Posted Mon May 18, 2009, 6:44am Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
So I've had a few months to get to know my Vario a little better, and have more positive comments to report. In fact, I may have performed a 180, in some respects, as the feature of the grinder that I least valued - the timer - has completely traded places with the main reason I bought it for, which is the touted versatility of grinding from French press to espresso.
My Vario is one of those models that is over-calibrated for espresso, but since I recently got a new Rocket Giotto machine, I won't be doing much press or drip coffee for at least a few more months as I get to know my new set-up, but I do plan on recalibrating the Vario once I start to branch out into other brewing methods again.
So earlier in this Owner's Thread, I had posted wondering about the dubious utility of timers to the home user. For the past 8 or so years with my Rocky, I've been using the North-South-East-West (NSEW) method, dosing a heaping amount into my portafilter, sweeping off the excess and tamping the rest. This had more or less been my approach with my Rocky/Silvia combo since the beginning (I had some experiments weighting the grounds prior to dosing, but this was proving too tedious and the results were not noteworthy) and was the method I started using with my Vario and Rocket. The unique grind controls for the Vario were serving me well, but I found that the slightest variation with my NSEW technique - say, pressing the grounds in slightly with my sweeping finger would throw too much variation come pour-time.
So I finally started experimenting with the timer settings. All those grounds I was sweeping off with my finger were also looking kind of wasteful, so I started wondering if I could just dose the exact amount I needed and no more with the timer. Using the fill-line in my portafilter basket as guide, I honed in around the 12 to 13 second mark. If after my tamp the grounds were too high in the basket, I would dial the time down by a fraction of a second, and conversely, if the grounds were too low, I would increase the time by fractions of seconds. Once my fill line was established, if my pouring times were still off, it was only then that I would fiddle with the actual grind settings.
This has been a revelation to me. Until the Vario, my only control over the coffee has been the coarseness or fineness of the grind, but the timer has added volume control to the equation, and made the matter easy and convenient to do (compared to weighing my beans in grams on a scale, and then transferring the coffee in a PF). Frankly, I'm starting to put more attention into grind time than grind fineness. The timer is a much easier and consistent way to get to my PF's fill line, and playing with 1/10th of a second adjustments results in dramatic and repeatable differences in taste and texture. And the end result is some of the best home (scratch that, best period) espresso I've ever had.
One caveat to the timer method: if you are in the habit of starting with an empty grinder every morning like I am, your first timed dosing will have less grounds in it than subsequent dosings, because the beans are perhaps a little further from the burrs if the machine was completely empty. I have found that the first grind of the morning needs about 0.4 seconds more than any espressos following the first. If you tend to keep your bean hopper full at all times, though, then this paragraph will not apply to you.
So all in all, this is a flippin' fantastic grinder that has finally put volume control at my fingertips in a way that I never knew I needed. I still enjoy everything else about it, the unique grind controls (though I never move the macro adjustment, so far), the quality and form factor on my counter and now the almost zero coffee waste. If I would improve on the design, I might want even more control on the timer; possibly wanting to see the same kind of controls on the grind fineness applied to the time feature, since I'm playing with this much more than the grind; say something which retains my base time in seconds, but allows me to increase more or less without losing my base time, but really, I think I'm set for a good time to come.
Great grinder and I would be loathe to part with it, even with a grinder twice its price.
BAEvans Senior Member Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Posts: 17 Location: Minnesota Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Alex Duetto I Grinder: Macap M4 Stepless, Baratza... Roaster: I think not
Posted Mon May 18, 2009, 7:01am Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
Hi all: I've had a Vario for several months. I use it as my decaf grinder and am happy with it. The one issue is the poor fit of bottomless portafilter on the fork. I had to bend the tines up to get it level at all, but the points of contact are now so restricted that it's unstable when I turn it as the grinds are dumping. Does anyone know if a new holder (the plastic insert and all) will be available that can elevate the fork higher than with the initial version? Or a better mod than bending the fork tines up? I'd be more than willing to pay for the convenience - love the grinder.
greatphotos Senior Member Joined: 5 Mar 2009 Posts: 8 Location: Colorado Springs Expertise: Just starting
Posted Fri May 22, 2009, 12:48pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
I quit using the porta filter holder. I just grind into the enclosed container that comes with the Vario and then dump from that into the portafilter. No waste, no mess.
Posted Fri May 22, 2009, 2:41pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
pumpkinscastle Said:
Do you sell new Varios? I believe you do! Do you sell new Mazzers? I believe you don't.
Again, this thread has turned into a p???ing contest between the Vario lovers and the Vario haters. I really think that the Vario should receive its reputation if it is really that good. And it will! Doubtless! But just claiming that tried and true professional grinders like the Super Jolly are at best GOOD and the new Vario is NOTICEABLY better, I think cannot be true. If it is, as you said, noticeably better than your Super Jolly, then it must be indeed on a par with the Mazzer Robur and Kony. I find it hard to believe that this is the case. Very hard indeed.... but then... what do I know?
I just read this. Folks like me who have done business with Orphan would (and probably will) repudiate your assertions as to their lack of impartiality. I've owned 2 SJ, lovewd them dearly, despite faults that shouldn't be part of a $750 grinder. I've been messing with a friends Vario nearly a week, and can testify that at least in my Olympia Cremina, my shots are every bit as good as those I produced with my SJ. Obviously, when Doug and Barb sell their SJ, you will issue a public apology for your assertions? I issued a public apology here. It wasn't that difficult.
Posted Fri May 22, 2009, 2:52pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
pumpkinscastle Said:
Orphanespresso, I apologize sincerely if I in any form attacked you in my previous post. That was not my intention. And I respect your opinion, even though I was a bit critical about certain things that you mentioned. I hope to test a Vario sometime soon and form an opinion myself.
I acknowledge to the other posters that those with hands-on experience can probably say the most about a new product. But I also think we should be able to discuss things on here even though many people (like myself) don't speak from experience with this particular grinder. Right now, I just wouldn't feel confident enough to buy a Vario just to test it. Maybe the coffee lovers who own one and sing its praises will convince me eventually.
Just saw this post, as I'm a bit behind. Way to man up. As I am now. Often (too often) we let our mouth's (or fingers) move quicker than our brains. My "bad" was not reading ahead as I should have. Yours was letting your emotional attached to your Super Jolly dictate your response! LOL
Posted Fri May 22, 2009, 9:33pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
MarkPrince Said:
This is what I believe to be ideal coarse-side press pot grinds: 0.5mm to 2mm, long side. I'd actually go finer and be good with it - perhaps down to 0.25-1mm particle sizes.
Nice picture too. My Super Jolly comes close to this, but leaves much to be desired for me. I've been mulling over getting some type of a cupping/press grinder like the Ditting (but they are way too expensive for me). The Vario has peaked my interest, I think I'll buy one.
KyleAnderson Said:
Much as i hate to say it...Mark is right..again. With many products you'll find the words "we reserve the right to make future improvements to this product". At Baratza, we live this. We will probably never hit perfection in any of our products, but we will keep aiming for it. This means we WILL make running improvements (quickly) when we hear of places we fall short. In no way do we want to render our earlier versions obsolete. Whenever feasible, we strive to make improvements that are reverse compatible (this is not always practical, but often it is) so they can be fitted to our installed base of earlier versions. We would be remiss if we didn't always work to make our products better.
Hello Kyle and welcome to CG its great to have you here! My first grinder was a Solis Maestro Plus and I really liked it. I used it mostly for press and drip. I liked it so much I recommended my brother get one as well and they love it too.
I also wanted to take a moment and say that I truly appreciate the above remark. I don't mind that you folks at Baratza continually tweak and improve. Frankly its a great thing for the consumer. Its going to be great to get back into your products, they've certainly come a long way.
germantownrob Senior Member Joined: 2 Dec 2007 Posts: 1,364 Location: Philadelphia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: N.S. Oscar Grinder: Vario, Preciso w/Esatto,... Drip: pour over Roaster: Diedrich IR-1, HT B
Posted Fri Jul 17, 2009, 10:25am Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
greatphotos Said:
Here is a link over on Home Barista with pictures on how to adjust the grind calibration on the VARIO to your liking. Click Here (www.home-barista.com)
As it comes from the factory the grind is biased towards espresso it turns out.
I just got my Vario Monday and it would not grind fine enough for espresso. I re-calibrated but had been in touch with Kyra over at Baratza, she put me in touch with Kyle and this is his what he said
"Sounds like you have calibrated your Vario perfectly. The factory adjustment looks like this: With both arms down, start the grinder (with no beans in it) on Manual. Move the macro (right) lever all the way UP. you should not hear any loading on the motor. Now bring the left arm UP at the mid point of the micro scale you should begin to hear motor loading...increasing as you go all the way UP. Your grinder has the newest secondary calibration feature. This new adjustment screw allows for easy for dynamic calibration. The new screw is a 2mm Allen head screw located between the discharge chute and the calibration grommet you removed earlier. It is a round hole. With this, we now set up the Varios a little bit coarser at the factory and allow for easy adjustment toward the fine direction. Simply set the macro arm all the UP and the micro mid way and turn the 2mm screw clockwise (looking up at it) until you begin to hear motor loading. There is no grommet to remove and the process is very easy.Our goal was to come up with an easy, user friendly way to fine tune the grinder. The original adjustment proved to be difficult and not doable with the grinder running. This new screw ONLY allows you to fine up the grind from the factory setting, you cannot use this screw to make the grind coarser than the factory setting. For this one would need to move the original adjustment spline."
The HB guide got me to where I needed to be but I noticed I was already maxed out for coarseness, good thing I needed to go finer ;)
Posted Mon Jul 20, 2009, 9:57pm Subject: Re: The Baratza Vario Grinder Owner's Thread
pumpkinscastle Said:
I acknowledge to the other posters that those with hands-on experience can probably say the most about a new product. But I also think we should be able to discuss things on here even though many people (like myself) don't speak from experience with this particular grinder. Right now, I just wouldn't feel confident enough to buy a Vario just to test it. Maybe the coffee lovers who own one and sing its praises will convince me eventually.
Just a gentle nudge...this IS a thread titled Vario Grinder OWNER'S Thread. I had the pleasure of "owning...er...borrowing/cleaning/testing/enjoying a Vario for 5 weeks. Though a former (2 time) 5 year SJ owner I can testify as to the Vario's equally excellent grind quality, ease of use and lack of waste or grind retention. The latter 2 are especially note-worthy. Oh yeah, it's quiet too, though I'll readily admit the SJ was, for it's size and power relatively quiet as well. I would again happily own either, though I can say I've pulled more consistent shots with my Olympia Cremina using the Vario than I previously did with an SJ. As beans can easily be dumped from the Vario to accommodate a different blend, I prefer operating it with at least a 30% filled hopper. Thus, the timer/grind fineness ratio becomes the only "learning curve" a new Vario owner will face. That is, sussing out how much up or down the timer needs to be adjusted when adjusting grind fineness. Obviously, a finer grind at 12 seconds will yield less coffee by volume than will a coarser grind using the exact same timer setting. Once you get the hang of that, waste is just about eliminated. I miss mine terribly, since the owner grabbed it out of my kitchen.
EDIT...interestingly, I found the taste profile from the Vario somewhat similar to the SJ's. That is, more of the deeper, chocolates, dark fruited flavors, as opposed to my KyM manual which really accentuates the "upper mid-range" content.
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