Baratza Virtuoso Coffee Grinder - Baratza 585
by Baratza
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List Price: Our Price: $199.00 You Save: $26.00 (12%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $149.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Baratza Virtuoso Coffee Grinder - Baratza 585
Customer Review: The NEW Baratza Virtuoso Burr Grinder
Summary: 5 Stars
Since I have only had the Virtuoso for three months I will not discuss the long-term quality. Because I use it primarily for press pot, drip and small espresso batches I was not looking to get a solid consumer grinder, like the more expensive Rancilio Rocky or Mazzer Mini.
Previously I have owned a Starbucks Barista (the Solis verson, not the newer Saeco Titan verson) and the Capresso Infinity 560 Black. The Barista had a long and happy life, and after performing the hack (see coffeegeek.com), made great coffee and pretty good espresso. The Capresso was excellent for drip & press coffee, but only adequate for espresso. I would happily recommend each of these for people that just want a pretty solid cup of Joe, and do not mind it being slightly heated in the process. The Capresso was still running solidly, so do not infer it died early (it cheerfully grinds my wife's flax seeds very well now), I just wanted something better for my espresso shots.
After briefly considering the Gaggia MDF I looked at the Virtuoso, mainly for three, important, reasons.
First I was very happy with my Solis/Starbucks grinder, it lasted for over 10 years of heavy use. The hack allowed it to make good espresso. Baratza has been involved with selling the Solis products, and are the designers of the Maestro and Maestro Plus grinder (yes, thats right they are THEIR machines, not Solis). After talking to a few of the locally operated coffee shops, invaluable advice, I was able to learn more about the company.
Second, many of the negative reviews were early in the introduction of the product. What I appreciated, and what the shop owners told me about, is the serious approach to resolving any issues the product has and updating the product itself. Each issue has been addressed, burr design, machine rpm, cleanliness, fineness settings, etc. Important to me was that the later reviews, specially by some of the talking heads, were far better than the earlier versions of the Virtuoso.
Third the current version of the product, it is an affordable ($200 in some cases slightly less) grinder with a professional burr, over 40 settings (it can be easily hacked to allow for finer or coarser setting- something I have not needed to do yet. That information is posted in the FAQ of the Baratza website), and lower rpm motor (very important if you do not wish to heat the ground beans, or use a heavy French Roast as I do). It is easy to clean with the supplied brush, but hand wash and rinse well, the washable parts. Absolutely do not wash the container in the dishwasher, unless you wish destroy the anti-static properties of the container, plus it isn't necessary.
After figuring out what settings work best for my three purposes, I am getting a coffee that is as good as I would get in even some of the better local establishments in Portland. My espresso is not quite as good, but then I do not have Mazzer's and a thousand dollar plus espresso machine. For my purposes the espresso is far better than I have made on my own in the past.
It may be only a perception, but it seems as though I am using fewer beans as I have in the past as well, important as coffee prices rise. This is a great grinder for its niche, one can get better, but you will have to pay more, and be seriously addicted to Barista quality espresso.
Customer Review: Very decent!
Summary: 5 Stars
Very difficult for me to understand the negative reviews! It makes me wonder if Baratza has released different products under the same name... I've had mine for two weeks and it's worked very well for me. It doesn't do espresso as well as the Mazzer Minis that I keep at my coffeehouse, but it delivers! But then, I would never use my Mazzer for drip. If you want a grinder that can handle espresso AND drip AND french press, this one is an excellent choice. I had the Capresso Infinity and I never managed to get a good shot out of it. I'm very satisfied. It's built well too, easy to clean. I grow fonder of it every day. Customer Review: Why market a defective product?
Summary: 2 Stars
Still searching for that grinder for my kitchen. I have tried several different ones (see other reviews for some of them) and finally concluded that I just needed to buck up and pay the extra money to buy a good home model. The $200 price tag on this one made me think I was getting a quality piece of equipment. I was even more sure of that when it arrived. It feels like a real appliance, as it's sturdy, heavy, and solidly built. The chamber for the grinds is tightly married to the body of the grinder and there is a minimum of dust and mess from grinding that I found pleasing. The grind settings give you wide range for everything from espresso to French presses (what I use). And it looks great, too
Then the problems began. The beans don't feed into the burr. They give you a nifty little brush and so I used that to stir the beans up, and found that it's easy to get it stuck in the burr. Then I read on the web site that you should adjust the speed of the grinder, and there's a process to do that which isn't too complicated. Still no luck. So I wrote Baratza. Like other reviewers say here, they were very responsive, though it was fairly apparent from the start that they did not think they could resolve my issue. When I told them that I had had better results with cheaper grinders, the first response was to suggest I return this through Amazon and get a cheaper grinder. Choosing to believe that the rep was not being sarcastic when he said that to me, I told them that I wanted to try another one, as I found other features very pleasing. Though they were not optimistic, they shipped me another one and I returned the first one. For a few days, the new one worked fine ... but now, in every grind, I have to stir the beans and keep turning the little knob until I can estimate that I have enough ground to brew a good cup of coffee. I'm going to go in and readjust the speed of the motor, like I did on the other one, but now I agree with the Baratza rep: "I'm not optimistic."
They blame it on the beans! "Some dark roast beans just don't feed in to the burrs well." Despite the rather ridiculous nature of that assertion, I tried medium-roast beans and find them to be no better. Good grief! LOTS of coffee drinkers grind dark roast beans. Why market this piece of work as it is? How about looking for the obvious design flaw and fix them? In the meantime, why not pull it from the shelves?
I would not recommend this product at all. And I wouldn't guess that other Baratza products could be much better. Those of you who gave this a positive review ... are you grinding light roast beans? Still searching for my coffee grinder ....
Customer Review: FFLLIIMMSSYY!!
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this grinder about 6 months ago and have been trying to make it work properly and justify it's price ever since. The first thing to break was the instant-on button on the front, then the knob on the side slid off and never has stayed on once turned or moved, the alignment indicators for the burr are not right and so the grinding is inconsistent, and now the french press settings(35 to 40) are inoperable. I am terribly disappointed, people reviewing this item said the customer service dept. for this company was great but I have never heard back from them. Sure would like to. Last month a friend gave me the KitchenAid Pro-Line nickel grinder and it is state of the art. I'll never go near a Baratza product again.Customer Review: Look no further!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the Virtuoso today from Starbucks to save time. I am not yet an espresso snob but getting closer. I have a Saeco burr grinder that was constantly getting stopped up when I tried to grind my beans finer. I got tired of that and spent some time researching different grinders and actually talking to baristas and owners of coffee shops. Nine times out of ten the Baratza Virtuoso was recomended. Not wanting to pay shipping or to wait for delivery I went to Starbucks and "voila," it is mine. Not wasteing any time I tried it as soon as I returned home. It grinds much finer for a richer taste and thicker, creamier crema plus the grounds don't even get a little warm as they did in the Saeco. So far I recomend it highly. If things don't work out I will update this review