The model remained unchanged until the release of the Virtuoso Plus in 2019, which replaced the original. Grinding is a natural next step for any aficionado. It is the best way to ensure you always have fresh coffee. Moisture can play a role and affect the flavor of the grind as well. Moisture in the air can dilute your beans. Pre-ground has increased surface area and can cause more moisture issues for your brew. CO2 Depletion The older model’s side-mounted timer switch has been replaced with a centrally-placed timer dial that also acts as a pulse-grinding switch. Above this knob sits the digital display that helps you set the timer for grinding. The digital timer can be adjusted from 1 to 40 seconds in 0.1-second increments. This gives you a level of dosing control that was previously missing from the Virtuoso. Alternatively, the most cost-effective option for you could be getting the Baratza Virtuoso refurbished, since the motor is of high quality and will last you a lot longer anyway.

In testing conducted by Tech Gear Lab, they found the burrs can be a bit of a challenge to remove and the rubber gasket difficult to line during reassembly.

What Other Coffee Grinders Should You Consider?

When looking at the differences in performance, the Breville grinder has a less powerful motor that has a tendency to break, with inferior construction to that of the Baratza grinder. Since the Vituoso+ doesn’t measure by weight, it will take a bit of fiddling to get precisely the amount of ground coffee you are after. But, once you know, it becomes a touch-of-a-button job each morning for the perfect grind of your beans. In contrast, Baratza has purposefully designed the Baratza coffee grinders (including Virtuoso+) to be maintained like a commercial-grade grinder as well as maximize their value. So, we’ve felt that our Baratza Virtuoso+ review this honesty and commitment is a key feature here. With daily cleaning, repair, maintenance, and even rebuilds their grinders can give an accurate, excellent grind for many years. Grind Settings And Coarse Consistency Near the middle of the 40 grind range, around the grind size, you should ply for drip methods. It is where this machine performs with the most consistency. Around 20 to 30–no complaints there from us! At the lower, the finest end, the bean grind remains consistent also.

The Breville grinder has 60 grind settings and the Baratza only offers 40 settings. While Baratza will perform great for manual or drip brewing methods, the Virtuoso grinder isn’t sufficient for making espressos.With the revamped Virtuoso Plus, you get a digital timer front and center. It’s now more accurate. It can program in increments of a tenth of a second up to 40 seconds. As well as making it hands-free, it allows you to get a consistent dose from day today. The timer dial also works as the pulse button. You will need to press and hold it for a couple of seconds to access pulse mode, which could be argued as not as convenient as having a separate pulse button. The Virtuoso + has a physical footprint measuring 12 x 35 x 16 cm. It’s ideal for storing in your kitchen cabinet (although, why would you want to do that?). And weighing in at 3.6 kilos, it has a solid heft to it, which might not be great for moving it around every day. Ease Of Cleaning: Most coffee aficionados will swear by burr grinders. A burr grinder is comprised of two burrs, which crush the beans. This produces a fine and consistent grind that is suitable for many different brewing methods. Also, depending on the setting, you can grind at a speed of 1.5-2.4 g/second, which is more than enough for your daily grinding needs. An innovative burr calibration system ensures that each grinder has the full range of grind. If necessary, the grinders can be user calibrated. SPEED CONTROL