Customer Reviews

Baratza G 285 Maestro Conical Burr Grinder

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

After using a Solis Maestro+ daily for over 5 years I finally broke off the tabs on the adjustment ring (a common problem area).

I replaced it with a Baratza Maestro and am very pleased. The Baratza Maestro has been upgraded and IS NOT the old Solis Maestro. It has both the same motor, same burr set and same adjustment ring as the Maestro Plus. Thankfully, the tabs on the ring have been beefed up. BTW, I was able to move the heavy alloy base from the Maestro+ to the new Maestro.

Now the differences between the two grinders are (1) heavy alloy base which helps to keep the grinder from moving when using the front mounted momentary on switch to grind into a portafilter, (2) the momentary on switch and (3) a count down timer switch on the side instead of an on/off switch. The count down timer is useful if you keep the hopper full of beans and use the timer to control how many beans are ground at one time. If you add a specific volume of beans to the hopper and grind all of them as I do, then the on/off switch is all you need.

These grinders do an excellent job of grinding beans for anything from press to drip. They do an adequate job for espresso. If you drink mostly drip and an occasional espresso drink, I think you will be happy. If Starbucks is your standard, you will probably be thrilled! And if you have a $2000+ semi-auto espresso machine you're probably not reading this anyway. Enjoy.

I've owned this grinder for a year. I needed a cheap burr grinder with a good reputation, capable of properly grinding beans for espresso (a difficult task). At $99, the Maestro was the best choice to accompany my Starbucks Barista (manufactured by Saeco), bought locally through craigslist. I'm not crazy about the pressurized portafilter (nor are most espresso drinkers) but this is best I can do until I get out of grad school and can afford the Silvia.

Procedure: I buy freshly roasted beans, grind them with the finest grind, preheat the portafilter, and tamp with an aftermarket aluminum tamper.

The result: weak espresso that runs fast and lacks flavor and crema. In one year I have never pulled a good shot--just mediocre shots that are better in mixed than straight--and I can still taste the poor quality when mixed.

To investigate, I broke one major rule and ground the beans ahead of time with Whole Food's commercial grinder in the store (ideally, you grind seconds before brewing--I brewed the next day). Next day, same routine. Results: delicious, near perfect shots, worth sipping and savoring. Dark red crema, slow pulls, complex flavor. I never pulled a shot like this before.

Conclusion: I'll be grinding my beans in the store from now on. It wasn't the machine, it was the grinder. So don't buy the Maestro if you want good espresso, it WILL NOT do the job. ("minor" side note: for those interested in good drip and french press coffee, the Maestro is a great choice).

To quote coffeegeek.com: "I can make a better shot of espresso with a $200 espresso machine and a $400 grinder than I can with a $2,000 espresso machine and no grinder (or a blade grinder)... and it's absolutely true."

There must be variation in the quality of production of this product, given that the reviews seem very polarized. My experience is just AWFUL, the worst kitchen item I've ever purchased at any price. I've owned it about 6 months. Never been able to grind enough for a full cup of coffee without a jam despite METICULOUS cleaning and maintenance per product manual and using a variety of grinds from dark to light. The timer broke in the first few weeks, and the manufacturer did promptly replace it. But as for the jamming, their answer "Don't use an oily roast"...the machine is fine. Well, okay, so it's not a machine for expresso or Italian grinding but is a dry Columbian or Kona roast too oily? Apparently it is, because it jams and jams and jams and jams. I felt stupid to have spent another twenty dollars on brushes to clean this horrendous thing out. So, it's thrown out - only good feeling with this machine. Buyer BEWARE and hope you luck and get one of the apparently good units. NEVER again for me...The only good thing about this unit is the grind itself when you can eke out enough for a cup of coffee, otherwise RUN from this one...

PS When you send it back under warranty, you have to pack meticulously, use a bonded courier, and they DON'T pay the postage, so add another 10-30 dollars or so to the cost of this item...

When I decided to buy a coffee grinder and espresso machine, I researched and read reviews and thought "This is the one!" Unfortunately, it never lived up to its name. After the first few weeks, it wouldn't grind unless you constantly jiggled it to get the beans to seat in the grinder. Yes, I took it apart and cleaned and dried it as per manufacturer's instructions, but it would NEVER grind the beans very fine. I like espresso type grind but had to settle for the coarsest grind it did. As the months wore on, it just got worse. I finally got to the point where I had to use a wooden spoon handle to force the beans into the grinder. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I had spent $140 on this thing and I didn't want to just throw it away. Maybe if you used an extremely "dry" or slightly undercooked roast, it would work better? This used to be made by Solis. I would NEVER recommend their coffee grinders. I do have a Solis espresso machine that I purchased at the same time as the coffee grinder and it works well.

What a failed design. I never thought grinding my own coffee could bring so much despair and frustration, but truly it has. One must stand watch over this grinder as if it were a stubborn, disobedient child.

Imagine this: You've turned the timer knob as far as it allows. The grinder whirs loudly as few beans are ground. At first, you shake the grinder to coax beans into the burrs, but it doesn't help. Next, you manually shove beans down in the hopper with a small spatula. Coffee dust quickly spreads across your counter, creating a mess. Suddenly, the timer stops. You find you're left enough grinds for three-to-four scoops. You feel defeated, but you soldier on. Repeat this procedure three times until you have enough grinds for a full pot of coffee. Now wait, you're almost done! Finish your task by vacuuming the counter, grinder and floor below you with a DustBuster.

Without one iota of exaggeration, and I swear by the God who guides me, this is the most aggravating kitchen appliance I have ever owned. And I paid upwards of $100 for it!

Bottom line: If you love coffee and wish to protect your sanity, look elsewhere for a grinder. This is NOT what you want. As one human trying earnestly to help another, I beg of you to heed my warning.

I've had this grinder about two years. So I've had a long experience with it. I use mostly Starbucks French Roast and Italian Roast and I grind it fairly fine even though I use a regular Mr. Coffee coffee maker. I like strong, flavorful coffee. And it will grind that.

But the trouble is, it gets clogged up quickly --- often after one use. And cleaning it is a bear! I have to take a screw driver and get the coffee out of the top and a paper clip to go through the lower part.

I will say that it's easy to get through to support and they're very nice and helpful. But they can't do the cleaning and fixing for you. And I don't have a local place that fixes these.

It's very quiet. And one thing I love about it is that the container that accepts the coffee doesn't have much if any static. So it's clean as far as putting the coffee into the maker is concerned.

If you prefer more course coffee, this might work great for you. But if you like fine coffee and, especially, espresso, forget it.

I've read in several places that you can run some white rice through a grinder and clean it. I've not tried it yet but will. Perhaps that will make the job easier.

For most hard-core coffee drinkers, I don't recommend this unit basically because of the fact it is so hard to clean. And it clogs quickly and often.

Clearly a bipolar machine, I have never had anything but trouble with this thing. Any bean you would like to use for decent espresso jams the unit. The customer support is nice enough, except, the only fix seems to be "use a different bean" and for the price of this machine, that is a bad answer. Don't buy this one unless you don't grind much coffee.

I normally don't take the time to write reviews. However, after seeing the two negative reviews about this product, I felt I needed to add some balance.

After owning a few grinders, this is the best one I've ever owned or used. It is reasonably fast, very quiet and (so far)reliable. It produces a grind that is very consistent in size, even when grinding espresso, which is important. It is well made, and both easy and neat to use. There are no feed problems, no static problems, no problems of any kind.

I haven't tried feeding it any rocks, like one other reviewer here did (duh!), but it works great with coffee beans. Seriously, should it be expected to work well after being abused like that?

Maybe there is a product out there that is better for this kind of money, but I haven't found one.

After a year of fighting with this thing, and having already brought it to the factory for service, I finally threw mine away. Beans would inexplicably stop feeding into the burrs, especially with French Roast beans, which are larger and lighter. When we did get some grinds out of it, the static electricity would send them shooting all over the place.

I've had this grinder for over a year now and am very happy with it. My parents have the Braun KMM30 and this is a far superior machine. It is quieter (though still loud enough to solicit complaints from television watchers) and produces far less static. That said, my parents (who only drink drip coffee and aren't terribly picky as to nuances of flavor in their beans) are very happy with the Braun.

I use my Solis for grinding beans for a Braun auto drip coffee maker and a Rancilio Sylvia espresso maker. It does a great job for the drip coffee, and is pretty good for the espresso. I have noticed that occasionally the beans will stop feeding through the hopper-a small shake or stirring of the beans provides a quick fix (washing the hopper seems to make the problem go away). When the Solis finally breaks (no signs of that yet) I may go upscale in my grinder purchase and plunk down the $250 to upgrade to the Rancilio Rocky grinder.

While this grinder does cost twice the price of the Braun, if you are looking for a machine to do grinds for an espresso machine than the Solis is definitely worth considering-you will probably find that you cannot get a fine enough grind with a machine like the Braun. Finally, if you are looking at getting a more expensive machine, then you might want to first read the reviews posted at sites like coffeegeek.com and wholelattelove.com to help you make an informed decision.