another_jim wrote:It's good you are doing the comparisons. In these types pf comparisons, it's best to grind into two identical baskets (I scratch below the lip to mark them), shuffle, and then pull shots. The most convincing result is when you can easily tell after a few shots which grinder is which. This is what happened when a group of us tested it against the Mini. A more subtle difference is detected if you can't consistently tell them apart, but if after a week or two of paired shots, one grinder significantly outscores the other.

Jim, I have a couple of pounds of Caffe Fresco Black Hand coming in this week, so I should be able to get in a groove this weekend without having to readjust the grind as frequently. Its tough pulling "blind" shots by yourself, but I like your idea of using identical baskets and marking one! Looks like another order to Espresso Parts...

mhoy wrote:Some dark home roasted stuff just flew all over the place. Finished it up and switched to some Barefoot Elemental, no more problems. This was 5 minutes after the previous beans, so the beans do make a difference.

mark

Just ran some Sidamo through this morning and my static problem is no more. It was the beans.

Yesterday I took some beans from the freezer, let them warm up, and when I ground them it was almost as if they went everywhere except in the basket.

My first Vario was a lemon. Boy, was it ever because my new Vario seems like a completely different animal. I'm really happy with it, I'm just sour about the lemon purchase.

I have to say for me as well, the static is intense with the 49th Parallel Epic espresso... like literally everywhere BUT the portafilter... but it's definitely bean specific as not all ground coffees are jumping like fleas.

Newbie review of Vario

I was expecting a lot from this grinder but was concerned it might not deliver like the bigger, heavier more expensive ones I kept reading about. I am so glad I decided to take the risk. Have had the Vario for about a week and absolutely love it.

Initially it was too coarse even at the finest micro and top macro setting for my Giotto. Decided to try the adjustments I've read about on HB and found it was so easy to adjust that I over did it and was able to bring the Giotto to a "stall" or where nothing came out of the pf. Took a bit of trial and error but after figuring out that it was much easier to turn the grinder on its head (with the hopper on but the lid off) and actually see what I was doing it became easy. What did I take away from the exercise?...The vario can grind any bean I'd ever buy and make it as fine or coarse as the coffee needed. This was probably the biggest concern (hidden fear) that I had about which grinder to buy. Having that fear put to bed made the whole experience of fiddling with the adjustments worth the time and effort.

Have a 58ml pf and no problems with holder. Also modified the "yougurt" cup to just a dixie cup cut higher so that I don't even have to use any holder. The beautiful grinds come out "fluffy" (little clumping) and I just move the pf in a circular motion to get better distribution. No mess or static issues and I have been able to use the timer (about 11secs based on my adjusted calibration which now sits at top micro setting and 1 from top on macro setting) to replace weighing after verifying the consistency of the grind with a scale several times.

After being squirted on several times with a bottomless pf trying to observe the pour, I decided to try the "WDT" or whatever the initials were for the stirring with a fine point (with the cup still in place) and the shots are starting to look like those beautiful ones shown in the many videos (I say starting...not there yet by any means but am getting the nice stripping and no more squirts). time is about 35 secs and still no blonding...it lightens but doesn't turn blond like the videos show if you do it wrong.

Long comment and not sure if I did the right reply/post/etiquette thing but thought it would help others looking to buy a Vario or at least get a good handle on what it is capable of.

Again, a very pleased buyer (who is analytical to a fault sometimes). Unless you need higher duty cycles or simply just prefer a doser version grinder you will be happy with a Vario

I too have had a Vario for a few weeks and am enjoying it immensely. In a post elsewhere I was concerned that I was getting too many "fines" mixed in with my grind but I think I was mistaken.

I have not seen the static issue yet with the 5 or so different types of beans I've used. To those who saw it with particular beans: have you tried running some Grindz through it and try those beans again? I thought it was Jim who posted elsewhere that after a month or so he started to see static but after disassembling it and cleaning the burrs it went away. (I have to be quick so can't search for the post right now. Do correct me if I'm mistaken.)

Re. the Sleep, Baratza knows about it. It will not go to sleep (automatically) if it's in Manual mode and you've pressed Start. If you put it in Manual but leave it alone it will go to sleep but once you use it, nope. (They might have it fixed already.)

I believe I've finally isolated another bug with the new panel when switching between timed and manual modes. It was a bugger to reproduce but I think I've figured it out. I'll experiment a bit more with it this weekend to be 100% certain. It's not a big deal though so don't panic if you haven't encountered it. (Also, I'm assuming it's a bug; I'll apologize if it's actually a feature. :p)

I would LOVE to use the timed feature since I think it would make things easier for me. However, I have to switch between regular and decaf beans constantly, so that's out for now. (Unless someone wants to donate another Vario? )

d

sdavidp wrote:I would LOVE to use the timed feature since I think it would make things easier for me. However, I have to switch between regular and decaf beans constantly, so that's out for now.

David, who couldn't you set ONE of the buttons (Espresso, Drip, Press) for regular, and another for drip? Not even the LAPD's SWAT team will kick in your front door if you use one of the buttons for something other what's printed on the button . . .

Cheers,
Jason

Thanks for the suggestion Jason.

I did think of that though. My thought was that it would be nice not to have to single-dose and weigh beans every time is all.

sdavidp wrote:I thought it was Jim who posted elsewhere that after a month or so he started to see static but after disassembling it and cleaning the burrs it went away.

I found the post.

akallio wrote: talks about one quality grinder tasting "slightly better" or "on par" with some other quality grinder are, well, a bit silly, I think.

there are several major threads here that take differences between grinders very seriously

Titan Grinder Project: Can it Beat the Mazzer Robur?

Titan Grinder Project

while there are many variables, and taste is subjective - we only advance our interest by realizing there are differences and trying to establish what those differences are.