Hello caffeinated community

I was hoping to get some insight on the quamar m80 vs vario as my first grinder. First my background, I'm as green as they get, never pulled a shot. My kids are too young but my wife and I drink one daily from most popular to least: cappuccino, latte, americano, French press. I will probably home roast as well. I will be purchasing my grinder prior to a machine for a few reasons but mostly to convince my wife I'm serious about another hobby So I may be using this grinder for French press,v60 for a few months but afterwards it will be dedicated espresso grinder so I am unsure if a huge adjustment will be that important. I lean towards to quamar but could grow to love either.

My machine down the road could be gaggi baby, bezzera bz02 or a lever( if I can get consistent).

After my ramble though my real question is on grinders

Vario has ceramic burs(54cm vs 63mm stainless steel). Quamar has bigger motor(330watt vs 240watt) and admittedly I am drawn to something a bit more "commercial." Perhaps the Quamar is just too new to garner many thoughts. I did ready HB and others thoughts on the Quamar when compared against the mazzer and the Ceado but has the vario been able to fight such titans? I see Quamar has a 12 month warranty what about vario?

I've never used one, but looking at the photos, specs and reviews, I don't think I'd like to use the Quamar M80 for anything other than espresso. Just to be clear, no one has said that it won't work for press or drip, but it just doesn't look like a good choice for that to me.

I would take a look at the refurbished grinders available here: http://www.baratza.com/products.php?id=43. While a Preciso is not available now as a refurb, maybe you could put your name on a list.

Have you considered other grinders? I was just in the market for a new grinder and finally after months of analysis paralysis I found a deal that at first seemed too good to be true. You can get a real deal on Wega rebranded Compak k10. These are going for less then $800 if you buy directly from the manufacturer. For the other smaller versions in the same class as the Quamar they are much less expensive then that. I think around around 600 or so.

If you want to see pictures here is a link to my thread on a conversion I just did going from doser to doserless.

Must Have Mods For Wega rebranded Compak K10?

I personally opted for the 68mm conical version which is identical to the Compak k10. They also have doser and doserless versions of the rebranded k3, k6 and I think even a k8. I also have a Vario and after testing them both side by side for espresso I personally prefer the Wega rebranded k10 hands down.

You can see the models here.

http://www.wegausa.com/espresso-grinders.php?p=7

The 64 mm burr versions are listed as Wega Max 6.4 while the 8.0 is 88mm conical and the 6.8 is 68 mm conical.

The 6.4 are incredibly cheap and built like a tank. The pictures on the website are pretty awful and look nothing like the actual grinder. This should be obvious if you look at the pictures in my linked thread above.

I worked directly with Tom at Wega usa and he was very helpful in getting the parts for the 1st phase of my conversion. Best of luck to you!

smite wrote:Have you considered other grinders? I was just in the market for a new grinder and finally after months of analysis paralysis I found a deal that at first seemed too good to be true. You can get a real deal on Wega rebranded Compak k10. These are going for less then $800 if you buy directly from the manufacturer. For the other smaller versions in the same class as the Quamar they are much less expensive then that. I think around around 600 or so.

If you want to see pictures here is a link to my thread on a conversion I just did going from doser to doserless.

Must Have Mods For Wega rebranded Compak K10?

I personally opted for the 68mm conical version which is identical to the Compak k10. They also have doser and doserless versions of the rebranded k3, k6 and I think even a k8. I also have a Vario and after testing them both side by side for espresso I personally prefer the Wega rebranded k10 hands down.

You can see the models here.

http://www.wegausa.com/espresso-grinders.php?p=7

The 64 mm burr versions are listed as Wega Max 6.4 while the 8.0 is 88mm conical and the 6.8 is 68 mm conical.

The 6.4 are incredibly cheap and built like a tank. The pictures on the website are pretty awful and look nothing like the actual grinder. This should be obvious if you look at the pictures in my linked thread above.

I worked directly with Tom at Wega usa and he was very helpful in getting the parts for the 1st phase of my conversion. Best of luck to you!

Thank you! I have looked at a good majority of grinders up to the price point of the vario. I will research the wega and see what I find. I was ultimately trying to keep the total setup price around 1500 so I have to be careful how high I go but have also been looking a bit for a slightly used mazzer as well.

geoffbeier wrote:I've never used one, but looking at the photos, specs and reviews, I don't think I'd like to use the Quamar M80 for anything other than espresso. Just to be clear, no one has said that it won't work for press or drip, but it just doesn't look like a good choice for that to me.

thanks! was it the adjustment process that makes the quamar seem like an unfit choice for press?

jmreeves wrote:thanks! was it the adjustment process that makes the quamar seem like an unfit choice for press?

I'm not sure about that. Since it's stepped, the switch might be easy enough, depending on the mechanics of moving it that far. It's more that I like to use different beans for press and espresso (usually) and Dan's photos/comments make me think this might not be a strong choice for single dosing. Meaning you'll want to operate it with beans in the hopper. That makes it sound like a pain to switch coffee on the fly.

I also don't think I'd like to use a grinder with a doser for press or drip.

Again, my concerns could be completely misplaced; that's just my impression from reading and looking

Wow, that really does make a lot of sense as simply as you put it. Thank you all and my plan is the Vario! Now on to research machines.