# Mahlkoenig Vario - Thoughts on steel burrs



## ahirsty (Jan 9, 2014)

I have had a couple of days with the steel burrs on the Vario. I thought I'd share my thoughts.

*Installation:*

I opted not to buy the removal tool. This made it difficult but not impossible to remove the top burr, you will need small fingers! Everything else went easy enough, only 12 screws in total.

*French Press:*



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*After throwing some old beans through I decided I would treat myself to a french press. Using the ceramic burrs this resulted in a muddy overextracted cup even using the Espro Press. The steel burrs gave a very balanced cup and very little sediment. Very happy to get my espro working again!

*Aeropress:*

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To be honest I did not see much difference in the cup between the ceramic and steel burrs. I believe the aeropress is quite forgiving anyway so this might have something to do with it.

*Pour-over:*

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This is where I found the biggest difference. Using the ceramic burrs on my Kalita Wave left me very disappointed, I started to think all the good reviews on the wave was lies! My first cup with the steel burrs transformed the coffee I was drinking. The tasting notes even stated to make sense...

I know its an expensive way to get a grinder for brewed coffee but its hard to beat the Vario for usability and convenience. So far very happy with the steel burrs.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Will be even better once the burrs have seasoned.


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## centaursailing (Feb 27, 2012)

I've had a Vario-W from Mahlkonig for a couple of years, in fact it was one of the first batch of 3 into the UK specifically sold to me as a grinder suitable for espresso.

Over the last 6-12 months there's be an increasing amout of static and when I rang the Mahlkonig representative (the one who promised to send me the missing instruction manual and never did) he told me that the Vario-W ISN'T suitable as an espresso grinder because it has steel burrs going on to say that the Vario is suitable for espresso because it has ceramic burrs. Clearly they'd had a change of policy based on early user experience and his promise to get back to me re: my request for a part exchange against a Pro M Eespresso as I'd been missold the grinder never materialised! Anyway to cut a long story short, I've always got a good espresso grind from the Vario-W but it seems at the expense of substantial static.

I'm now looking at buying a new grinder and the Eureka Zenith 65e looks even better than the Mazzer Mini E Type A I was considering.

Hope this post is of interest.

Rod


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

The SS Burrs are good - consistent too, after seasoning.

A given setting will usually be the same.

They do get coarser as they she though b


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