Mahlkönig Vario

Mahlkönig Vario grinder 2.995 DKK ($510)

Im the proud owner of the European Vario which is produced by Mahlkönig and in the USA its Baratza. The only difference between these two identical grinder is the label in the front bottom of the grinder and and an adjustment feature that is available on the Baratza version. The Baratza set is including a adjustment screw which allows you to adjust the grinder, you can hereby set a coarser or finer setting than the factory setting. Even though I haven´t got these opportunity of adjust my grinder, I am very pleased with it because it just offers so many grinder settings.

When I was out looking for grinders, I saw a lot of different models in different price ranges and at that time I didn't know a single thing about it. I went to many shops and got a lot of different opinions and suggestions, which got me all confused, so I started up my own quest for the right grinder. First off I wanted to get some grinders in focus, so I set my own price level which was around 2.000-3.000 DKK ($250-525). This narrowed the options down particularly and I was left with the Rancilio Rocky (2.195 DKK - $380), Compak K3 Touch (2.995 DKK - $510) and the Mahlkönig Vario (2.995 DKK - $510). I quickly got my eye on the Rocky because it was by far the cheapest and there were a lot of reviews voting for it. But 55 different settings is actually not as much is I would like and the grinder is doserless, which means you just turn the hopper. But when turning the hopper it would be difficult to remember the exact same spot, when changing for press pot and back to espresso. The Rocky also just have one single bottom that starts the grinder and its on the back of the side, therefore it needs more place for you to operate around it.

So the choice was between the Compak or the Vario! I chose the Vario because you can set three timings for press pot, filter and espresso so it will automatic only grind those specific seconds with just a single press at one button. The Vario also came with a holder for the portafilter and a bucket for press pot and filter were the Compak just would grind directly into the portafilter. The Vario is also extremely easy to set, because of the two setting bars at each side, were one is for rough setting and the other is for fine tuning.

   
The Vario is in my opinion a great grinder and I have only experienced positive moments with it. Its easy to clean using grindz and even a dumbshit could operate this one. I mean whats not to love? Its quiet and gets the job done quickly without leaving a mess.

// Hendrup