Virtuoso+ Coffee Grinder ZCG587BLK, Black | 40 grind settings give you access to an extensive range of brew methods, including espresso, French press and more

My original virtuoso finally gave out after 13 yrs of daily use, a few replacement burrs and a motor upgrade. This new unit is the virtuoso plus. I’ve used it now for several weeks and it is performing well. This works the same asthe original virtuoso. Many parts are the same so im pretty confident it will have a similar life. This unit goes from French press coarse to a pretty fine espresso powder simply by twisting the hopper on top through 40 detents. Grind can be further calibrated with a screwdriver. That’s helpful after several years when the main burr has dulled a bit. I am a fan of baratza because unlike so many manufacturers of consumer goods they believe in and support the customers right to repair. Parts and videos showing how to troubleshoot and effect repair are readily available. I bring up repairs not because these are unreliable units but because coffee is inconsistent sometimes there may be a small rock that can mess you up for example. Also grinding hard beans day after day creates stress on parts over time. What’s great about these is the problems I’ve encountered over the years are easily fixable with inexpensive parts so you don’t have to just toss a $300 unit in the trash for want of a replacement part. Under their design the outer ring burr is held in place by a plastic retaining ring that is designed to break if a rock gets caught in the burrs. A cheap replacement part spares the motor from burning out. I like the addition of LED light in a now transparent plastic bin. The digital timed grind instead of a knob on the side is mostly eye candy and doesn’t make much difference in operation. The simple basic design and many parts are the same. I have a couple of ring burrs and retaining rings from the prior unit that I could use as replacement parts Overall it’s a workhorse. People complain about static I’d say hey it’s plastic bin so there’ll be a charge in some weather and as you know some coffees have a lot of chaff. Who said grinding coffee is mess free? .coffee mills are loud. If you’re bothered set this on a cork pad it helps a bit.

It does get a little messy but worth it. Coffee quality is great, not really any static at all that I could feel or see, size is good. It’s easy to use, it seems very durable. Overall, I say this thing is great definitely better than the last cuisine art one that I had I used it twice and it burned out. This one seems to be doing very well and grinds the beans up very fast as well.

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 technique Espresso - 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.

This is the grinder to get if you want coffee shop level quality from a consumer machine that won’t break the bank. Extremely adjustable (we dont brew espresso) and reliable. Static is low (get the bellows) and dissipates quickly. And we’ve never had a jam with this specific unit (a problem with the other nice machine we had ordered). User replaceable parts means we expect to be using this several times each day for years. Customizable. Consistent. No mess. Very adjustable. And the display and adjustment are accurate and remember the last setting.

My first Baratza lasted 20+ years and the build quality of this model is even more robust. The grind quality is great with near infinite levels from coarse to superfine to suit any brew method. The timer makes it easy to grind the perfect amount every time. Love the minimalist function - right increases time in increments of 1, left decreases in increments of 0.1. The one negative, it is loud, as in wake the entire house loud. With such awesome design and build, I feel that deserved attention to solve.

This replaced a Virtuoso+ I bought in 2019. That one gave me years of great service - 50 to 10 cups a day pretty much every day. I cleaned it monthly but, over time, the grinding became a little inconsistent. You can easily find replacement parts on the Baratza or other parts sites. I only had to replace the front knob but you can get just about any part needed. The new Virtuoso+ restores the perfect grinding I was used to. It also brings back the static issues I had in the beginning. I'll have to live with that. It grinds quickly! I didn't realize how much the old one had slowed down. The grind, once set at the right fineness, looks great to me. Consistent size that makes a great cup of coffee. The unit is heavy duty and well built. The bean hopper holds enough beans for a day or two of my kind of use. The grounds bin on the old unit was easy to pull out/push in but the new one feels a little stiff. I'm certain it will wear in nicely. The timer is easy to set and pretty consistently grinds the same amount (weight) of grounds each time. The main parts, including the burr, are easily accessible and can be removed for cleaning. Remember how the hopper gasket fits in. It only goes one way. That's it. I could have replaced the burr and probably brought the old unit back to it's original performance but wanted a new one anyway. It was nice to have the option.

Got an espresso maker for my birthday, but we only had a hand grinder. So guess what? SORE arms all around. Grinding fine grounds every morning for 20+ mins was really taking its toll on me. I'm lazy. In the AM, I'm tired. I want coffee NOW, not in 20-30 mins. So what'd we do? We got this baby, after searching high and low for an auto Burr. We ALMOST got the lesser model without the LED display and light, but boyo, this thing is REALLY, REALLY worth every single penny. My arms (though less buff) thank me kindly, and reducing coffee time from 30 mins down to 1 minute? a blessing. Do yourself a favor and get this one for the coffee lover in your life, even if that means YOURSELF. NOW'S THE TIME to TREAT. No tricks. Pros- Easy to clean Extremely fast grinds STRONG and FAST grinding. CONSISTENT. Versatile settings Adjustable times, and pulse mode. Cons- *There is a learning curve for grounds! Everyone has different taste. Plus the pamphlet is pretty off in terms of what ground settings go good with each type of coffee. I think the settings say 8 for Espresso.... our first run the machine got completley stopped up when we tried to brew. It was too dense. We adjusted to 10, 9 at the finest and it ran fine, perfect even. This con isnt the machines fault, just the manual's / the company's 'suggested settings'. * If I could change anything about this grinder, it;d be the way the grind time is entered. You turn the dial clockwise to add seconds, counterclockwise to reduce half (.X) seconds. Which is kind of annoying! You're constantly twisting the dial counter clockwise to like you're winding a clock. MILDLY irritating at worst, but not a dealbreaker. * The instructions for how to build it are a little bit too vague. Had to go online to watch multiple step by steps, because the manual didnt explain how to put on the (Silicone? Plastic? Rubber?) burr protector. The Manual needs a total rehaul tbth, its not written well, the times are all off, and its missing crucial info. Again, not a huge issue, just irritating if youve never used one of these before. THATS IT! Once you work out the kinks, its perfect. The grinds are super consistent and beautiful. We've used it for espresso, pour over, and most importantly, cold brew, since we can grind with much higher volumes now. YES, we used to make cold brew with our tiny hand crank, do not reccomend. Now you'll be crushing 100g of coffee in 10 seconds flat.

The quality of this grinder is excellent! The coffee grind size increments are also excellent for any brew method above espresso. The increments in grind size adjustment on the fine end might make dialing in espresso more challenging, however every other brew method is well served by this grinder. Perfect for pour overs, immersion, Aeropress, and even coffee pot brewers if that’s your thing. My biggest reason for returning to write a review after years of use is to applaud the new owners of Baratza for continuing to support their products to avoid cluttering landfills. I hate the waste so common in our society. I just replaced a micro switch in a 13+ year old Virtuoso that would have otherwise meant trashing it or bypassing a safety feature. Easy job. There are videos on their webpage detailing the process. Thank you to Breville for continuing the family’s ethic!

This is a replacement for an older model I've been using for over 15 years. The older model would still work if I wanted to replace a couple of parts. I figured, after 15 years, I deserved a new one... Best grinder I have ever used.

Um mit dem größten Kritikpunkt anzufangen: Die Baratza Virtuoso Plus ist nicht die leiseste Kaffeemühle, allerdings immerhin leiser als das (preiswerte) Teil welches zuvor in unserer Küche werkelte. Außerdem erscheint sie, besonders verglichen mit der Baratza Encore, recht teuer. Aber sie ist nach meiner Erfahrung ihr Geld wert. Zum einen sind die Mahlergebnisse sehr gut (getestet für Filterkaffee und French Press - für Espresso sollte man eine spezielle Espressomühle wählen). Zum anderen ist die Mühle extrem praktisch. Hopper alle paar Tage füllen und morgens auf Knopfdruck den Timer starten. Kein ständiges Abmessen/Wiegen, keine unnützen Deckelchen, keine großen Probleme mit statischer Aufladung, kein verstreutes Kaffeemehl. Einfach den frisch gemahlenen Kaffee umschütten und aufbrühen. Anders als bei der vorherigen Mühle kocht jetzt jeder in der Familie gerne guten Kaffee.

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

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.

This upgraded model is worthwhile. Its a simple and efficient coffer grinder. Not as messy as some of them. Looks very nice in the kitchen too but the upgraded model has a dial to control how much coffee is ground which is very handy. The cheaper unit is manual which is actually quite a pain.