This machine and it's company need to do a lot more wood shedding to live up to the name.
Positive Product Points
The housing design is compact and straightforward. It fits easily onto a tight counter space. Easy to change grind.
Negative Product Points
Not calibrated for espresso grind. The tabs on the plastic burr broke off. It is messy. Static is sometimes a problem contributing to the messiness. Inconsistent grind at the fine end. Clutch broke, the motor stopped engaging the burrs.
Detailed Commentary
The machine was not calibrated to grind for espresso. I had to take the housing off and re-calibrate. Not something you expect to have to do on receipt of a new product. Once re-calibrated I could get a fine espresso grind from number 10-0. However, depending on the coffee, if I ground too fine the coffee would clog up in the chute. I would then have to take a small spoon and shovel it out. If you didn't become aware of the clogging soon enough it would become a very firm chunk from the heat and It would not loosen up without having to manually gouge it out. Messy: Coffee grounds fall through the housing and onto the counter under the machine. There is a hole in the bottom where they fall trough. The power cord also runs trough this hole. Recently I noticed that I was having to grind at a finer and finer number until finally I could no longer get an espresso grind. At first I thought it just needed a cleaning so I removed the burr as per the instructions and cleaned them with the provided brush. No improvement. I removed the the top Burr holder to find two out of 3 tabs completely broken off and the third one mushed down and about ready to fall off which it did with a flick of my finger. Walla, I thought all I need to do is replace the plastic holder. Easily done via the Baratza website. It arrived, I installed it, but it still would not deliver a fine expresso grind. I re-calibrated with no improvement then the burrs stopped turning intermittently. I would run the machine at coarse grind an turn it half way and it would come to a halt. I cleaned it out several times, and it just got worse. Now the motor revs up and spins but does not engage the burrs. I speculate that the broken tabs gradually messed up the burrs and/or clutch since it was over a period of months that I had been reducing the grind number to get a fine grind. Others have commented on having similar problems to mine. But I have not seen any responses from the Baratza company. I emailed the company via their site two days ago and have not heard from them. I am planning to buy a new grinder but it won't be a Baratza Virtuoso.
Buying Experience
Buying experience was okay. Ordering parts was easy. Getting a response to my email regarding problems, non-existent.
