One slacker's opinion:

Quality of shots with my new Vario is likely an improvement over my Mini. However, the best upgrade to my espresso life lies in not messing with the grind settings any more than is "required."

An "off" grind is my most common shot flaw, often resulting after shifting from one variety of bean to another. Sometime I'll sink a near miss, but usually I just drink it. And guests who want a decaf, and then a regular, and then . . . Forget it.

Don't get me wrong, the stepless Mini, and near-stepless (but more reproducible) Vario don't present insurmountable adjustment problems. Just that there's more attention required and room for error.

Anyway, some prospective grinder buyers who don't now own a competent grinder (by whatever criteria you judge that) might consider buying a couple of grinders in the Vario/Mini class instead of spending equal or 50% more on one top-tier grinder.

Photo is Vario and Mini. Cabinet height is 16.5"

Or you can skip the whole decaf altogether.
You could get a Macap MXK with sweet sweet commercial conical burrs for the money of the Mini and the Vario.
Do you stock every fruit juice imaginable for the off chance a guest might want raspberry juice?

Although I only have one grinder on the bench at the moment, I can definitely see the merit in a second grinder for decaf (as long as its not a Robur-E) and I imagine both the grinders you have are well suited for this purpose. However, I would second the notion that I'd rather have one excellent grinder than two good grinders - unless of course you do drink a lot of both.

If you got a k10 wbc, you could single dose and change beans on the fly. The large conical burrs keep grind adjustment to a minimum. the grind quality from a k10 is simply outstanding and makes good extractions effortless.

I keep 2 grinders on the Speedster coffeebar. The K10 is loaded with my current straight espresso blend or S/O & the Major takes care of the family/guest lattes with a different blend. The B. Vario stays in the kitchen doing vac pot duty & Microcasa shots. There is also an SJ stored under the coffeebar that comes out for decaf duty every once in a while.

In our household two grinders are now de rigueur.

Just to think, it was about a year ago when I thought I could get into this hobby for about a grand

jammin wrote:If you got a k10 wbc, you could single dose and change beans on the fly. The large conical burrs keep grind adjustment to a minimum. the grind quality from a k10 is simply outstanding and makes good extractions effortless.

I've been at this coffee stuff for a while, but it hadn't really occurred to me that adding a second grinder, even if it is simply "good" but not "excellent," can produce a big bounce in espresso satisfaction. So if someone already has a modestly competent grinder or doesn't want to spend a lot to add a commercial conical or if there are some space issues or whatever, and still wants to effortlessly keep a couple of different beans active, perhaps adding a smallish Vario might be something to consider.

Even if starting from scratch, with no critical budget or space issues, I can still think of scenarios where I might advise spending under $850 for two Varios rather than spending the same or more on a single machine. That would not work for most HB'ers, but what does?

Of my current stock of grinders only the K10 & Zass were bought new & I got a very good deal on the K10. With $850 you could easily buy 2-3 nice grinders if you shop around. Used SJs & Majors are still bargains & several Max Hybrids have sold for short money on Ebay in recent months. The B. Vario is starting to grow on me but with it's seemingly endless QC problems I wouldn't pay the asking price for a new one never mind buy two.

The only Vario QC problems I'm aware of are related to rocks or pre-production models. Did I miss something?

Regarding the thread's subject, you could relegate decaf to press-pot or filtered rather than espresso, which would be fine with something like a $40 Hario Skerton. Keep it simple. And cheap.

To revive an aging but useful thread, it depends on how you use the grinder, doesn't it?

In my home setup I have a Super Jolly, which adjusts easily when I switch to decaf for my wife and guests. I put a piece of tape near the adjusting handle and mark where I've dialed it in for different blends. When I want to grind coarser, I know I can adjust it without beans running through it. If I want to tighten up the grind, I only do that with beans. This way I can use a good grinder for both regular and decaf. Also, I may keep the grind the same and adjust tamping pressure for beans requiring slight differences in grind. These adjustment methods also work for sampling different espresso blends for guests.

In my office on the other hand I have a Le'Lit PL53, which adjusts very gradually, so it's difficult to use the same way I use the SJ. I would be less likely to use that for double duty.

So my bottom line about whether to get a second grinder is whether it is easily adjustable. If not, you may need a second grinder, and by all means get a good one!

Whether