Baratza - Vario

On my bar currently is a Fellow Ode, Baratza Vario, and a Timemore 064s. Had SSP cast in the 064 but probably swapping them to the Ode now. All that to say, I could have just one of any of these and be perfectly happy. Timemore is probably my favorite as far as quality and workflow, plus it can genuinely pull double duty. Ode is great but obviously you’re not getting espresso there. Vario is an old design with clunky workflow but the burrs are great—in fact, the Mahlkonig X54 is essentially just an updated Vario. All these are great grinders.

I got one thats also 10 years old for free with a secondhand rocket r58 I was buying recently .. so far I only had to re-calibrate it and its working perfectly .. only issue I have is that that the grind size dials move a little during grinding, and if I am not careful they slide down.

Buy the best grinder you can afford. Used grinders can be a good deal…no seasoning the burrs & lower price. I am a fan of the forte bg or the vario if you swap out the burr carrier. You can get deals on either especially if you are willing to do work. Baratza has all the parts. Research hyper aligning the burrs.

Baratza Vario doesn’t get enough love. Especially the updated Vario + But know that any grinder going back and forth between coarse and espresso is going to require re-dialing in and “wasting” a bit more coffee than if you have dedicated grinders that you can make micro adjustments on. That said I have an original Vario that was rebuilt 1x to the metal internals. I’ve had it almost 13 years?? I do exactly what you want to do with it

As much as I love Baratza, and the Ditting 54mm steel burrs, I really don't think the Vario is a good pick in 2025. The only exception to this is if you plan to fill the hopper instead of single dosing.

See my reply below to SpookZero. It's certainly doable, it's just that you have to use a bunch of Workarounds to make it happen. For the price of the Vario, there are better options available today. I bought my Vario W+ specifically to grind large doses of a single coffee for batch brewing for a group. It's a fantastic grinder for that purpose. I ended up discovering that I really enjoy the espresso it can produce, but it's a nightmare to switch back and forth. I would 100% recommend skipping the 'W' model if you plan to single dose. There is no timer and you will constantly fight with the scale. There's an override, but it requires you to either leave the LED display on 24/7 or unplug after every use then go through the steps to override the scale every time you want to use it. I think it's a fantastic grinder, I love Baratza as a company, and I think the Ditting steel burrs are the best multi-purpose burr set I've tried. I still can't recommend this grinder as a single-dose multi-purpose grinder. For espresso or filter only, with a full hopper? I think it's a great option.

I've worked on a used Vario and it's pretty easy to work with. My biggest concern were the casing screws that were bent already.

Baratza is Taiwan made, their pricing seems to not have changed. The new vario is still a great grinder, and you'll have excellent customer service with them.

I know Baratza isn't very trendy anymore, but a secondhand Vario would cost about the same as the Ode (new is like $100 more), is an excellent grinder, and Baratza's customer service is best in class.

I have a fellow opus and baratza vario. Although I like the vario, it’s just so loud. The fellow has a nice fit and finish to it.

Flat burrs seem to bring out the fruit notes more. I have an opus, ceado, and vario.

🤣🤣 after a while I learned to recognize the difference. To me, I taste much more sweetness on the flat burrs.

I have had a vario for 4 months now. I performed the alicorn procedure per the resources provided here and it works great! I can pull high altitude single origin shots and everything. The problem i’m running into is that the grinder falls out of alignment after some time. In 4 months, it’s fallen off twice. I re-align, and am back to winning, but it’s not the quickest process, and I worry that something is wrong. Anybody have the same issue?