# Baratza Sette vs Rancilio Rocky Grind Phenomena



## uilleann (Jul 3, 2016)

I started another thread about the Sette and there are two others but this is a very specific question about the grind.

I have the Rocky and the Sette. Both grind settings (6 for the Rocky, 11C for the Sette) for 20g of grind in a 20g VST filter. Both set for the same time on a Rancilio Silva PID of a 1.5sec pre-soak followed by 25 sec of water. Both at 222F. Both grinders with these settings get me about a 40g shot. Both taste good.

BUT....

The Rocky grind feels really powdery, cakes a bit, and settles on its own (with out tapping or tamping) more than the Sette.

The sette grind feels grainy (but fine grains), does not cake, and does not settle much on its own.

Both finish tamping at about the same level.

How can these two grinds, that feel and look so different, end up with the same 1:2 40g yield. Is it the individual grain shape or the distribution that id different? I find it odd and the engineer in me is craving an answer.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

uilleann said:


> How can these two grinds, that feel and look so different, end up with the same 1:2 40g yield. Is it the individual grain shape or the distribution that id different? I find it odd and the engineer in me is craving an answer.


Because you pulled twice the weight of liquid through the dose, that part is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Other than both tasting good we don't know any other information. With good prep & if both grinders can deliver a ball-park extraction at 1:2, then both will, they don't need to have the same average grind size, nor the same distribution (proportion of small & large particles). If the Rocky has less grainy particles, then it can do this with an overall finer grind. Both grinders may produce a good taste at slightly different extractions, but at the same ratio (I'm not saying that they have for sure, just that the potential is there). The fact they do this at 25sec isn't remarkable, shots from each grinder could be +/-5sec for a similar result, maybe more variation in time if you measured & timed enough shots (say a 100)?

Regarding particle shape, we could speculate, but given that each dose may contain around half a million particles, it obviously averages out somewhat in the context of your shot parameters and if we look at distributions in terms of % or ‰.


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