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.

The Good: - After 2 years and ~1000 double-espressos, still cranking out the uniform, high-quality grind that any non-pressurized-basket machine demands. - Still fairly quiet, and it's a whirr not a whine.The Bad: - Unit #1 arrived with a massive short to ground: Impressive blue flash and snapping sound upon plug-in to a grounded outlet. - Unit #2 appeared after a quick and easy warranty exchange. Fast-forward two years and ~1000 grinds later, and a couple of age-related infirmities afflict my Vario: 1. The "fine" grind adjustment lever, always too easy to accidentally bump to a wrong, shot-ruining setting, seems even easier now. 2. The coffee hopper has likewise loosened -- where it fits into the top of the grinder -- and with normal vibration of the motor and burrs will rotate counter-clockwise out of the fully-seated position, such that it no longer activates a safety-interlock switch. Your first warning of this happening is a sudden silence, as the motor stops -- although the grind timer continues merrily counting down toward '0'. The Workaround: After tapping 'start', reach upward with that same hand, grasp the narrower bottom end of the hopper, and maintain a slight clockwise torque throughout the grind. Why not use the other hand? See below ...The Ugly: - The provided portafilter holder produces a big mess every time, at least if your portafilter is a Breville (900XL). The Fix: slide out Baratza's portafilter holder insert. Trim the bottom of a yogurt cup to fit into your portafilter basket. Now trim just enough off the top to let the portafilter+cup fit between the lower "ledge" of the grinder and the bottom of the coffee chute. Using your off-hand, support and keep level the portafilter handle for the whole 10-12 seconds of the grind. Result: grinds in the basket, with only a few strays on the countertop. See photo.

Had bought a Rocket espresso machine and needed a quality grinder. This one is perfect so far!

Excelente molino, no tengo palabras, no es barato, pero lo vale al 100%, he logrado sacarle el máximo provecho a distintos granos y tostados

Great product

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