# Iberital MC2 doserless vs Baratza Encore



## hilltopbrews (May 17, 2013)

Hello all

I'm currently looking for a grinder to pair up with gaggia classic. Due to budget and experience, I'm sticking with either mc2 or encore.

I was wondering if any of you have had experiences with any of the grinders mentioned? Which one would be better to use?

Mc2 is 125 from happydonkey and encore is 116 from amazon.

Thanks


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Does the mc2 price include VAt and delivery ?

they used to only apply this at checkout ....


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

I think you need to add VAT on the Happy Donkey price.

Used MC2 do come up fairly often on the forum. I picked one up on here for a friend with a Classic for £65.

They tend to go any where between £50-£90 depending on condition.

If you picked one a used one and then upgraded in a few months you could sell it on for about the same that you got it for.

I don't know about the encore for espresso.


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## hilltopbrews (May 17, 2013)

Yea you are right about the vat thingy. It's 114 for the mc2 and at checkout it's 136.80.


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## Eyedee (Sep 13, 2010)

Just as a rule of thumb here, the MC2 is referred to often as the basic grinder capable of producing espresso quality grinds while the Encore is rarely mentioned. Make of that what you will.

Ian


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

Didn't somebody very recently, as in the last week or so, post a much cheaper price for an MC2 from somewhere? I believe than Andy (Coffeebean) also sells them and is willing to negotiate on price for forum members.


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## hilltopbrews (May 17, 2013)

Thanks eyedee, I did wonder that. I searched for the encore and it doesn't seem popular.

Hi charliej, thanks I'll look for andy(coffee bean) and ask him about the grinder


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

The main issue with the Encore is that it is a stepped grinder and anecdotally has more of it's available grinding range more suited to brewed coffee and only a small number of steps that are usable in the espresso range.


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## hilltopbrews (May 17, 2013)

Apart from these 2 brands of grinder I'm also thinking of sage smart grinder(very wide range of grinding selection like encore but digital) which I get with discount but after the demo, I thought id stick to grinder specifically for espresso and to pair with gaggia. Who knows I might get both iberital mc2 and sage.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

mc2 and sage? If you've got money for that get a Mignon.


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## hilltopbrews (May 17, 2013)

Not with the discount I get! Besides mignon is too boxy


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

The Mignon is one of the best looking grinders imo, very stylish


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

I can do the MC2 on demand (in silver or black) for £160 delivered. Same price for doser version but only available in silver. Another option worth considering is the Fracino Piccino grinder (rebadged Ascaso I-mini) which I can do for £130 delivered for the black ABS one and £150 for the painted black aluminium one.

Andy


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## origin_siphon (Apr 21, 2015)

How would people compare the MC2 with the Encore or Baratza Virtuoso for primary Turkish (so very fine) and Siphon use?


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

I was in your situation mulling over these two grinders myself. Now I haven't used either (ended up with a flat burred Ascaso on a very good price) but I still have a lot of the research in my head.

You can make the Encore more suited to espresso use by recalibrating the burrs, so you have more of the 40 steps in the espresso zone (for lack of a better descriptor). The instructions to recalibrate the burrs are on t'interweb.

Another point to consider is the treatment of the workers who build the grinders. The MC2 is built in Spain so you know the workers have been treated decently. The Encore is assembled in Far East (burrs made in EU) so their working conditions and pay aren't going to compare. I don't know if that is important to you or not.

If I had the money burning a hole in my wallet I would go with the Mignon (built in Italy) based upon the legion of satisfied users here.


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## frederickaj (Jul 31, 2014)

Seattle coffee gear crew didn't really rate the encore for espresso .

Have you thought about the Demoka range . Available on Ebay Germany for about £100 second hand .


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## domjon1 (Feb 14, 2013)

I used the encore for espresso for a while, it's just about doable but a bit of a pain...even with the burrs 'recalibrated' the steps are still too far apart to make dialing in a simple process. It's a good little grinder for brewed but hard to recommend for espresso even given the price. Haven't used an MC2 so can't compare.


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## mwardm (Oct 3, 2013)

I haven't bought my own grinder yet - think I'm going to go for the Mignon - but research-in-head-wise it looks like you can get the Graef CM800 from amazon.de for about 100 quid and that's tempting me as a possible economy measure. The downsides: There are suggestions on this forum that it's a decent-enough grinder but I don't think there's a definitive statement (or concensus). Not sure there are any owners here. It also looks a bit plasticky so longevity might be a concern. And I guess you'd need to put a UK plug on it.

Mike


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## mwardm (Oct 3, 2013)

(Oops. I'm thinking maybe the OP got her grinder, and origin_syphon asked his question in another thread and may even have made his choice now too....)


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## DomSheridan (Jul 12, 2015)

I am looking at an Mc2 as well. I have read it is the best value non commercial grinder that can do an espresso grind for my gaggia am I right? What would you all recommend?


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## Gander24 (Apr 11, 2015)

Theres a wonderful model on sale in just now in the for sale thread.......... (For clarity i am the seller, so ill not try and advise due to conflict of interest ️)


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