Baratza - Vario-W 986

I had a vario, 886, and upgraded it to steel burrs. I really enjoyed it and being able to also do espresso. But I found that I got more rounded notes and changed it up to try and seek out those specific flavor notes. Ultimately a personal preference

I don’t have issues switching between grinds with the vario-w. Just change the grind when running and there aren’t beans in the hopper. I’m not storing beans in the hopper anyway. 

You may be able to find a used Baratza Vario-W around that price. The ceramic burrs are not recommended for multipurpose use, so if you're interested in more than espresso or want to pull something more modern, try to find the steel burrs instead.

The baratza vario w can do either espresso well or the others well - but doesnt not switch between them well. The answer for me was to have two of them! one for espresso - one for everything else.

Same setup here…except I’ve got the Baratza Vario-W. If I were to do it again, I’d skip the Vario-W and get the Encore.

I had the Vario W+ for a while and liked it during that time. Although I have to say that I've abandoned automatic weight dosing by now.

It was convenient, but I would have occasional inconsistencies that led me to think it was part of the problem. Usually it was pretty accurate, but occasionally the weight would be off just enough to be annoying. Also, the grinder retained a fair amount, which was a slight issue the next morning because you'd get some day old grinds. I don't think it was bad at all, and it certainly was convenient... But in the end I started ignoring the weight function by setting the target weight really high, and then single dosing. It also means I can use a couple sprays of water to reduce friction. That being said, now I have a Zerno Z1 which was a remarkable upgrade, and I wouldn't consider going back. The Vario was great for its price range though. It made some good pour over as well.

Another vote for Baratza. I've had my Baratza Vario-W+ for going on 15 years and it has been flawless. Like others have said, parts and servicing is easy. I replaced the motherboard on it once, but that was due to a power spike after a power outage. Not a cheap date, but it'll give you many years of service. I also like it as you can get consistent weighs due to the built-in scale. Solid build, great service, easy maintenance...Just my .02

I am using my vario w+ sometimes for pourover. It might be not as good as Pietro, but tbh I feel it is good enough. I don’t use it often for pourover for it is set for espresso, and adjust back and forth will lose its espresso setting. I did consider timemore 64s at that time, but finally went to a grinder with good history of reputation

On the paper cf64v is the best, right? I almost bought it, but finally switched to vario w+ for I hope I can use it like forever :)

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.

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.