Fellow Ode brew grinder review - Page 100

Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
iBrew
Posts: 202
Joined: 5 years ago

#991: Post by iBrew »

dsc106 wrote:I'm really surprised to hear this, everything I have read has suggested (1) a massive upgrade jumping from virtuoso to Vario with steel, and (2) ode and Vario being similar in the cup.

Curious how it is you noticed a big difference from virtuoso to ode, but not from virtuoso to Vario steel?? Can anyone else speak to this?
Hey sorry for the late reply I don't come around here much anymore.

The Ode and Vario steel are not a like at all and if you had one cup brewed with the Ode and another brewed with the steel Vario there would be a very noticeable difference, whoever said that clearly hasn't had both of these grinders or has a poor memory, there's a noticeable difference. I found the Encore with M2 burrs and the Vario with steel burrs to have a very similar taste profile, the Vario had a bit less fines which ended up giving it a slightly cleaner taste. I had to taste the two cups side by side to pick it up, it's slightly cleaner on the Vario but the overall taste is the same. There's others on here that compared the Virtuoso to the BG Forte (steel burrs) and found the same thing, their post is on this forum somewhere. I would just buy the Encore with M2 burrs over the Vario-W with steel burrs, it's really the same in cup experience, that's actually what I did! I returned the Vario and kept the Encore. I found the Encore was noticeably quieter too but it could be the sound it made was more pleasing. The M2 burrs are really good but I prefer cleaner more transparent cups and my experience with Baratza grinders is that they don't do that as well as ghost burrs or the interlocking burrs found in the Ode. It's also not surprising to me that the people who don't like the Ode or the Apex complain about the same things and the people who like the Apex/Ode like it for similar reasons. Although I never had the Ode and Apex at the same time the Ode reminds me a lot of the cups I had with the Apex... What you like better will be determined by your own preferences. But for me the Ode was clearly :wink: better and after my first cup with it, I sold the Encore that day on Kijiji.

iBrew
Posts: 202
Joined: 5 years ago

#992: Post by iBrew »

dsc106 wrote:I see, so basically it goes ode stock > Vario steel > ode ssp in terms of progressively more "unimodal" (aka tight/consistent extraction).

I definitely want tighter grind for brew than what I am getting on my niche zero or virtuoso, but, I might fall into the camp, then, of those who complain the ssp unimodal are overly hollow and thin on body.

Vario steel might be a nice balance of dramatically upping the clarity but still retaining some more well rounded body, then.
Vario steel won't have the same clarity as the stock Ode burrs, it'll have more bitterness/complexity compared to the Ode or a ghost burr. I haven't tried the SSP burrs but from what I seen/read not everyone prefers them to the burrs on the stock Ode, it comes down to what you prefer in cup but if you want clarity and roundness than it sounds like the the stock Ode burrs are what you want.

Since you already own the Virtuoso, I believe you'll be wasting your money and time with the steel Vario, I've been down that road :lol: the Ode or a ghost burr grinder will give you a different in cup experience than going from the Virtuoso to steel Vario. Email Baratza and ask them if there's a in cup difference between the Virtuoso and steel Vario for filter/pour over coffee... I did before I bought the Vario and they said no but I ignored them and bought it anyways and it turns out they were right :lol: I don't believe the Vario was designed to outperform the Virtuoso for filter coffee but was espresso focused. I think if someone is looking for an all in one brew and espresso grinder the steel Vario would be very high on my recommendation list but if you're looking for a brew grinder, I personally much prefer the Ode or Apex, I found it to be a big difference in cup.

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dsc106
Posts: 546
Joined: 4 years ago

#993: Post by dsc106 »

I brew, thanks for the thoughtful replies. I'm very surprised to hear that on virtuoso vs steel Vario; everything else I've read suggested as a "massive" difference in clarity. Are you sure this wasn't due, in your case, to beans/brew method? Or an unusually poorly aligned Vario? And that you were not running ceramics?

Just trying to make sense of your experience in contrast to others.

Jonk
Posts: 2176
Joined: 4 years ago

#994: Post by Jonk »

iBrew wrote:buy the Encore with M2 burrs over the Vario-W with steel burrs, it's really the same in cup experience
FWIW I disagree, there are even objective differences in grind distribution: DRIP Coffee: Baratza Virtuoso vs Niche Zero?

Of course the subjective experience is quite personal though. I will be keeping a Forté but thought the M2 burr Preciso to be good enough that I'll give it away to a relative.

iBrew
Posts: 202
Joined: 5 years ago

#995: Post by iBrew replying to Jonk »

I don't put too much weight into sifting test, what happens to the results if one is grind a bit coarser and the other finer, if one is shaken harder or for longer than the other. It's interesting to look at but I personally don't put too much into it.

After reading your post in that thread I think we have a bit of a difference on how we test grinders and that's ok!. I personally don't find testing two different grinders by matching the draw down time on each pour over to be a good way to test them. Grinders like the Apex or EK43 have faster draw down times, if I tried to match the Odes brew time to theirs it would be a very weak cup. I've done that sort of testing in the past out of curiosity but I much prefer to dial in the grinder to the best cup I can get out of it and compare that to the best cup I can get out of another grinder and don't use draw down time as a benchmark.
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iBrew
Posts: 202
Joined: 5 years ago

#996: Post by iBrew »

dsc106 wrote:I brew, thanks for the thoughtful replies. I'm very surprised to hear that on virtuoso vs steel Vario; everything else I've read suggested as a "massive" difference in clarity. Are you sure this wasn't due, in your case, to beans/brew method? Or an unusually poorly aligned Vario? And that you were not running ceramics?

Just trying to make sense of your experience in contrast to others.
I and others can share with you our own experience but at the end of the day what you find is all that matters. I believe Lance just made a video talking about how an aligned Vario vs stock wasn't a big difference for filter and was more noticeable for espresso, I believe Baratza has come out and said this exact thing as well. I highly suggest looking for a retailer with a great return policy, that sells both, buy both, shoot them out and return the one you like least.

paulraphael
Posts: 60
Joined: 6 years ago

#997: Post by paulraphael »

Hi, I'm a new Ode owner. Quick question: does the little rubber catch cover serve any purpose other than to look nice, and to get covered by grinds that you have to clean off? Would there be a disadvantage to ditching it?

Also, I saw upthread that someone posted Fellow's micron measurements for a few different grind settings. Does anyone have a complete list, ideally one that's for the 1.1 burrs?

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iBrew
Posts: 202
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#998: Post by iBrew »

It seems there's a new burr player for the Ode... anyone have experience with these? Lance was showing them off on Instagram.


https://gorillagear.coffee/products/gor ... f-feb-2022

malling
Posts: 2900
Joined: 13 years ago

#999: Post by malling replying to iBrew »

Gorilla burrs usually doesn't deliver the most unimodal grind and are mostly like an improvement of traditional "espresso" burrs and design. These also look allot like traditional espresso burrs. I have a hard time seeing these being uptimum for a brew grinder, but like any other burr set you can use in a mazzer 64mm you can use in Ode, but it doesn't necessarily mean it actually make sense to do so, the steps in Ode is just way to big and is honestly a faff to use for espresso.

Also these are as they state designed for espresso grinders.

dsc106
Posts: 546
Joined: 4 years ago

#1000: Post by dsc106 »

iBrew wrote:I and others can share with you our own experience but at the end of the day what you find is all that matters.
Of course, but I am still curious how you arrived where you did as an outlier. What beans, what roast levels, what brew methods?

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