I got a Baratza Vario for my first espresso set up (paired with a CC1), and I'm having inconsistent results. At first I chalked it up to breaking the grinder in, but I've been through almost 3 pounds of coffee now - 2 pounds trying to pull actual shots, 1 pound of stale to try breaking it in.

I wasted about 1/2 pound of good coffee before I realized it was calibrated too coarse (it was gushing at the finest setting). I re-calibrated it so it made the laboring sound at 2Q, and it choked the CC1 at the finest setting, and went up from there. I made coarser changes with the machine off, and finer changes with the machine either running or empty. I spent a lot of time trying to dial in 3 different coffees, taking notes as I went along. After a little while, I realized that I wasn't getting repeatable results. I even tried pulling 3 shots in a row with the same grind setting, and got different results. Is the Vario still breaking in, or do I have a bum unit? I've been using Counter Culture coffee, so it's starting to get expensive to keep failing to dial it in.

Coffee:
CC Toscano/Big Trouble
CC Rustico/Hologram
CC Number 46
Tests were done with coffee between 5 and 14 days post-roast.

Grinder: Baratza Vario (new)

Machine: Crossland CC1 (new)

Extraction parameters used for all of the above coffees:
Machine on for 1+ hours
198F
2 sec pre-infusion, 2 sec wait, 24 sec brew, 28 total time

Here's an example of the inconsistency I saw yesterday and today with 14 day old Number 46:
#1
Vario setting: 2T
Grams of coffee: 18g
Weight of output after above brew parameters: 45g
Notes: Not bitter or sour, can taste some chocolate notes

#2
2T
18g
32.6g
Bitter

#3 (tried to get a step coarser after the last pull)
2U
18.2g
44.3g
Was good. Tasted like #1 above.

#4
2U - wanted to a repeat of #3
18g
48g after 22 seconds. Had to cut it off as it was about to overflow my 1.5oz shot glass.

#5
2U
18g
41g after 17 seconds. Even faster than #4. Getting frustrated.

The only other factors that could be changing shot to shot are distribution and tamping, but I'm doing the same thing for each shot: lightly tapping the vario bin to slowly pour the ground coffee into the portafilter, sweeping to level it, and tamping. I'm not using WDT or measuring my tamping pressure, but I am doing roughly the same thing each time and tamping with about the same pressure each time, so I can't see how that would affect the pours that drastically. I've also read that tamping can affect the shot, but that anywhere from 20-40 lbs should be sufficient and not to focus on tamping pressure too much when starting out, so no, I haven't broken out the bathroom scale yet

Obviously I'm going to keep trying, and I have more coffee coming in, but it's been frustrating so far. I feel like not being able to pull roughly the same shot 3 times in a row means something is wrong though, and I don't know if it's me or the machine. Could channeling due to uneven distribution cause that much of a difference between shots? I don't see any obvious holes in the puck after each pull.

mst3000,

In the not-too-distant-future, if you send us a video (movie) of your whole process (preferably in 1950s black & white format), we can put it up on the giant screen in the Conference Room and do impromptu "voice-overs" at various points in your film. Maybe we can find the problem at the same time. Thanks. -- Joel, Tom Servo, Crow T Robot and Gypsy.

Just kidding (don't hurt me)...

...but aside from being "humorous" -- and not having personal experience with the Vario model -- I HAVE read that there is a "shimming fix" that the older Varios needed and the newer ones now come with already from the factory.

Does YOURS have the "shim fix" installed?

The only OTHER thing I can come up with (from my personal Baratza Virtuoso Preciso experience) is a cracked/broken burr-holder -- IF Varios use those white nylon burr-holders like my old Preciso did.

-- BR

BillRedding wrote: Does YOURS have the "shim kit" installed?

The "shims" are just little bits of silicone that go into the macro and micro arms to prevent them from moving. If the adjustment arms don't change settings when you're grinding, they aren't needed.

I once havd a Vario and found that if I ran too many shots in quick succession the grind would get coarser. Leave the grinder as-is and try again tomorrow - I bet the shot times slow down.

I think the Vario burrs break in pretty fast. Are you using a bottomless portafilter? The first thing I would check is that you are getting consistent extractions.

mst3000,

So...assuming your burr-holders are NOT cracked/broken, do you notice the grind-level adjustment levers moving during the grinding process?

My Preciso's did...

-- BR

csepulv wrote:I think the Vario burrs break in pretty fast. Are you using a bottomless portafilter? The first thing I would check is that you are getting consistent extractions.

This. The vario is only as consistent as the barista

Tamping force may not be hugely relevant, but tamping itself and distribution of grinds is tremendously relevant. Start doing WDT and looking at your own technique more critically before turning eyes outward. during the learning phase a naked portafilter is of immeasurable value when evaluating your own technique, and thereby allowing you to determine when the grind settings, dose, or temperature or whatever may be what needs to change or if your technique is inadequate. Without that information you can just end up spinning in circles ime

I too had consistency problems when I started with espresso. 90% of those problems were caused by incompetence on my part, but there were a few caused by the grinder.

When I got the grinder (a Vario), I placed it on the kitchen counter, and my cat was fascinated by what he thought was a new toy. He adjusted the grinder settings for me (I guess this makes him a barista-cat), but then he lost interest.

Then I noticed that the macro lever moved by itself during the grind. Installing shims corrected this problem, and while waiting for the shims to arrive, I held the macro lever in position to prevent it drifting.

In addition to the above, there are certain factors that affect the required grinder setting:

1. Humidity. As the humidity increases, it is necessary to go to a coarser grind.
   Beans. With each new batch of beans (whether different beans or a different batch of the same beans), it is necessary to adjust the grind setting to account for the differences in the beans or roast level.
   Beans in hopper. If you are grinding by time, you will get less ground coffee per second as the weigh of beans in the hopper decreases. I have found that this occurs with less than ~ 50g in the hopper.
   After making an adjustment (either finer or coarser), it seems to take about 50g for the adjustment to fully take effect. I determined this by examining my records, but it is quite possible that my records are not completely accurate.

I notice that your grinder is calibrated to use grind settings very close to one end of the macro scale. After recalibrating, I had a similar situation, and after a few days, I found I had to change the macro setting from 2 to 3 and back again. As 3-A is not one step coarser than 2-W, I had a lot of difficulty determining what setting to use, so I adjusted the calibration again to get a setting somewhere near the middle of the macro step. This made future adjustments much easier.

Hope this helps,

Alan

It's been said already, but I had the same issue and found that my macro lever, while not actually completely dropping into a lower setting, would wander much lower than the line it started on. This is despite have a new model with factory installed shims, as confirmed by serial number. Grind setting of new Baratza Vario changes by itself

I have since dialed my calibration so light and dark beans can be on the same macro setting, and use a heavy duty office paper clip to lock the macro setting exactly in place. I use a Lido 2 for anything other than espresso. I'd love to credit the German HB'er who clued me in to this idea, but cannot find the post at the moment.

I also found my Vario was retaining and then puking grounds and clumping terribly. Fixed and single doses very consistently now thanks to flipping the rubber static flap upside down. Single Dosing My Baratza Vario Success!

I'd be up a creek without a paddle without the advice on the Vario I got here. I'm really happy with it now. Only complaint I have left is that varying degrees of roast require significantly different micro grind settings. I'm getting to the point where I can guess what settings those are and not choke the machine or end up with a gusher on the first shot of new beans.

mst3000 wrote:The only other factors that could be changing shot to shot are distribution and tamping, but I'm doing the same thing for each shot: lightly tapping the vario bin to slowly pour the ground coffee into the portafilter, sweeping to level it, and tamping. I'm not using WDT or measuring my tamping pressure, but I am doing roughly the same thing each time and tamping with about the same pressure each time, so I can't see how that would affect the pours that drastically. I've also read that tamping can affect the shot, but that anywhere from 20-40 lbs should be sufficient and not to focus on tamping pressure too much when starting out, so no, I haven't broken out the bathroom scale yet

Obviously I'm going to keep trying, and I have more coffee coming in, but it's been frustrating so far. I feel like not being able to pull roughly the same shot 3 times in a row means something is wrong though, and I don't know if it's me or the machine. Could channeling due to uneven distribution cause that much of a difference between shots? I don't see any obvious holes in the puck after each pull.

Disregarding your equipment, just somethings straight off the bat that would make me thing it's more mano than machines.

The main thing is if you are sweeping off the excess from the top, if you are not hitting your portafilter hard one time and then hard the next time is going to effect how much coffee you are actually brewing with. Ideally if you want to really get rid of all variables you should be weighing your loaded portafilter to make sure you are actually loading the same amount with a tenth or two of a gram.

Yes you could be totally screwing up distribution and be channeling, and not see a hole in the puck. If it channels generally speaking your espresso will go from a nice amber color to that of a light brown discharge, if that happens just stop.

Basically go to the FAQ and really look it over, then find what works for you to be consistent.