Baratza Virtuoso+
Coffee Grinder
Coffee Grinder
When @gpjoe went to pick up his Baratza Encore grinder package, he made a note about how heavy it was. When I went to pick up my Baratza Virtuoso+ grinder package, I felt the same way. While weight isn't always an indicator of quality, but in this case, it most certainly is. My unit weighs 8-pounds, I tell ya what, it certainly feels like it. Also, Baratza boxes this in a box within another box, and they like to make it a bit of a puzzle to remove this grinder from its box I tell ya, I felt like a cat trying to get into the treat puzzle box.
Unlike many of the cheap brands, which are manufactured in China, and come with poorly translated documentation, or none at all, Baratza grinders are made in Taiwan, and they come with proper documentation that is actually useful. If you are new to the use of coffee burr grinders, I highly suggest that you give this quick start guide a read. Additionally, both Baratza's website, as well as their Youtube channel, have further documentation, and how to video's, including an impressive replacement parts list. Yes, you heard me correctly, Baratza grinders are actually made to be serviceable, they are not throw away machines! And they actually advocates for the do it yourself repair. Also, the replacement parts are reasonably priced too, so they actually make it worth it to fix, rather then buy a whole new unit. Impressive for these times isn't it? I thought so!
If you decide to not use the quick guide, I need to make sure you are at least aware, that both the burr chamber gasket, as well as the course bristle cleaning brush, are hidden inside the grounds collector. The top hopper and cover don't come pre-assembled, so you will have to unpack those and put them on as well. I also discovered that my burr retainer ring was not aligned with the red notch on the housing, so I had to rotated that until it clicked down in, then I was able to install the burr chamber gasket, and then attach the hopper as well. But I have to say, this was all easy to do, and I did it without using the guide, because I got my education in Baratza's video's before the grinder arrived lol.
I couldn't help but notice just how thick the power cable was, its the kind of thickness you'd expect from a 12-AMP circular saw! So, I looked for the wire size on it, and it says 2X18-AWG, most Chinese made appliances today use 24-AWG cables, so thats pretty awesome. I thought that was interesting though, it really made me think about what kind of power this thing requires. Well, take a look at that motor, thats a 180-watt direct drive motor with gear reduction, this thing is the real deal folks, its playing for keeps, and no coffee bean will be left behind. But unlike grinders like the Cuisinart DBM-8, which uses super fast speed that heats up the grinds, and causes static with the ceramic burrs. The Baratza Virtuoso+ uses high torque from the motor, but at a lower 550-RPM speed instead.
As you can see, this grinder has quite the sleek look to it. The material composition of it is a combination of, BPA free ABS plastic, as well as stainless steel. These materials are thick too, and you most certainly feel it in the weight of the machine. The base of the unit is made of metal, and is real sturdy, with its nice rubber feet on the bottom. Plastic can be seen on the sides, as well as in the grinds collector, and beans hopper. I find the combination of plastic and stainless steel, really helps to accent the design of the grinder, both in aesthetic appeal, as well as function in build quality. You really get the feel, that this is a pro-consumer level grinder, that would look good on just about any coffee bar, it certainly looks good on mine!
Since the original release of the Baratza Virtuoso in 2005, people complained that the grinds collector was too hard to see, especially since Baratza had instituted the ( white ) level indictator line back in 2012's grinder refresh. Well, have a look at the grinds collector on the Virtuoso+, the lights inside are not even on yet, the unit isn't even plugged in yet, and just the immense light from my camera gear, is making it very easy to see, that there is a christmas tree inside. No! Of course I am joking, its the included cleaning brush, and the burr chamber gasket silly lol.
The Virtuoso+ is listed by Baratza, for being able to produce a grind size anywhere between 200-microns, and 1200-microns. Well, since I don't have a lab grade micronometer, there is no way that I can test that. But, to put it in much easier terms for most folks to understand, this grinder is capable of producing a grind for Espresso, Pour Over, Aeropress, Drip, Mokka Pot, and French Press. But this grinder is not designed to do Turkish, so your going to need an even higher end grinder to produce powder for Turkish coffee. Depending on grind size selected, this grinder can produce up to 1.4-grams per second, to 2.3-grams per second.
Welcome to the M2 40mm Conical Etzinger burr set, wild looking aint it? But something doesn't look right, thats right, the plastic ring must have moved in shipping. So we just need to rotate that till it lines up with the red notch, so it fits down in nice and snug like a glove. This burr set looks aggressive though doesn't it? Yeah, I wouldn't stick my finger in there either, but you do want to keep this cleaned out once a week or so, using a nice grinder cleaning brush. You can use the one that they include, or get a better one with a wooden handle, its totally up to you. This is not a 0-retention grinder by any means, I would say it retains about 0.5G, which is still not that bad. But its enough, that you will either want to use the RDT technique, ( Ross Droplet Technique ) or get a bellows pump, to help push the remaining grinds, down into the collector.
Using this grinder is quite simple. Measure out the amount of coffee you want to grind, then toss the beans into the hopper. Use the knob on the front of the grinder to set the timer, available time is anywhere between 1 to 40-seconds. Once you set your time, press the knob in this time, to start the grinding. Additionally, you can activate pulse mode, by pressing and holding the button in for several seconds. This will allow you to manually run the grinder as you need. Pulse mode also helps to get the last remaining bean or two, through the burr set, at the end of a grind. The display lights up, and is very legible when in low light conditions. I would say the noise level of this grinder is moderate, nowhere near as loud as the Cuisinart DBM-8 grinder. The Cuisinart was actually so loud that it scared me to run the thing. But the Baratza fills me with confidence when I run it.
I personally use a Behmore Brazen Plus 3.0 automatic drip brewer, this means that I require a medium grind in the filter basket. While grind size setting number-20, would be probably be sufficient, Baratza recommends size level-18 for drip based filter coffee. All I had to do, was move the grind setting one more click to the left, to hit grind size-18. Can I just say, the movement of the grind selector is so smooth, even I am amazed at this level of quality for the price! But just to let you know, this is a stepped grinder, so not the best design for dialing in a super tough espresso shot, but this machine will do espresso in some select cases. But if you are really serious about espresso, you should really be looking for a stepless grinder, and there are many to choose from, so just do your research.
Here are some new views, showing the Baratza Virtuoso+ grinder, with the new bellows mod attached. Well I gotta say, I love the new industrial look it provides, and it also has increased the size of the grinder, it is now only 1/2 inch taller then my Behmore brewer. When the grinder timer finishes with a bean or two left, I will activate pulse mode. While I am pulsing the grinder, to feed the last bean or two through the burr set, I also simultaneously, press on the bellows, which helps to both aid in pushing the last couple beans through, but also pushes the grounds through as well. When I stop running the grinder, I will push the bellows a few more times, and I can clearly see more grounds going into the collector after. Thats why I say, if you choose to not use RDT, then a bellows is an absolute must.
When this grinder runs, you can feel the torque of the motor, you can totally understand why it has rubber feet on the bottom, to prevent it from moving, from the high torque of the motor. The grinder has a bit of a wiggle to it from the torque, kind of like a wash machine, except not as aggressive lol. Look at the lighting inside the collector, you'd believe that it was simply a gimmick to have in a grinder, but after experiencing a grinder with collector cup lighting, I can say without a doubt now, I need it! lol. And then have a look at the next picture with the grounds in the collector, OMG I love it!
Come on, admit it, you love it too. 
When I pull the collector cup off, there is a few grounds on the bottom base of the unit, but not a big deal. You don't know coffee mess until you've owned a Cuisinart DBM-8, just saying lol.After emptying the grounds into the filter basket, I do see some grounds retention from the static, but its honestly not bad. You know that nice wooden handled brush I got? Well, that works excellent at brushing out the collector nice and clean! So lets have a look at the grind uniformity, using the Baratza Virtuoso+, on grind size setting number-18.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, I feel that this is a very nice pro-consumer home use grinder for the price. Its very easy to use, easy to clean, easy to maintain, and isn't too loud of a grinder to run. The motor has the torque power to handle anything I throw at it, and its got the speed to get the job done efficiently. Its got a lovely amount of weight to it, indicative of its quality. Grinder unit is solid, it looks lovely on my coffee bar. It works great, what more can you want? Unless your going to be making grinds for 7-people or more, you don't need the top end units, this one will do fine. I love my new coffee grinder!
out of stars!
Funky Chicken coffee lol. But I only have dark roast coffee's by the time I acquired this Baratza grinder.
. I’ve had an Encore for about a dozen yrs now and about 2 yrs ago (after daily grinding), I did a complete disassembly and put on all new burrs including the M2 upgrade. 99% of my grinding is for mokka pot, so I’m only using the grind setting on the lower end of the espresso grind, but even at that setting I see a much more uniform grind over the standard M3 that came with the older Encore. The only other change I‘ve made was to swap out the hopper with the Baratza single dose hopper. I do not plan on ever replacing this grinder as long as Baratza keeps selling parts
Now, I do prefer my coffee stronger then most folks. When I started reading into people's brewing ratio's, it confirmed what I always suspected, most folks like weaker coffee.
