I am having a similar result, but from a different action.

Since getting it, I've almost exclusively used my Vario to grind for espresso, and it's been awesome. In the last few months I've started to grind coarse for drip. It works fine, and the coffee is great, but when I adjust back to fine for espresso, anywhere near the usual "home" setting doesn't do it anymore. I generally have to start all over, adjusting the grind from a choke, until I can get close to what I want. Throw in my lousy barista skills and it becomes an exercise in fail.

I usually waste a lot of coffee trying to pull a decent shot under normal circumstances, let alone trying to dial it back in after grinding for drip. Is this normal? Should I just get a separate grinder for drip?

Yes, get a separate grinder for drip.....and a LOT of people are going to be getting a second grinder for drip and especially press. Here is the scoop...we live about 20 miles from Washington State University where Kyle Anderson (Baratza) was visiting his son for Dad's Weekend (a real moneymaker for our local economy, after Mom's weekend) and we spent an enjoyable afternoon with Kyle and his son, Quinn. He came to our shop specifically to retrieve the master case of Baratza Virtuoso Preciso (pronounced Precise-O) grinder to upgrade them with a new and very exciting burr. Even though the Preciso had been out only 2 weeks they are gathering them all back in to put in the new burr because this burr is SO good....I have used it and Kyle is right, they hit it on the head with this one....the best press grind we have seen in a long time from a modestly priced unit, showing an extreme lack of fines on the coarse end and through the range. The secret here is in the burr which has been redesigned with larger bean feeding scoops on the inner burr and a series of small teeth type cutters before the chunks enter the fine grinding final blades. These cutters serve to in a way buzz saw the beans as they enter the grinding faces of the burrs instead of simply crushing the whole beans at the top of the burr which causes the production of fines on a coarse or medium grind. Real genius at work here on that burr design and extreme service to the community on developing the grinder and burr. Micro settings at .004" per click...very good in the espresso range as well and we so far have not seen this recalibration problem going back and forth from press to espresso.
We think there is going to be a lot of buzz about this new grinder and it comes out next week with the new burr....did I mention that it was fast as well?
He left it for us to play with (Number 1, which is an honor) and I basically intend to have our Vario and the new Preciso side by side for a lot of comparisons, but mostly to use just as you describe, a second unit for coarser grinding which may eventually become the first!

I think the idea of the vario is that you can use the same grinder for all purposes, and from reading on forums (I don't have a vario and have never used one, so this is all second hand opinion) a lot of users find this works well. Perhaps there is an issue with your particular grinder which could be sorted out.

Having said that, if you have the space for a second grinder, then grinders which are perfectly good for drip coffee are not that expensive - you'll find several models discussed at length on forums like this.

I have 2 grinders - one for espresso and one for everything else, including drip and syphon. In my case, the reason is that the Mazzer grinder is really only designed for espresso, and not for wide changes in grind level.

If you return it to precisely the same adjustment after doing a coarser grind, it will produce exactly the same grind as before. They are very accurately engineered. However, getting it back to precisely that point isn't easy ;o(

Add in the fact that a lot of espresso grinders leave significant remnants of previous grinds inside them which have to be cleaned out each time you change, and there's a lot to be said for dedicated grinders. (I understand the vario does not have that issue though).

orphanespresso wrote:Yes, get a separate grinder for drip.....!

Thanks Doug. Sounds like a stellar device. If the price is right I may pick one up.
By saying it may be a "first", are you saying that it may be good for espresso too?

keepitsimple wrote:I think the idea of the vario is that you can use the same grinder for all purposes, and from reading on forums (I don't have a vario and have never used one, so this is all second hand opinion) a lot of users find this works well. Perhaps there is an issue with your particular grinder which could be sorted out.

Having said that, if you have the space for a second grinder, then grinders which are perfectly good for drip coffee are not that expensive - you'll find several models discussed at length on forums like this.

I have 2 grinders - one for espresso and one for everything else, including drip and syphon. In my case, the reason is that the Mazzer grinder is really only designed for espresso, and not for wide changes in grind level.

If you return it to precisely the same adjustment after doing a coarser grind, it will produce exactly the same grind as before. They are very accurately engineered. However, getting it back to precisely that point isn't easy ;o(

Add in the fact that a lot of espresso grinders leave significant remnants of previous grinds inside them which have to be cleaned out each time you change, and there's a lot to be said for dedicated grinders. (I understand the vario does not have that issue though).

I'm wondering if there is an issue with my grinder. OR if I'm just having trouble getting it back to precisely that point. Are the increments on the Vario absolute or relative?

Drew

Drew, i posted in another thread that i've had to "recalibrate" the vario after going between espresso and drip a few times...
I spoke to baratza, and the reason seems to be that the calibration screw loosens a bit, when the grinder is at drip setting, from vibrations since the screw isn't under load...i'm not sure of the design so i can't comment...

Thanks Jason. I'm glad to have someone validate this. I'm going to get a separate grinder then.

jasonmolinari wrote:Drew, i posted in another thread that i've had to "recalibrate" the vario after going between espresso and drip a few times...
I spoke to baratza, and the reason seems to be that the calibration screw loosens a bit, when the grinder is at drip setting, from vibrations since the screw isn't under load...i'm not sure of the design so i can't comment...

That's kind of ridiculous since I'm pretty sure this machine is supposed to be easy to go from one grind setting to another, and use it as multipurpose grinder. For the price I think it should.

I just got one but haven't tested it out too much with different grind settings (just playing with the espresso range so far).
I remember reading a review/comparison between the different Baratza grinders and the vario was supposed to have good 'repeatabillity' going from different settings and back.
http://www.coffeegeek.com/pdfs/Baratza%...0%20SM.pdf

Now that the burrs hae settled/worn in in can go between settings but I have to grind 5-6 grams of coffee at my espresso setting after I move it back
From drip setting otherwise my espresso is too coarse.

Slightly annoying.

jasonmolinari wrote:Now that the burrs hae settled/worn in in can go between settings but I have to grind 5-6 grams of coffee at my espresso setting after I move it back
From drip setting otherwise my espresso is too coarse.

Slightly annoying.

What if you grind only the amount you need, keep the grinder running on empty when you make the adjustments. That way you don't waste the coffee while it's 'transitioning' it should move that way right?

I assumed it moves as soon as you make the adjustments, not sure why it would be so delayed.