this, I really like the Forte AP. It's fast, it's a little bit on the loud side (not as loud as the Sette) but it looks ace, it's really fast and simple to use, and it really does produce very good espresso.
As you probably know, Sage (Breville Worldwide) now own Baratza, and I'm not sure what's happening with prices. This used to sell for just under a grand in the UK, the price Coffee Hit are currently selling it for is madness!
I can't believe this is going to be the regular price for it once Sage take over the distribution, which I assume is probably in the process of happening, so if you're considering this grinder, I'd grab it for this price if I were you!