Baratza Virtuoso+ Coffee Grinder ZCG587BLK, Black

Great for typical brewing methods, Okay/decent for espresso IF you recalibrate
For french press, pour overs, aeropress, etc, this is a fantastic grinder. The grind is fairly uniform, the grinder is easy to use, and the entire thing is well made and made for repairs–an investment that will last a lifetime or more!However, for espresso, you *can* recalibrate the grinder to grind down to small enough grinds. This taking off the shell and essentially shifting the grind size range down. By this I mean let’s say 0-40 is the range for however your Virtuoso + is currently calibrated. If you recalibrate it to the finest setting, the range, relative to the original, then becomes something like -8-32.As such, this does work for espresso–I managed to dial in some recipes with the use of puck screens and such to compensate for pressure. But the step size itself is fairly big for espresso. What I mean is that the ideal grind size for whatever espresso you want to make is very likely in between grind sizes–and there is no way for you to calibrate this grinder to be in that middle ground. Well, there is: you can do the stepless mod, but per Youtube, this comes with its own compromises (the hopper will shake a lot so you will have to stand there holding the hopper for consistent grinds). Either way, works well for my current espresso skill level and usage.That being said, if you have one of the lower end entry level machines with the pressurized baskets (like mine) and just simply want to make a mocha or strong coffee but not a “proper” or “perfect” espresso, then the grind size/steps kinda don’t matter all that much. These types of baskets are meant to eliminate all the nuances of proper espresso making. When you start messing around with unpressurized baskets though, you may be somewhat unhappy depending on how you like your espresso.In case you are interested in the grind sizes I use, here they are below. Keep in mind my Virtuoso + is calibrated to the finest possible setting (Baratza has videos showing how to do this).French press – I use an Espro P7, so I use a medium grind because I can filter out the grounds. I use size level 28 and the standard 1 min bloom, 3 min brewing, 30 sec plunge techniqueEspresso – I use a Casabrews CM5418 but unpressurized baskets. The one I have dialed in the best (as well as I could with this machine and grinder) is the IKAPE 51mm high extraction beehive basket. For this basket, I use 15.5g of medium/medium-light beans at size 4 with the GEMINI 51mm Puck Screen at 0.8mm thickness. The puck screen is primarily to keep the showerhead clean and compensate for pressure as well as volume since I cannot dial in the grind size any better. The pressure ends up being ~8.5-9 BAR on my machine. it will be a bit on the sour side but still good.If you want something a bit more on the bitter side, then with the same basket, I do 16g of the same beans, grind level 5, with the MHW Bomber3 51mm 0.8mm puck screen. The pressure will be 6.5-7.5 BAR with my machine.

Timer is one of the best features
First off, I come from a professional background having several coffee carts and restaurants over the years. One experience I will always remember is when I had our burrs replaced on our commercial espresso grinder. The technician said, “let me show you something amazing with just changing burrs”. He brewed an espresso before the new burrs and one after. It was night and day difference such that these could have been completely different coffees or expresso machines. Burrs do wear out and need to be changed, which by the way is pretty easy on this machine.I have seen several complaints about the timer. I find it to be extremely useful for measuring output. I tend to brew the same size pot every day and have dialed in my grind time to output the same amount ever time. I have seen some other grinders trying to incorporate scales to measure output which looks to be a PIA. Once you get the time “dialed” in, the output is very consistent. I can see if someone was varying the amount of coffee output regularly, the timer could be a pain but for consistent amounts of grind, it works very well. I also read here about complaints of the white coffee chafe showing. This is common with medium to lighter roast beans and are not an issue. I’ve used cheaper burr grinders usually don’t not show the chafe and this usually means the coffee is being burnt rather than chopped by the grinding process. This has been a very reliable grinder putting out consistent dosed grinds every time. It should be noted that I do not use this grinder for espresso.

It’s an amazing grinder if you brew coffee. Obviously, it’s not something new I’m saying, the reputation of Baratza is well known.But if you want to make great espresso, this isn’t a grinder for you. I’ve still rated it 5 starts because it’s not supposed to be an Espresso grinder in the first place. It can grind fine enough for espresso but you can not dial it in properly for espresso. But overall, it’s an amazing grinder for brewing with all other methods.

Bella e apparentemente robusto. L’unica pecca è che per fare un caffè espresso bisogna impostarla al massimo del grado di macinatura.