Good step up for espresso

Hi, my name is Todd.... and I am a coffee addict.....

I have been drinking coffee in its various forms for 20 years now and each day I progress more and more towards a pure coffee geek. I roast my own beans. I own a higher end espresso machine. I have 5 different kinds of coffee brewers. I really have a problem.

A while ago I got a new Cuisinart Burr Grinder (see my review Here) and it was a perfect solution for most of my coffee needs. The Cuisinart is a flat burr grinder which will grind coffee more slowly and accurately than a whirly-bird style grinder, but it does have a drawback.... it will not grind fine enough or consistent enough for my espresso machine. I could make it work, but it was a chore and my results were mediocre at best. So I started looking for a new grinder.

I looked at several grinders. For most 'enthusiasts' a proper espresso grinder starts at $500 and goes up from there. I don't have $500, but I wanted a grinder that would give me acceptable results for espresso. I found some information on a coffee related website regarding the Virtuoso and decided to give it a try.

Features

The Virtuoso is on the medium size of coffee grinders. It easily fits under my kitchen cabinets and is roughly the same height as my drip coffee brewer. It is hefty - 7 pounds, but that heft tells me that it is built to last. I have seen grinders that are several inches taller and several pounds heavier than this machine, but I have no need for a $2000 commercial grinder in my home (yet....) The unit is a sharp looking black and silver with plastic and metal pieces working together in the design. It looks VERY sharp and blends in well with the other equipment I have on my counter. The hopper holds 8 oz of beans which is enough to grind several shots before I have to reload and reloading is easy - pull off the top and dump in more beans. Piece of cake.

The grinds are dumped into a plastic bin that holds 5 oz of ground coffee. The bin fits snugly into the unit and makes a good seal to keep grounds from flying all over the place. Static does not seem to be an issue (more on this later).

The Virtuoso is a conical burr grinder. Please read my other review as to why a burr grinder is a better choice than a blade grinder. A conical burr grinder is one iteration of a burr grinder. In a burr grinder you have two hardened steel plates with sharpened raised areas on them that grind coffee. One burr is adjustable to bring the plates closer together or farther apart to adjust the size of the grind and the other burr is powered by a motor. In the case of the conical burr grinder, one burr is shaped like a cone and the other like a funnel which herds the coffee beans down the grinder until it is the right size. A flat burr grinder has two evenly spaced burr plates which grind the coffee between the plates. Both work quite well and deciding which is 'best' is simply a matter of personal preference.

The Virtuoso is powered by a powerful and efficient DC motor with an adjustable speed control on the inside of the unit. This is important because a slower speed means a quieter unit AND less heat while grinding. Heat while grinding can release all of the 'good stuff' of the coffee before brewing it into your cup.

Another great feature of the Virtuoso is the versatility of grinding. The Virtuoso has 40 different grind settings allowing you to grind everything from super-fine Turkish coffee to super chunky for a French press. I found the grind size to be pretty consistent across the board - the fine grind didn't have much variation and the coarse grind didn't leave too many fines (coffee dust) that would clog up my French press. I will say, however, that I think the range between stops is unnecessarily large. I can grind perfectly acceptable espresso grounds at 5 and anything larger than 22 is simply too large for my French press. I would like to see a finer adjustment available across the range.

Operation

The unit has two methods of operation. One is via a turn dial on the right side of the unit. This activates a timer which will run for up to 60 seconds. There is also a pulse button on the front of the unit. This makes it really handy to grind directly into a portafilter for espresso. You stick the portafilter under the grind chute and press the button until you have enough coffee. Easy as pie! I also discovered on the Baratza website that they are coming out with a portafilter holder for their grinders that fit under the grind chute instead of the grounds bin. Supposedly that will be for sale in July.

Cleanup is a breeze. Simply wipe up any stray grounds with a damp cloth. Once every month or two, depending on usage, empty the hopper and clean the burrs with the supplied brush. This is EASY and only takes 2 minutes. No tools are needed - rotate the hopper to the highest setting and lift off of the base. The top burr comes straight up and out then just run the brush around the burrs. Done.

Negatives

Well, I will say I have heard several negatives about this unit on many forums (including Epinions). I will point out that the majority of these negative opinions are based on reviews of the older (1st generation) version of this machine. Baratza watches these discussion boards very closely and incorporates changes into their product as soon as problems are identified. The unit I purchased was a 3rd generation unit and there have been several upgrades. The hopper and the grounds bin have been coated in an anti-static material which seems to have eliminated the horrendous static problems reported by some owners. They have changed the motor, added the ability for a technical minded user to adjust the motor speed, refined the method of attaching the timer knob to the unit, and created a great FAQ on their website that addresses other issues and gives clear directions on calibrating the machine.

I also noted some issues with grind. While the grind consistency was acceptable (getting more consistency would require more than double the cost of this unit), I noted that the usable range for grinding was pretty small. With 40 different levels, only levels 5 - 22 were practical. I actually had two smaller beans fall through the grinder with it being set at 40. Because of this narrow usable field of levels, the jumps from one level to the next were pretty large making it difficult to dial in to the proper grind for espresso. I found a simple solution to this on other coffee forums. I took the unit apart and removed the device that 'clicks' the grinder from one level to the next so I can now use level 5.3 if I wanted to. It helps A LOT. I also took the time (while the unit was apart) to recalibrate the unit using the directions on the company website and to adjust the speed of the grinder. Overall this process took me 10 minutes with set of small screwdrivers.

Conclusions

I am VERY impressed with this grinder. I have several coffee geek friends who have home espresso setups that cost more than my first car and they are impressed with this grinder. It is efficient, quiet (for a grinder), and does an acceptable job. It has its drawbacks, but for $200 it is by far the best choice available out there. Shoot, I think it even holds its own against grinders that cost twice as much.

Baratza is dedicated to solving the issues customers are reporting with their units. Their FAQ is very helpful and the product is vastly improved from the original versions released just a short time ago.