Baratza - Vario Flat Burr Coffee Grinder

Pros:-Solid construction-Looks great on the counter top-Portafilter holder is convenient as you can prep other things while you grind-Abundance of fine tune settings to enable dialing in of espresso shots-Consistent grinding once broken in-It has programmable timing pre-sets which I imagine could be helpful but don't personally useCons:-Takes a bit of time to break in (~1lb of coffee) before clumps go away and consistency kicks in-It's a little bit loud, a consideration when grinding really early in the morning-ExpensiveThe Review:I recently replaced my older espresso machine (Delonghi pump) after realizing that it wasn't the real deal and couldn't quite make what's considered real espresso. After much research, I decided to go big as I've found that quality products, while more expensive up front, generally tend to last much longer and therefore make for a much better deal in the long run. This was no exception.I read a ton about different grinders and decided to go with the Baratza Vario. I would highly recommend reading up on grinders and taking into consideration what you intend to use it for. If you're mainly going to grind for espresso, I think this is a great grinder.First off, the construction on this product feels great. It's not light and flimsy at all - the pieces are hard plastic (the front display) and metal on the sides and the portafilter holder that it comes with is solid metal and quite heavy. Really gives you that feeling that if taken care of, will last a long time.Setup was very easy. The burrs were already installed so all I had to do was install the hopper basket (simple place and twist) and then it was ready to go.On to the most important part - the grinding. To begin with, this grinder takes a little bit to get broken in. By that, I mean that during the first ~1-2 lbs of coffee, the grind can be a little bit clumpy and not as even as it ends up being once broken in. Though I had read this in my research, I kind of forgot about it as I began to try and dial in the espresso I had first bought. I ran into some difficulty with this and I was a tad bit worried that I had bit off more than I could chew with regards to espresso making. Well, turns out I just needed to break the sucker in and after going through a bit of coffee, it really started to shine and now grinds beautiful, consistent espresso every time. To avoid this, I would recommend either running some Grindz through the machine (Grindz is a cleaner that you should consider buying - it's a fake coffee bean that you just toss in the grinder and grind as normal, but it removes residue from your burrs and grinder and cleans it well) to get the burrs broken in or run ~1lb of old beans that you don't care about through it. This will save some money and some frustration as it's much easier to dial in your shots after the grinder has gone through some beans.*TIP* I only grind what I drink each morning as the freshness of the espresso is very important. I would consider doing this if you only brew 1-2 shots per day as having a lot of coffee sitting in the hopper will not keep it as fresh as a mason jar, for example.The fine tuning available on this machine is incredible. Espresso making is a sensitive activity - too coarse and it splashes out the portafilter and tastes sour. Too fine and it chokes the machine or comes out too slow and is bitter (these are generalizations - definitely ready into it! :D). Once broken in, there is no such problem with this machine as the fine tuning options are numerous.As you can probably see in the picture, the left side contains steps from A-W while the right side contains steps from 1-10. The right side steps are considered macro steps (they each equal a full A-W change in coarseness) and the left side is for fine tuning (micro steps) in between each macro step. Therefore, you can adjust the fineness of your grind 23 times (A-W) for each change in your macro setting.An easy way to think of it is this: Step 1 on the right is the finest you can get. Put the left setting on A and you have 1.A, the finest setting the machine has. To coarsen up your grind, you can either do so in tiny increments by moving up the left side (up to 1.W) or, you can increase a full step by using the right side (going to 2 in this case), until you reach your desired coarseness. Once you feel you've found the right macro setting (1-10), use the micro settings on the left to get it just right. Also, keep in mind that each grinder differs a bit and can also be calibrated individually, so my 3.L might be very different from somebody else's Vario 3.L.Overall, I'm really happy with this purchase and with proper care, I imagine this will last me a long time. It grinds incredibly consistent coffee, which is critical to making good espresso. Before I started, I had read in many places that the grinder is actually more important than the machine. I wasn't convinced of this as it sounded counter-intuitive, but after several months with my new setup, I believe it. Espresso making is sensitive - everything from the grind, to the tamp to the temp of your machine's water to the extraction time, all make a difference in the end result. Therefore, getting the proper grind size and consistency at the beginning of the process is very important in my opinion.

I've had my Baratza Vario for a little over a year now and use it daily for espresso only. I have another grinder for drip and French Press. It took me a while to find the right grind setting and the settings are fine enough that I have learned to adjust the grind fine setting about every other day as beans age, have learned how much I need to adjust for new beans with different oil content. The result is perfection and perfect crema every cup. Here in LA there are plenty of specialist coffee houses but none consistently produce the quality I get pairing the Vario with my double boiler machine.In the last week the grind became inconsistent and the grind adjustment levers were slipping down. From what I've been able to research this is a very occasional problem. An email to Baratza and they had express shipped me some tiny shims that were easy to install to fix this issue - took me about 5 minutes. Service and response were excellent. In a machine at this price point you would hope issues like this wouldn't occur but as someone who designs, builds complex items (far more complex than a grinder) it's obvious to me that this would also be a very difficult flaw to catch during development and testing given that it has a low probability of occurrence. They are handling it promptly and professionally which is the best that can be hoped for.

We replaced our 3rd Cuisinart burr grinder that would only last us about a year each time. We grind 2-3 pots (10 cup or less size) of drip coffee daily and thats it. My wife thought I was crazy to spend this much on a new grinder, but that changed once the Baratza arrived. First off it is beautifully made and solid as a rock. It feels like it could last for decades and with replaceable burrs I am sure it could. We have ground our own beans pot by pot since college in the 70s, so we obviously know and love our coffee. We are pretty much dark roast Sumatra drinkers. What we didn't expect was how much of a difference in the flavor of the coffee the grinder itself could make. Figured a burr grinder was a burr grinder as far as flavor goes. Wrong... there was huge improvement from the very first pot. That alone makes it worth the premium price. Add in the much quieter operation and getting a consistent amount of grind each time and this is a no-brainer for those who love their coffee. We had no idea what we had been missing all those year. Anyone who loves good coffee should step up and get a quality grinder such as this Vario. You will not regret this investment.

I am disappointed with this purchase. I am on the second unit. The first one was exchanged by Baratza when it started making loud noises after a few months like the belt was slipping. I will give them credit for good customer service in that regard.The unit I have now will not grind consistently. Same coffee beans, different day, tamped with the same pressure in the portafilter produces wildly different results from cup to cup. It was not like this in the beginning. The multitude of "Stepped" settings is a misrepresentation as you can't really utilize them since it has a mind of its own anyway.I have since purchased a $250 manual hand crank grinder that is consistent every time. For $500+ I would expect better performance from the Baratza Vario.

My unit couldn’t grind fine enough too pull a descent espresso without getting clogged. I avoided overfilling the portafilter, I thouroughly cleaned both burrs and discharge chute and the coffee I grinded was freshly roasted and well packaged. On a 3-H setting I couldn’t grind for more than 30 seconds and it clogged again. With aller the good reviews on this unit I am mystified why that kept happening. Still it is easy to clean and well assembled