good review, thanks for your thoroughness and this follow up comment.

Holy CRAP !! I just found your video after I already purchased the last Thursday and I will be receiving them on Monday.

Hi own one! Received few days ago here in Italy. It’s very very good for espresso! I was thinking about buying a niche zero but price, custom cost and e pensive shipping made me very upset so I decided to give varia a try. I’m very happy! Planning to buy a new set of burrs that I think will make the vs3 the best choice in the price range

@@gizzimatteo Hello, where did you buy the grinder from ,my friend ?

@@achilleasdimitriadis5264 you can buy direct from the company.

This is exactly why I am watching this video. I don't like variability in dose and lack of puck prep.

I was one of the early units that experienced an issue and the company was quick to send out a replacement. The new one works great.

hey, how are you finding it? I hope you're brewing some tasty cups

@@casianfd unfortunately mine just stopped working recently. The coffee was nice when it was working but I don’t think the motor is strong enough for fine grinds.

The time has come!

I personally haven’t done Turkish in awhile, but I can say I was able to completely choke up my espresso machine with the finest settings on the VS3 so I’d venture to say it’s capable of a Turkish brew. And in terms of making the jump from a hand-grinder to an electric, this would be a nice easy one to do.

Had the same setup and same ideas and 2 days ago updated to lagom mini. Its really nice and complex in a cup but you need to smash it at the end a couple of times or a bellow.

I think it’s a solid choice, and personally I love espresso from a conical. Head to head with the Turin there are a lot differences, and the Turin feels more like a prosumer grinder, with its size and speed. It’s a hard choice, but for espresso only I’d go conical, for all around I’d go flat.

Of course! Thank you for watching and have a great weekend.

It's only inexpenesive excluding VAT, I found. So including 19% in Germany, depending on the day-course of $-€, this may vary and then the pricetag is not that enormous, I guess.

Thanks Alan! The Niche is a tough one to beat, but I’m glad I mentioned the power brick, I had never thought about it being an issue before it was mentioned in the Lagom Mini review.

​@@Sprometheus In theory it could hide behind an espresso machine depending on the size of course. I could see why it would be a deal breaker to some who like to keep a clean station/counter.

Yeah it’s definitely a brushed motor, I’m not sure if the specs are available, but perhaps the slower RPM would help with its lifespan? Thanks for watching!

I didn’t get into trying to fix the issue, but that may work. Anything that adds a bit more tension. I don’t think it needs much. I just hope this issue is resolved ASAP as it’s truly a solid little grinder.

same here. this is not just a minor fault

I have a vs3 and this doesn’t happen on mine. Could be just an isolated issue with his grinder or a bigger issue that I somehow dodged

It happens to mine, unfortunately

Yeah I can completely understand why it would be a dealbreaker for some. It’s a major issue, and I know it’s not just mine, but not all of them. Common enough though, to be a concern to Varia.

@@sammarquardt4090 Same here. I've had mine about 3 weeks and haven't experienced any adjustment travel.

it could be that he measured using lighter roasted coffee which is much denser

Have you tried it with the bellows to see whether the "0 rentention" is incorporating grounds from previous grinds? Another youtuber, Kyle Rowsell, during his review ( v=LS07pWB2XR0 ) demonstrates at around 3 minutes how much is left inside the machine. I'd be interested to hear about your experience

I have taken the grinder apart multiple times after a 0 retention grind and found that there really is less than .1 or a gram left in the grind chamber and it is not just 0 retention due to left overs from previous grinds.

It’s not isolated to just mine, there have been a couple comments here and in other places that have pointed out the same thing. Other owners don’t have the issue as well, so it’s a bit of a lottery. I haven’t heard from them on a suggested fix. And thus far I’ve had no stalling issues on light roasts.

I had the issue and Varia sent me a replacement which has been good.

Personally I love conicals for espresso, but as a primary grinder the size and speed of the DF options just feels more prosumer. And the 64mm option allows for a huge array of burrs that will continue to grow.

I've got a Mini too, what's your preferred number of dots from the zero point for filter?

@@David-wh7rm Right now from zero (touching) which reads 3 mark, I go 2 full revolutions + 2 marks ending at 5. This seems to be comparable to about 26 or 27 standard clicks on a Comandante C40 based on eyeballing the grounds and more importantly on drawdown time using an April v2 plastic. If that seems coarse for pourover, it's an April thing

@@simkool77 oh wow, so 22 dots. I've been using 17 dots although I'm trialling going up to 20 dots to see what I prefer. I wonder if the April dripper prefers a coarser grind versus the V60. Are you tempted to buy the Moonshine burrs? Cheers!

@@David-wh7rm I think I have an early version of mini, I don't really have dots, I have more widely placed markers numbered from 0 to 9 with an un-numbered marker at the mid-point between each. Could be a different scale? Also April and Patrik's method uses somewhat coarser grind. In one of his technique video's Patrik clear states range 26 to 30 C40 clicks depending on the dose.

I’ll keep an eye out for the opus, I know Fellow definitely won’t be giving/loaning me one as they only tend to support creators who have overall positive thing to say about their gear.

Yeah the market has exploded. And honestly, I still really love my P64 and I brew at roughly that same ratio of espresso to filter. Its price and availability is an issue. Personally, I’d aim for a 64mm flat burr grinder because they have tons of burr options and you’ll be able to swap them out, and it’s like a whole different grinder.

@@Sprometheus Appreciate your input, that might have greatly helped me narrowing it down. The Mignon is a quality machine but I have a very hard time with consistency it's ..quite awful. Could be I have a misaligned defective on but regardless, I know I'd prefer a much 'easier to adjust' system than the ludicrous micro knob on the Mignon. Keep up the excellent videos, I really enjoy your approach and tone informative, personal and to the point - great stuff!

Same bro, I live in Argentina 💔

Did you hear back??

I’ll look into it. I haven’t had a chance to use a lot of Eurekas grinders. I do have a Libra coming though.

@The Real Sprometheus awesome. Definitely give it a look. If you do a search, you will find several people using them here on KZfaq as well as Reddit forums. It seems to be a well kept bargain secret for some reason. Not sure why more people don't do reviews on it.

Eureka Filtro is not designed for single dosing, which is a big plus for Varia

@@mateherbay2289 agreed in that sense. But as far as value goes. It deserves some recognition.

It’s not massively different to the Niche in how it performs and the workflow. I do like the look and feel of the VS3 more, but the Niche has a track record. I do plan on doing a side by side soon though. Curious to see the differences myself.

I think they’re not massively different. I’m sure there are some subtle differences in coatings and geometry, but in terms of flavor and taste I’d say they’re in a comparable range.

It absolutely is a great step up from the Encore, also considering it’s look and materials feel a lot more premium. But the Encore is still my top recommendation for those wanting to dip their toes into brewing at home. If you’re ready to take the plunge deeper into that hole, and want some espresso control as well, it’s a solid upgrade.

I also have an Encore, and got the VS3 for Christmas. I've been using it mainly for espresso, and it is far better than the Encore. I have also used the VS3 French Press, and the flavour seems better than the Encore. I am not a gourmet, so the best I can say is the flavour profile seems richer.

@@stevenhightop2518How often do you make espresso? My biggest concern is the motor giving out with repeated fine grinds. I know it’s espresso marketed, and it says to grind up to 30 minutes on with at least 60 minutes off, but some reviews say even once a day can ruin it.

Check the pinned comment for Varia’s response.

The answer was 7 months ago. They said we will ensure to fix it. But there is no answer if it really happend. Thats what I am searching for. I buy it in case the problem is solved.

That’s terrible! Have you gotten a follow up yet?

Yeah, I bought one to try out. At $200 a piece it would cost me $800 to review them and that’s a lot for such a niche product.

@@Sprometheus Awesome. Will you be making videos?

@@Theincrediblespud yeah, definitely will. Probably be sometime next month. May do a short with initial impressions

@@Sprometheus I’d love to see you combine Wafo with the Espcup

Well depends. The power "brick" is on all machines, some put it outside which makes the grinders tabletop footprint significantly smaller (like the Varia), or they put it on the inside and those grinders are much much bigger and take alot more counter space. On a kitchen counter where you can't drop the brick behind or under a table, then yeah, it's unsightly. But any other grinder is going to take up 2x the footprint, so you don't really save space, just aesthetics.

It is, especially for espresso and it took me a while to realize it.

I’m glad I mentioned it. I had no idea how many folks found it to be an issue. Is it a space thing? Like for on top of a counter?

@The Real Sprometheus yeah definitely. If it wasn't for that, the grinder would be perfect. There's nowhere on the kitchen counter for that power brick. It's this the only grinder you have tested that has one?

Yeah I was pretty disappointed when I received mine and saw that brick. I use it on a countertop and having the brick behind the espresso maker just seems like it can easily get shorted out if a little water spilled. It’s also a really long,thick cable so you will have a giant power brick and tons of cable to manage. Definitely not a deal breaker for me, but the beautiful minimalist design is undermined by cable management oversight.

@TheRealSprometheus , do you have a telegram page ?

Thanks for the heads up, that’s a first. They should be gone now.

I’d say that sure, the materials alone maybe cost enough to call for a price that low. But consider the time and money spent in research and development, then building and bringing it to market. The price of things isn’t just purely the costs of the materials plus a profit margin.

@@Sprometheus I have impression this inflation thing is partly our fault. for example, Universal Studios makes decision to charge 150 USD admission fee per person which is ridiculous, and people still keep paying for it. If we stop paying these ridiculous prices for completely unnecessary items then things might improve. but this is off-topic. I ain't paying 300USD for a faulty grinder with loose dial ring

High performance grinders are also a pretty niche market. It may not seem so to us, because we’re involved in specialty coffee every day. We’re on discourses, reddits, our favourite KZfaqrs every day. This is the nature of echo chambers. These aren’t cars, something practically everybody in the western world owns, where a profit margin of 8-12% is good enough in appropriate volumes to make a company a reasonable profit. Of the many people I know, only one is into specialty coffee and he’s still fighting with an old Hario Skerton and dreams of something better. I, despite having only gotten into specialty coffee a year ago, have the fanciest grinder of anyone I know. A Breville 450XL, that I believe is a rebadged Wilfa Svart, that I got for $125CAD a dozen years ago! My wife and daughter love the coffee I make for them. And have begun to complain t I’ve ruined the Keurig for them. Yet they start they’re day with a pod because they can’t be bothered to brew what I brew. With all the quality grinders out there (at various price points) how many do you think are being sold per model? Everybody I know has a car. The lower the volume of sales, the higher the markup has to be to make a reasonable profit. This is pretty basic economics. To go back to the car example, the typical entry level car has an 8-12% mark up. A Cadillac is in the mid 20s. I suspect a Ferrari would be 50-100%. People complain that the Niche has never been updated. I’m not surprised. From all accounts they’re a tiny company. This is borne out by the constant shortages of product. They’re more of less “hand-made” in small numbers in the UK. Not mass produced, by the millions, like iPhones in China. It’s highly likely that they haven’t yet made a return on their initial investment or have only recently done so. I’m sure the makers of the Niche can’t wait to improve on their product. But if they don’t make money, they go tits up and no more Niches. And no more support (parts, warranty,etc) for current owners. I hope this doesn’t sound too ranty - I know it’s pretty wordy; a failing of mine. It is not intended as a rebuke - there’s too much of that online and not enough sharing of knowledge. I was only hoping to share some information that perhaps, you weren’t aware of.