Customer Reviews

Baratza 585 Baratza Virtuoso Coffee Grinder

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

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.

I have had this grinder since March 2006. It grinds magnificently and is extremely well built. It is by far the cleanest grinder (no spewed grinds everywhere) I have had, and I have had MANY. I recently had an issue were a small rock somehow got into the grinder and caused the gears to strip. One call to customer service and they mailed me a replacement no questions asked! Fantastic!!!

As for the negative review prior to this- File it as uninformed. The grind catcher fits into the machine very snug, this is a good thing because it prevents the grinds from flying all over your countertop. The motor is very powerful (unless you try to grind rocks, see above) and grinds the beans with a low pitched growl. This is a terrific grinder with unparalleled customer support. I highy recommend this grinder.

I have had this grinder for over a year. It provides a very uniform grind over a wide range of settings. Recently, I had to adjust the grind calibration settings back to original spec by removing the hood & adjusting one screw. Instructions are on the web site, no problem. The grinder grinds again as when new. Quibbles: 1. When turned to the maximum setting, the timer does not keep the grinder grinding long enough to produce enough coffee for a twelve cup maker. You have to turn the timer again for more coffee. 2. Like a number of burr grinders I have used, the beans occasionally hang up in the feeder so that the grinder is running but no beans are being ground. This is more likely to happen with large and/or "candy" finished dark roast beans. Cleaning helps but does not eliminate this problem. Turning the grind adjustment ring to the max while the grinder is running clears up the stoppage, but it is an annoying glitch. Still, produces great coffee.

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.

This grinder will not work for dark to medium dark roast beans. Period. The beans simply fail to feed into the burr grinder. Like me, if you purchase this product, you will end up looking for various items around the house to push the beans into the grinder. I've tried spoon, wooden skewer, finger, cleaning brush, and a toothbrush, all with lackluster results. Its all rather comical, until I realize that there's beans all over the floor, the stupid metal timer knob has fallen off, very little grounds, and I spent 200 bucks on this thing.

It is fair to say that this has been one of the top five purchasing blunders in my life.

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

This is my first burr grinder so I don't have any experience with anybody else's product, but I'm very happy with the decision I made on this Baratza model.

I see a lot of criticisms that I dont agree with, particularly the grind cup not fitting or the grinder not producing enough beans to make a full 12 cup pot. Geez, I thought I drank strong coffee. A single cycle is plenty for MOST people. No problem with static after the first week of use, but those first few grinds clung like a codependent girlfriend. And sure its noisy, but hello....its a damn coffee grinder fer cryin out loud!

My machine has been in service every day for 4 months now, and I suspect its due for a cleaning, but it hasn't had one and neither has it had any problems. I set the grind to a medium espresso grind and I've enjoyed the best coffee of my life. Very simple to operate, classic elegant design...my only criticism of this model is that its too expensive but if you are a smart shopper you can find one of these on the cheap. 4 Cups

I was given this grinder as a gift. I like that it is relatively quiet and that there is less dust than other grinders I've owned. But if you like dark roast beans this grinder is not for you. I've tried all the recommendations suggested by the manufacturer but to no avail. It takes several minutes of grinding using a utensil to get this grinder to produce enough ground coffee.

A small irritation is the knob falls off on almost every grind. I could live with this if the machine could actually grind beans.

I was shocked to learn this grinder costs $200; for this price there should be no issues with grinding dark roasts. Do all Baratza machines have this problem?

I am now in the market for a replacement. Please comment of suggestions if you have time. TIA.

This grinder is a beauty. Do not believe reviews suggesting the Virtuoso is completely free of ground retention. While it is true the Virtuoso excels in how little stays within the mechanism, as well as how little sticks to the sides of the grind bin via static, there is still some ground retention that needs to be cleaned out between grinds. Unfortunatley the only way to do this without taking the removable burr out is to smack the grinder on the side with an open hand. I am getting 1/4 teaspon of grinds after each grind when doing this. Also the timer turn knob wants to fall off almost everytime it grinds. Aside from these minor annoyances, this is a beauty, I recommend it heartily. It has improved the flavor of every cup I brew, regardless of method, press pot, toddy, syphon, manual pour over, Aerobie Press by 25%. That's huge. Throw away your blade grinder, give your inferior burr grinder to someone you think un-reformable to appreciate improved coffee flavor, the Virtuoso makes me a better man.

I am rating this 5 stars. Not because it is perfect, but for the money it is a very good value, plus the fact Baratza sells spare parts and supports this so well, rather than many other companies that just say throw it away.

For the money, this is an extremely good grinder. If you research this on coffee aficionado sites you will see that to get the same quality or better you really need to pay more than double this price for any of the Italian or French grinders.

Pros:
Hopper is larger than many and can hold a half pound of most coffees. Generally, I only scoop in what I am going to use right then.
Very consistent, repeatable grind
Multiple, well marked grind settings. Useful if you use different methods to make coffee, like drip or press pot or Aeropress. You can reset for each different grind.
Uses larger burrs than most allowing a slower speed that grids coffee as quickly as others, and does not damage the beans with heat.
Sound: Because of the slower speed, this is quieter, and the sound is a more gravely low rumble than the high-pitched turbine whine of other grinders.
It is still loud, but not the need-to-leave-the-room, call the neighbor to apologize loud, like the Cuisinart I bought to sit in until I repair this one.
The hopper fits tight, so no stray grinds while grinding.

Could be better:
Occasional static, but not too much. I keep a small brush handy to sweep grinds back into the hopper when I remove it after a grind.
Probably not a fine enough ground for many espresso fans, but worth a try.

Cons:
Because the hopper fits tight, it can be a little hard to remove. It would help if Baratza added some rougher surfaces where your fingers grip the hopper. Because it is smooth, if your finger are wet, oily or too dry it can bit tough to remove the hopper in one try. Do it a few times and you get the hang of it though. Perhaps they have done this on newer models.

Experience:
I purchased this back in 2006 before Amazon was selling them. It has worked flawlessly for the past 5 years up until last week. The drive gear stripped, which was not as bad a thing as it sounds.

The early models used a plastic drive gear. I understand the new ones use a metal drive gear, (I think).

But great news, Baratza sells spare parts and has very clear instructions on how to replace the gear online. And they do not rip you off for the parts. For $3 for the new metal drive gear, plus $1 for a new drive shaft I ordered just in case, plus $3.49 shipping from Washington state to NJ, I should have the parts in a few days from today.

The repair instructions on the Baratza site are clear and not beyond my ability so I foresee no issues with the repair. If there are, I will update.