Baratza Forte Coffee Grinder

For many years Baratza has been known for quality grinders and has built a reputation of legendary customer service. We are pleased to be able to offer you the Baratza Forté-AP, Baratza's newest offering in high-end coffee grinders. The Baratza Forté-AP is ready to serve your coffee-grinding needs whether they be for perc, drip, pour-over, press pot, or espresso. Don't let its compact size fool you! This full-featured coffee grinder has been designed from the ground up to serve your needs whether you are running a coffee shop or just making coffee at home.

Sporting a digital touch screen and modern good looks, weighing just 13 pounds and just 14” tall with its hopper, just reading the Baratza Forté-AP's specifications you would think is was at least two feet tall and weighed thirty pounds! Concentrated performance in a compressed package!

Burrs – When considering a grinder you start with the burrs. The Baratza Forté-AP has ceramic burrs, manufactured in Germany by Mahlkönig. The “AP” means “All Purpose,” and that is what these burrs are all about. Specially designed for virtually all brewing methods, the ceramic material will stay sharp, and in normal use will provide excellent performance for many years. But the burrs are just the beginning!

Grind Settings for All Occasions – Having a grinder designed for virtually any brew method means that it needs a wide range of adjustment. Percolator needs a coarse grind. Espresso needs a fine grind with small adjustment steps for to fine tune the grind for best taste. Baratza accomplishes that with a unique adjustment system.

Two front-mounted levers work together for adjustments. The right-hand lever is the “Macro” adjustment. This offers ten steps of adjustment. The user then “fine tunes” the grind using the “Micro” adjustment on the left side of the grinder. The Micro adjustment has 23 steps. Together these give you 230 adjustment steps (23 x 10).

Real-Time Volume Control – The ratio of coffee to water is critical for best taste in all brewing methods. The Forté-AP takes care of how much coffee gets ground using your choice of three different methods:

• Time-Based Grinding – Using the touch-screen, you can run the grinder for a specific amount of time. Press “TIME” and then press the 1, 2, or 3 on the screen. The pre-programmed amount of time in seconds will be displayed. Then press “START” to grind your coffee. The time for just this one grinding can be changed using the up or down arrows on the touch screen, or the programmed times can be modified in any of the three memory locations and saved in its non-volatile memory as well.
• Weight-Based Grinding - The Forté-AP has a digital scale built into its base. It works with the ground coffee bin as well as with the PortaHolder. Press “Weight” on the screen and the mass of coffee to be ground (in grams) will be displayed on the screen. Press “Start” and in real-time the Forté-AP will weigh the coffee as it drops into the bin and the grinding stops within 0.2 grams (that's 0.007 ounces!) of that amount of coffee. The weight for just this one grinding can be changed using the up or down arrows on the touch screen, or the programmed weights can be modified in any of the three memory locations and saved in its non-volatile memory as well.
• Manual Mode – You can also press the “M” button and then either “Weight” or “Time” and the grinder will begin grinding and the amount of time elapsed during the grinding or the mass of coffee ground will display. Press “STOP” when the desired amount of coffee has been ground.

Belt Driven Quiet Drive System – The Baratza Forté features a powerful DC motor which connects to the burrs using an industrial belt drive system. The motor is designed for long duty cycles as would be found in a small commercial setting. The motor is protected from overheating damage by a thermal safety circuit that automatically resets itself.

PortaHolder – The Baratza Forté-AP comes with a snap-in portafilter holder which can be used in place of the Ground Coffee Bin. The holder has steel bars to hold the portafilter in place while grinding. These bars can be adjusted (using a Phillips screwdriver, not included) to fit the portafilter of your choice. With the PortaHolder in place the Forté-AP can grind directly into the portafilter using any of the three grinding methods (weight, time, or manual).

Ground Coffee Bin – For brewing methods other than espresso just use the included bin by removing the PortaHolder and inserting the plastic bin. The bin works with any of the three grinding methods (weight, time, or manual).

Bean Hopper – The included bean hopper holds approximately one-half pound of beans. In some situations, such as in a coffee shop, that is not enough. Optional hopper extensions which stack on the included hopper are available, each of which holds an additional 9 ounces of beans.

Burrs Calibration – The Forté-AP comes with a special Allen wrench for making a calibration adjustment of the distance between the burrs. This adjustment makes sure that you get as fine of a grind as possible without damaging the burrs as well as to help compensate for wear over time to maintain optimal performance. The adjustment procedure is clearly explained in the excellent owners manual and no other tools are required.

Scale Calibration – If you are getting an incorrect mass of ground coffee using weight-based grinding or if the display shows an “EEE” or “out” error, you need to calibrate the scale. All you need is a known 200 gram weight. Of course, the process is explained in detail in the owners manual.

Cleaning the Burrs – Every few months Baratza recommends cleaning the Baratza Forte grinder burrs by removing the upper burr and using a stiff brush to remove any build-up of coffee. This procedure is also explained in the manual, but Baratza goes one step further and includes a special “Baratza Burr Tool” that engages the metal upper burr carrier and makes it easy to unscrew it.

SPECIFICATIONS OF THE BARATZA FORTE GRINDER

• Use – All methods of brewing
• Burrs – 54mm Ceramic
• Number of adjustment steps – 260
• Grind Range – 230 to 1150 microns (approximately 0.009” - 0.045”)
• Grind speed – 2.0 to 3.7 grams per second
• Hopper Capacity – 10 ounces (250 grams)
• Weight – 13 pounds
• Dimensions – W= 5.1”, H=14.2”, D= 7.1”