drgary wrote:I'm preparing a coffee setup for the new group office I joined. What made sense in the small space was a Baratza grinder and a Bonavita 1900TS brewer. Well, I found a Baratza Virtuoso on Craigslist when searching for an Encore. The next day I walked into Compass Coffee's downtown location and they're using the same grinders on dosing scales for pourover. The cup I had tasted cleanly brewed.

It just so happens I have a Bunn LPG grinder at home that I converted to Ditting burrs. I'll be doing some informal taste testing that compares the two. I can also sift for fines and compare.

As a side note to Baratza durability, in the past few years using those 3 Virtuoso/Esato combo's I've replaced over a dozen Virtuoso drive gears, they be plastic and the teeth routinely break. I keep a complete Virtuoso/Esato hot spare on hand they fail so often. That said much higher volume use than typical home or probably most offices!

I went to the Baratza site and the drive gear costs $5. Other parts are comparable.

Supposedly Blue Bottle uses the Mythos grinder for brew (according to this article: http://www.freshcup.com/from-the-grounds-up/). I just received a set of Mythos burrs; I'll have to try them out for pourover.

Compass Coffee wrote:As a side note to Baratza durability, in the past few years using those 3 Virtuoso/Esato combo's I've replaced over a dozen Virtuoso drive gears, they be plastic and the teeth routinely break. I keep a complete Virtuoso/Esato hot spare on hand they fail so often. That said much higher volume use than typical home or probably most offices!

Using a "home" grinder in a coffee shop is like using a Mr. Coffee to brew with and a "starbucks" home pressure basket espresso to pull shots.

Not a wise move to use home quality "toys" in an institutional/commercial environment.

What are you using for your brew and espresso machines?

Easy now!

I walked in and saw three Virtuosos in a row behind the top counter, each on its own Esato scale, and each holding a different single origin for pourover brewing. That setup seems to be a very low clutter, efficient way for Mike's baristas to offer those choices. The alternative is getting the beans from a bag or bin, weighing them, then running them through a Ditting. For your morning rush how much longer will it take to serve people?

If you're asking about quality of gear and before we get too far off topic, have you seen Mike's thread on prepping the Synesso Hydra for his new shop?

Heracles Second Labor Undone

drgary wrote:Easy now!

I walked in and saw three Virtuosos in a row behind the top counter, each on its own Esato scale, and each holding a different single origin for pourover brewing. That setup seems to be a very low clutter, efficient way for Mike's baristas to offer those choices. The alternative is getting the beans from a bag or bin, weighing them, then running them through a Ditting. For your morning rush how much longer will it take to serve people?

A single Forte BG with multiple shut off hoppers would allow for an unlimited selection in SO pour over with less clutter and an industrial grinder that "should" hold up to the demand without failing regularly as they are getting with the home grinders

Forte BG would be the best option in the Baratza line for a commercial coffee shop. They are supposed to be built with stronger internal parts and a larger motor for heavy duty cycles such as a coffee shop demands. I've not heard much regarding their durability in a commercial setting but I don't follow that segment of the "coffee world" very closely as I am a home roaster and home brewer. They are rather new on the market compared to other commercial grinders that have been in service for decades.

I use a Forte BG at home and in the years I have owned and used it I've had no issues what so ever but just about any grinder should hold up to one grind a day. since I have 2 brew grinders I would be surprised if either was used more than 150-200 times a year. I would not be surprised to see 150-200 grinds a week in a slow coffee shop and maybe that many a day in a busy one even spread over 3 grinders.

No matter how you cut it, a home grinder is a home grinder is a home grinder. Baratza makes a decent home grinder.

The plastic internals of the Baratza home grinders are not designed for commercial applications.

drgary wrote:If you're asking about quality of gear and before we get too far off topic, have you seen Mike's thread on prepping the Synesso Hydra for his new shop?

Heracles Second Labor Undone

I would not call that a home espresso machine unlike the home brew grinders they are using.

Still less efficient than dedicating a grinder to each SO, and home devices like Aeropresses are used in professional shops all the time. The point is providing a quality brew. I believe we've thoroughly discussed the Baratza choice. Back to the OP's comment about not wanting to rely on Baratza's famed service department, have we addressed that concern? It seems that their products short of professional spec will have consumable parts.

drgary wrote: I believe we've thoroughly discussed the Baratza choice. Back to the OP's comment about not wanting to rely on Baratza's famed service department, have we addressed that concern? It seems that their products short of professional spec will have consumable parts.

I've never dealt with Baratza outside of purchases and parts. I was unsure of what was meant by service department. sending in a grinder for service/repair? I can't speak to that but as far as parts availability and price they are pretty good there. Orders are shipped out same day they are placed. They have video and text based "how to fix" (name the issue).

http://www.baratza.com/troubleshooting/

They are simple enough to work on that any one competent enough to brew good coffee should be competent enough to rebuild any of their grinders. I've rebuild Maestros, Maestro plus, Virtuoso, Preciso, and Vario models. I've never had any reason to take my Forte apart though now that I am thinking about it, it would be nice to see what's inside... Maybe when I get my second one I'll take one of them apart