Worthless for grinding oily beans at any grind setting.
Positive Product Points
Appearance
Negative Product Points
Will not handle dark roast beans or any beans with a high oil content
Detailed Commentary
I purchased the Maestro based on the price and the reviews on the Coffeegeek website. I already have a grinder I use exclusively for espresso. This grinder was to be used for drip coffee only - in other words, a medium grind. The very first time I used it, the machine clogged. Then it clogged every time thereafter. I contacted Baratza and was told that oily beans were problematic with this grinder. Dark roast beans are the only kind I like, and I've never seen one that wasn't oily. The company emailed me details for how to do a thorough cleaning of the machine.
I followed the procedures, but it did no good. The company then sent me some Illy espresso beans to try. The machine worked !! BUT - the beans were not dark roast. :-( I then sent the machine back to Baratza. They refurbished the grinding mechanism and sent it back - at my expense I might add. The machine still would not grind dark roast without clogging.
After three months of back-and-forth between Aabree, the company that sold me the machine, Baratza and me, Aabree agreed to take back my machine and replace it with a Capresso Infinity, which they claimed, would have no problems grinding dark-roast, oily beans. That turned out to be a true statement - see my review on it.
This review may not be fair. The Maestro might well be terrific on non-oily beans, but that was not what I wanted. So I have to rate it almost totally dysfunctional for dark-roast coffee.
Buying Experience
Not good until the end, when a newly-hired and sympathetic customer service manager took care of the problem immediately. It turns out that the company knew well that the machine was problematic with dark-roast beans. If they had simply stated that in the product description, I would have bought something else and avoided a 3-month long hassle.
