Hey all!

I recently upgraded my Vario to a new Forte . I love it. One issue I'm having, though, and I was hoping you might have some insight.

Seems my Forte does not grind all that fine. In fact, I can't even choke out my ECM Technika IV Profi on the lowest grind setting, A-1, with it. When I had my Vario, any letter I tried on x-1 would completely choke out the ECM. I normally had to run the Vario around G-2 to pull a good shot using 18g.

I know the Forte is adjustable, but I'm a little worried to try, given that, if I follow the normal adjustment procedure placing both levers the whole way down, I can hear the motor sound change by simply moving the micro switch up to 2 and even more moving it to 1. This is without me even touching the macro switch at all. I tried going a little more fine using the tool, and noise actually got pretty bad and worried me, so I backed it down to where it was previously. Given this, the grind setting seems pretty tight already, and it worries me that I have to go down more which seems to be not possible.

Any thoughts on this? Is it possible I got a bad Forte?

I think you got a bad forte. Check out seattle coffee gear's video about grind consistency, they claimed to get turkish level.
I would also like to hear how you enjoy your ECM Tiv Profi? I am considering it against a double boiler (prolly R58).

Have you contacted Baratza? They have people available, waiting, eager to help you. We've been to Baratza, the techs are there, with things in their ears, connected to the world by wire & technology, and their sole reason for existence is to help! Give them a call! Since this is a new product of theirs they would be delighted to know if there is some issue, some problem, some difficultly that exists, and they don't know if you don't call...and they can't help you if you don't ask them.

Thanks all. I sent them an email and got a reply back from support asking to try a few things. Sent them some videos showing the issue I'm seeing so just waiting to hear back from them now. It looks as though there is indeed a problem with mine.

Damon, I've seen that video on SCG, and noticed that when their Forte is set to the finest setting, the thing will barely grind any coffee. Well, that's not the case on mine. Mine has no problem flying through the beans at the lowest level where theirs struggles to grind only an ounce.

Also, I can not take adjust the grinder any tighter as it's already making some fairly labored noise as is. If I take it any tighter, the noise get's really bad and sounds almost painful to hear.

Per Baratza's recommendation today, I took out the top burr and cleaned out the grinder using an air pump, brush, and vacuum. Replaced and tightened everything, but it still did not make a difference. I may have gotten a bad apple with this one. Hopefully, they'll be able to help me out.

And Damon, to answer your question about the ECM, get one. You won't be sorry. Here's some good reading for you:

https://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/espre ... nes/639072

I have zero experience with a Baratza, but from the sound of it, on the second vid, you have burrs touching at the last two stops. The burrs already touching on the second step from the top. That's the sound of metal on metal. That should be your "zero" point.

If you're getting coarse grounds at the point of burrs touching, then either you have misaligned burrs or damaged burrs. My bet is on the misaligned burrs.

Dan,

Burrs look good, according to Pierce from Baratza. I sent him some pics, along with a video of the grinds the Forte makes on the finest setting. He stated the grind looks fine and doesn't see a problem.

My problem is this, when I grind on A-2, I get a fast pour, so matter how I prep the shot. If I go down to anything at X-1, I get a slow pour and almost no crema. There's no in between on this thing and I just can't dial it in.

I like to think I'm not that much of a newbie, being the fact I never had this problem with my Vario. I was pulling some really great shots with it. Since I've gotten the Forte, not at all. Kind of disappointing given the cost of this thing.

All.

Just have to come on here and say what a great company Baratza is to work with.

I was working back and forth with Pierce on the issues I was having with the Forte. Mainly, that no matter what I tired, I could not get it dialed in for a proper shot. I called and had a conversation with Sarah Dooley as well. We discussed a few things and she was going to test out a Forte there for me to come up with some grind points.

After speaking with Pierce again, and letting him know the situation and all that I've done to try and pull a good shot, he kindly offered to replace my grinder with one that Sarah was able to dial in at their shop for me. So, I have a new Forte on it's way to me, that's been dialed in by a pro-barista, and they've even included a return shipping label for me to return the faulty grinder to them.

That is just incredible service IMO. Yes, the Forte isn't on the cheaper side of grinders out there, but when a company stands by it's product and is willing to go above and beyond to make sure things are right with the product they sell, it makes it so very worth paying a extra for that product.

It's simply refreshing to deal with a company that offers such exceptional customer service. It's also the experience I've had working with Jim at 1st Line Espresso. He, as well as Baratza, are a class act and an extreme pleasure to deal with. I'll recommend both to anyone asking me for advice on where or what to buy from now on.

I had the exact same problem with my Vario and have run acrossa few other similar threads.

I happen to live by Baratza and brought it in for debugging. They ended up replacing my grinder but I've never (in 2 years) been pleased with it.

The grind quality is great but the adjustment mechanism gives me no confidence. There are times the levers have no effect. Switching from coarse back to fine almost always requires recalibration as I cannot get the grind fine enough again.

Baratza support was great in my experience and there are many positive product reviews but for the last six months I've just switched back to my Rancilio Rocky. The grind quality is not as good but I can always trust the adjustment.

Eventually I plan to switch to a Mazzer Mini.

My previous thread on this is at:
Cannot grind fine enough with Baratza Vario-W