Baratza Preciso Coffee Grinder 685

I have been looking for a grinder for a while. I spent months hoping to find a deal on a Mazzer Mini, or something else of that quality, hoped to find a deal. I have used a few commercial grade grinders, either borrowing or at friend's houses. I finally became fed up with the search for a deal, and decided to do some new research. After reading a number of reviews I decided to try this grinder. By the way, check out the CoffeeGeek.com "First Impressions Review" - there's great info there. After using the grinder heavily for a month now, here's my thoughts: 1) This Grinder is very consistent. The particle size is consistent for each setting. I used to work in the screen printing industry, so I have a microscope at home, and I reviewed the ground coffee at a number of different settings. The results are remarkable. As good as my friend's commercial grinder and another Mazzer. If you want to grind for French Press, you will get a consistent large ground size. The same was true for espresso, chemex, and every grind size I tried. 2)The grinder does not produce a lot of "fines". No dusty residue coffee in the container to block up your filters, or change the flavor of your immersion. Once again, on par with commercial high end grinders. 3) It does not require that the container be in the grinder to turn on. If you want to dispense straight into a small bowl, or you portafilter, you can. To many home grinders switch off when the basket/container is removed for safety. This is very annoying and inconvenient. 4) The portafilter holder that comes with the grinder is lacking. It holds the filter too high, and is finicky to get the filter into securely. This was something I found lacking, but not enough to lower the rating. 5) I wish there was a better way to store extra cord. This would make a more cleaner looking counter. The cord is long, and this is good, but without a way to store extra inside of the unit it is messy looking. 6) Static. Almost none. Shockingly so. The grounds will have a very small amount stuck to the container they fall into. But, a gentle tap dislodges them. And they do not go flying around sticking to everything. They just fall into wherever you want them to be. This is one of the joys of the machine. No more counters covered in grounds that went flying when the container is moved. My kitchen counter coffee station is much cleaner. MUCH cleaner. The quality of the grind and this lack of static make this grinder worth the money. Trust me, you will be happier once you realize just how much coffee does not need to be cleaner up every morning. 7) It is fairly quiet. Well, as quiet as a device that chews up hard woody seeds can be. 8) The burrs are just pretty. I know that's not a "technical" point. But, honestly, they are. 9) The variability of the grinder is incredible. you really can go from a turkish/near turkish grind all the way to a "I'm just going to dump the grounds into hot water an let it settle before I pour" size. If you want a professional quality grinder that will do all types of coffee/espresso - this will do it. With the micro controls you can dial in your grind and fiddle with the settings to get just what you need. I've burned through a lot of coffee to adjust to the perfect espresso grind for a particular blend. And, this grinder really let me customize. 10) I don't like the "timer" knob. It is positioned in a place that's hard to see, so it is difficult to use. And it is difficult to set to the same period each use. It doesn't really matter much, I use the instant on button on the front and just hold it. Easy enough because... 11) ...it is fast. It is a fairly fast grinder. Not coffee shop fast, but close enough for heavy home user. I haven't noticed any heating of the grounds caused by speed. Or the machine getting hot. Though a few people in forums have commented that they saw a little heating happening. I've done pretty large grinds. Filled up the container 4/5 of the way, and had no issues. 12) This thing is heavy. No slipping or sliding. 13) Finally, the grind chute is very short. Very little wasted beans. Almost every gram of ground beans ends up in your brew. And to clear it require a quick press of the button. With coffee prices high, it's great to no longer waste coffee because the chute is long and full of grounds. All in all, I strongly recommend this grinder. It's on the same level as any professional or commercial grinder I've touched. There is finally a grinder for a serious coffee enthusiast that is affordable. In fact, I'd buy this over a Mazzer.

The grinder is amazing but I gave it 3 stars because the top plastic bean reservoir is made of cheap plastic and I've already broken mine.

Do not buy this product. It is not intended for the nonprofessional. There is nothing user friendly or intuitive about it. Sometimes the beans fed through the grinder and sometimes they didn't. Sometimes a part that easily comes out would go back in, and sometimes it wouldn't. Sometimes the hopper would twist on properly, and sometimes it wouldn't. The knob for the fineness setting came off, but the whole thing became disengaged anyway, so it didn't really matter. It was broken. Rather than invest any more of my life force into this evil machine, I took it out on to my patio and smashed it to bits. The Karma will get these people. I bought a Rancilio for about $370.00 and it works great. I took the advice from a Seattle dealer and bought it from him directly rather than online. Of course, I paid a bit more than I would have online. Let your morals guide you. I bought the Baratza online without assistance and the Karma got me. The Rancilio is much simpler to operate and obviously much more rugged and durable in design.

This grinder has treated me well for pour over and french press. Fairly consistent and easy to use. My quip comes from the espresso: I bought this grinder because it says that it can handle espresso. I assumed this meant espresso from a non-pressurized portafilter. After extreme back and forth trying to get a good shot out of this, I can say that it definitely does NOT do a good job with espresso. I can't give it more than 2 stars based on this. It advertises as something that it isn't.

Now that I can safely say the honeymoon period is over, I feel that it's time to write a review and give an honest opinion on this fantastic grinder. I was originally looking at the Encore until I realized how critical the grinder is. I increased my budget (more than doubled it really) and I'm extremely glad I did. This grinder is my second greatest possession, only beaten out by my full suspension mountain bike. Small caveat: I'm a pretty big coffee snob. I currently use the following brew methods: Chemex, Aeropress, French press, moka pot, and cold brew. If you are just looking for something to help get you daily caffeine fix, it might not be worth the high price. If you want fantastic coffee, I wholeheartedly recommend this grinder. Pros: -consistent grind -440 steps makes it very easy to adjust to a precise detail -cleaning it is incredibly easy -Baratza customer service is legendary, although I don't know this first hand because I've never had a problem big enough to use it -having a pulse button and a timer option is amazing, especially grinding huge quantities for methods like cold brew. -If you want to do espresso, many people say this is the entry level grinder of choice for truly good espresso. I don't make espresso, but the ability to move into it without having to upgrade my grinder definitely factored into my budget. -The machine itself feels substantial. It is much heavier than it looks. Cons: (keep in mind I'm being almost hyper-critical on here just to give potential buyers an idea of what my biggest gripes are in my few months of ownership. This grinder really is great) -mine wobbles. It's not a huge deal, but I was kinda ticked that my $300 grinder had uneven legs on it. Minor issue, but probably the most annoying. -The timer piece feels somewhat cheap. It's intentionally detachable, but in my opinion it makes it look and feel cheap. Sometimes it will loosen and pop off. For the most part it just annoys me because this fantastic looking/hefty grinder has a cheap feeling piece on it. -the micro-adjustments can move on you while you're grinding. I wait until the very last second to grind my beans, so that means I kick the timer right as my water comes to a boil. While the machine is grinding, I'm pre-heating vessels and wetting down filters. I've noticed that the micro-adjustments will wiggle coarser while this happens. This is my biggest, and really the only legitimate gripe, that I have with this product. That shift can make a significant impact on certain sensitive brew methods like pour-over. This does not happen when I use the pulse grind and keep my hand on the hopper. Bottom line: fantastic grinder and I wholeheartedly recommend Baratza products. I'm actually on the verge of buying my girlfriend a refurbed Encore just so I don't have to deal with her crappy blade grinder anymore.

We bought this grinder to grind on average 4 cups of coffee worth of coffee beans per day. I make espresso, single pour over, and the higher volume pour over for the chemex (look at it on Amazon for multiple cups of coffee). So this means that my wife and I change the grind settings a few times in a day. We do not store coffee in the hopper, so we add beans for each individual grind. Why? Because we were new at grinding coffee a few years ago, and we bought a Breville smart grinder. While this was an OK unit, we did the typical novice move and we adjusted the grind while there were still beans in the grinding blades. This smashes and breaks the little parts as it tries to compress those hard beans and one day, we were without coffee. Help! So here are the Pros of this unit: 1. A reliable grind as can be evidenced by the fine grind for espresso is so important. If it is too fine or too coarse, the coffee is wasted. You can adjust this unit with very fine click click control 2. The reputation for service is evident by the reviews. Breville on the other hand did not respond to us (I own 5 other Breville appliances and was a happy customer) 3. The small footprint is welcome as this and just a few other things are on my counter. Cons: 1. In the dark, when the lights are dim, and you are not trying to wake up your wife with the lights, you cant see the grind settings and then you have to turn on the lights and the wife gets not too happy! 2. The portafilter holder is not useful to receive the ground espresso. We just let the grounds go into the ground bin and it works just fine to pour the grind into the portafilter. Now, as has been said before, recognize that a grinder is a consumable. It will break. When? If you store beans in your hopper and then make grind adjustments, you will absolutely break the fine plastic parts that adjust the grinder burrs. If you clean them regularly, it will help the life. If you allow for each grind to completely empty, your machine will last you as long as it has for us.

I bought this grinder after reading stellar reviews only to find I could get a similar espresso grind with my Mr. Coffee blade grinder. Seriously. On it's finest setting it only matched what was possible with a $30 machine. So for me, this was definitely not worth the $300 I paid. Also, the portafilter holder it comes with is flimsy and about half the coffee misses the portafilter basket. I did like the small footprint, design, build and interface but couldn't justify the price point. Returned.

I had looked for a grinder that would suit my needs for a while. There aren't a lot of grinders on the market and I basically looked at every one of them, but I didn't really check this one out because of the poor Amazon rating (3 - 3.5 stars). However, after I came upon this extremely detailed review http://www.roaste.com/CoffeeBlogs/samuellaw178/My-Baratza-Preciso-Review-Impression I really liked what I was reading and became curious how come this particular grinder had such a poor Amazon rating. It turns out that 8 out of 10 one-star reviews are not because there is something wrong with this grinder but because those customers were sent a wrong model! Thus, don't be alarmed by 80% of the negative reviews because they have absolutely nothing to do with this beautiful grinder! What I LOVE about this grinder is the compact size, the range of grind sizes, easy cleaning, and the ability to turn it on in two different ways - you can use a timer or hold a button. I don't really use the portafilter holder and prefer to grind into the basket and transfer the grinds into my portafilter because it significantly reduces spillage as opposed to grinding directly into the portafilter. I grind for Turkish coffee, espresso and French press, so I pretty much use the entire range and this grinder performs beautifully. It is VERY easy to clean too, which is a major plus for me. I previously purchased the Breville Smart Grinder that simply did not grind, and cleaning that grinder was a nightmare. Cleaning my Preciso takes about 10 minutes and I'm able to get everything out without needing to unscrew and disassemble anything. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase. It's small, easy to clean, provides a consistent grind - I don't need anything else from a grinder.

This is my first grinder. I am not expert in grinding machines but I am very satisfied with the quality of this machine. Looks heavy and well constructed. I only brew espresso and it works fine with my old KRUPS machine (planning to upgrade to RANCILIO SILVIA soon). I like the combination of MACRO and MICRO step adjustment that gives you the freedom for fine tuning (a total of 440 steps!). It arrive in Cyprus in four days. Setting it up was very easy and fast.

Excellent machine for the espresso fanatic

I tried the Breville smart grinder (two different machines) but both were faulty. It could have been a bad batch from Breville that Amazon was selling, but it didn't matter. The issues were enough to change my mind about what I wanted. I spent considerably more on this Baratza 685 Virtuoso machine to circumvent the problems and WOW, and I EVER GLAD I DID! This machine is absolutely phenomenal. It's a no frills kind of machine, grinds all kinds of beans extremely well, and does so with extreme precision; the micro adjustments help with this as well. I would HIGHLY recommend this product to anyone who likes espresso, lattés, french press coffee, or the best drip coffee you've ever had in your life. A+++++

I'm an expresso & cappuccino coffee fan. No coffee shops in my area. So,I became a YouTube trained barista. I bought a Delonghi pump espresso machine on Amazon & used a mixer to grind beans. I was initially pretty happy with the outcome. I read later that the blade grinder (mixie ) heats the beans and some flavours are lost in the process. Besides, the grounds aren't of uniform size; a very important factor for the perfect espresso shot. Only a burr grinder could achieve both. Thanks to the net I found that the Baratza Preciso was the best home use burr grinder. I was overjoyed that it was available on Amazon sold by Muhavara Enterprises. Though I'm located in interior Karnataka, the item reached promptly & was very well packed. The performance is mind blowing. The flavour of the coffee has improved in leaps & bounds....with the same beans & same espresso machine. I'm sure my coffee tastes better than any commercial coffee shop. I highly recommend this product. Be prepared to see instructional videos on YouTube or else you won't know how to use it effectively. Detailed manual can be downloaded from the Baratza website. If you are passionate coffee geek then this product won't disappoint you.

A nice looking and compact grinder with great adjustability. I did have to take mine apart after a couple months, unfortunately, to adjust an internal calibration screw, as shown in Baratza's official YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvPmA2laBzM). The grinder wasn't grinding fine enough for espresso, even at the finest setting. Since recalibration it has been fine. The dual adjustment feature of this grinder seems absolutely necessary for espresso. Once initially dialled in for a new batch of beans, I typically need to adjust the "micro" adjustment ring one or two steps finer for every few days that the beans sit in the hopper. Without that fine adjustment there would be no way to achieve the correct grind, either initially or to adjust for bean aging. The grinder is fast, and there is barely any residual coffee left in the burrs after grinding, so your next grind doesn't start with stale coffee and you don't waste your expensive beans. The things I don't really like about this grinder are the hopper/coarse adjustment mechanism, and the portaholder. The hopper itself twists on its mount to make the coarse adjustments, and there is a small amount of play/wobble while grinding. It doesn't seem to affect anything, but it makes me wonder if the grind is slightly less consistent because of that movement. We all know grinding for espresso is a matter of precision and consistency! You also can't easily remove the hopper while there are beans in it, as the hopper does not feature a stopper mechanism (though you can buy one from Baratza). You must pour out the beans by flipping the entire grinder on its side. If you use the portaholder (or even just hold the portafilter under the spout) instead of the grinds basket, then coffee tends to spill. It causes some waste, though you can pour those spilled grinds into your filterbasket to not waste as much. Not sure how this can be prevented, maybe a little funnel/shield under the spout that better directs the grinds into the portafilter. Overall, I believe this is a good grinder for the money. The end result is what counts, and this grinder delivers. Some day I'd like to compare it to something more expensive/sturdy, but it does the job well for me now.