Baratza Grinders- 80$

[Jim]

http://www.baratza.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=380R

Word is they are new stock returned when Starbucks got out of the hardware business.

Nice price for a mid level grinder.

 

[Jasonian]

That's a great deal!

 

[arghblech]

Guess what the wife is getting for xmas

 

[Jasonian]

Guess what the wife is getting for xmas

A box of spaghetti and maple syrup?

 

[Brush_with_Fame]

Man, I thought you were discussing sandwiches
Now I'm hungry

 

[joel]

Thanks for the heads up, Jim - just picked one up!

 

[Leatherneck]

Thanks for the heads up, Jim. I ordered one on the 6th and it arrived today.

After I snatched it out of the UPS guys hands and a quick thank-you, I took it inside and opened the shipping box. It felt heavier than I thought it would. Substantial, I would say.

Out slid the Starbucks Barista box. With hands shaking, I opened the box and saw the top of the bean hopper and the packaging cardboard around it. I finally decided to lay the box on it's side and slide the machine out. While sliding it out, I'm looking at the front and it says...........Virtuoso!!!!

What the hello!!! Darned, they gave me the wrong one! Now, I've looked at the site enough to know that Virtuoso is a step or two above the Maestro/Barista, but a mis-packaged item none the less. What-to-do, what-to-do.

Conscience wouldn't let me stay quiet. I called customer service and spoke with a very pleasant lady. After I described what I received, she told me it was my lucky day and not to worry about it, Merry Christmas. She was a bit concerned about one product ending up in another box, so she had me plug it in and grind some beans to be sure it worked while we were on the phone. Seemed to work fine to me and she was happy. Ground down to the 10 setting. Beans seemed to dance below that setting. I'll play with it some more later.

The 10 setting is a lot finer than anything I got with my Krups grinder. the coarse is truly press pot coarse, also unlike my other grinder. And so much quieter!!

Anyway, thanks again Jim. I had been on the fence about getting another grinder for some time, and this thread kicked me off.

Kevin

 

[Phog Allen]

Hey guys, I am just about to push the "order" button for one of these but have a couple of questions. Now PLEASE go easy on me here because I am going to speak a bit of heresy or at least I believe it may be with these questions.

My wife wanted an espresso maker for a gift this year. She is NOT a coffee afficianado in the sense of knowing what good or bad coffee or espresso is. She just knows she likes the caramel macchiato/crap-achino/latte or whatever sugared up coffee drink she gets at local shops. So for her, she would be apoplectic if I bought her a one thousand dollar espresso machine accompanied by a $500 grinder. So with this in mind, here I go.

I bought her a $100 De Longhi pump unit at a local store. I knew the steam driven ones did not make real espresso. I have no idea if this machine is capable either but I knew a pump was better. So we live whatever this makes. She will be happy.

Now the grinder. I have seen it posited on many coffee geek sites that to make real espresso requires a superlative grinder that usually starts around $450 and goes up from there. Kind of like custom shave brushes, yes?

Their claims are that lesser grinders cannot make a fine enough grind. Okay, fine. She will divorce me if I come home with a grinder that expensive, no matter I saved nine hundred dollars by not buying a better espresso machine. So the gist of it is this; Will the grinder listed above make a fine enough grind to "fake" it and not clog up the machine? Sorry for the goofy questions but this seems like a great deal and I want to grab one before they are gone. Thanks.

Regards, Todd

 

[Jasonian]

Hey guys, I am just about to push the "order" button for one of these but have a couple of questions. Now PLEASE go easy on me here because I am going to speak a bit of heresy or at least I believe it may be with these questions.

My wife wanted an espresso maker for a gift this year. She is NOT a coffee afficianado in the sense of knowing what good or bad coffee or espresso is. She just knows she likes the caramel macchiato/crap-achino/latte or whatever sugared up coffee drink she gets at local shops. So for her, she would be apoplectic if I bought her a one thousand dollar espresso machine accompanied by a $500 grinder. So with this in mind, here I go.

I bought her a $100 De Longhi pump unit at a local store. I knew the steam driven ones did not make real espresso. I have no idea if this machine is capable either but I knew a pump was better. So we live whatever this makes. She will be happy.

Now the grinder. I have seen it posited on many coffee geek sites that to make real espresso requires a superlative grinder that usually starts around $450 and goes up from there. Kind of like custom shave brushes, yes?

Their claims are that lesser grinders cannot make a fine enough grind. Okay, fine. She will divorce me if I come home with a grinder that expensive, no matter I saved nine hundred dollars by not buying a better espresso machine. So the gist of it is this; Will the grinder listed above make a fine enough grind to "fake" it and not clog up the machine? Sorry for the goofy questions but this seems like a great deal and I want to grab one before they are gone. Thanks.

Regards, Todd

The Maestro will not, but the Virtuoso will. $450 for a domestic grinder? Has Coffeegeek improved?

You can get passable espresso with about half of $450 for the grinder. You did well spending more for the grinder than for the machine, either way.

Normally I like to start with the question: what's your budget?

 

[SiBurning]

It's not so much a matter of whether it goes fine enough, but whether it has enough range in small enough steps to fine tune the grind size around the espresso-friendly area. There are other things, too, like how it grinds.

There's a DIY modification for the virtuoso that lowers the burr, making the entire range finer. It's approved by Baratza, so it won't void the warranty. If you get one, you definitely want to do this. You'll lose the ability to make really coarse grinds, but you probably don't need that end, and you'll probably benefit from the extra range at the finer end. I don't know if it applies to the other models.

 

[Phog Allen]

Well guys, I can get a refurbished Virtuoso from Baratza for $143. Does that sound like the way to go? I will say that reviews on build quality and reliability are mixed. Overall the grinder has good reviews but there are a goodly smattering of reviews that are less than generous. And they all are quite similar. Broken control knob, etc. I just wish it wasn't so ruddy expensive to buy a good espresso grinder.

Regards, Todd

 

[SiBurning]

Ignore most of the reviews that are more than a couple years old. They fixed many of the problems. My control knob is loose and falls off regularly, but it slips right back in. Be careful not to lose it, which you might if it's near something you can't access. If it does, you can probably replace it. They back their products pretty well. Not sure what a refurbished model involves, but it's $199 new, so that doesn't sound like a great bargain.

 

[EmptyB]

I am also in the market for a grinder. Looking for something for use at the office to make one or two cups a day in my Aeropress. Also looking for something that would work well for pour-over filter brewing and french press brewing. I do NOT need it to grind for espresso. I've also heard good and bad things about the Virtuoso, but I'm sick of thinking about it and should just pull the trigger already.

 

[FLTiger]

Well guys, I can get a refurbished Virtuoso from Baratza for $143.

This is exactly what I did. I really didn't understand what was "wrong" with my whirly grinder until I got the Virtuoso...and that is only after four uses.

 

[Phog Allen]

Hey you, Bob. It sounds as if you are pretty satisfied with the refurb'd Virtuoso. Have you tried an espresso grind with it yet? I think I will order one of them tonight. Hopefully it winds up here by Christmas.

Regards, Todd

 

[FLTiger]

Hey you, Bob. It sounds as if you are pretty satisfied with the refurb'd Virtuoso. Have you tried an espresso grind with it yet? I think I will order one of them tonight. Hopefully it winds up here by Christmas.

Regards, Todd

Sadly, I do not own an espresso device of any sort, so I have not been grinding the coffee that fine. I am hesitant to say too much about the grinder because 1) I know bubkus about such things, and 2) I really just got it last week.

 

[Phog Allen]

I hear you Bob. While I have no doubt the coffee fanatics are entirely correct about getting the ultimate grind for a proper espresso, I wonder how much it would show through in the latte, cappucino, or macchiato drinks? I don't even know the difference in any of them and I doubt my wife does either. As long as it is sweet, rich, and "coffee" flavoured, she will be happy.

Regards ,Todd

 

[Jasonian]

I hear you Bob. While I have no doubt the coffee fanatics are entirely correct about getting the ultimate grind for a proper espresso, I wonder how much it would show through in the latte, cappucino, or macchiato drinks? I don't even know the difference in any of them and I doubt my wife does either. As long as it is sweet, rich, and "coffee" flavoured, she will be happy.

Regards ,Todd

There is no hiding a bad espresso. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, be it shaving, coffee, or tea.

 

[joel]

I bought this as a grinder to take to the office (for a French press and and Aeropress) and it's actually really, really nice fore $80. It's no Rancillio Rocky, but by god it does a darn good job. Not really sure why this couldn't be used for espresso, makes a fine, consistent grind and doesn't impart much heat onto the beans (low RPM). Is it as good as my espresso grinder? Well no, but frankly - it doesn't leave much to be desired, so for the money, it's a big winner in my book.

 

[EmptyB]

I was going to pull the trigger on a refurbished Baratza Virtuoso grinder, but the sales tax and shipping put it out of my budget. I got a Bodum Bistro burr grinder for $80 bucks shipped instead. This is my first burr grinder, so I have no basis for comparison other than my Krups blade grinder. The Bodum burr grinder definitely works better than the blade grinder.

Like Joel, I'm using this grinder at the office for Aeropress.