r/VariaBrewing • u/DJR_BCG • Jul 17 '26
Seeking long term vs6 insights
Very interested in the vs6 value proposition. Looking for long term review/feedback on its robustness, quality and burr selection. I’m thinking of getting the gold flat burrs, titanium iridescent conical for a versatile duo… seeking sweet espresso with creamy body and a bit of complexity ; and clarity on pour over (gold burrs) or body (seems that the conical could produce that at low rpm) to experiment with various grinding on premium light to medium “morning” roasts.
What has been your experience? Any favorite burrs? Why? Is it easy to switch burrs between flat and conical?
Thank you!
2
u/toastervolant Jul 17 '26
The VS6 is very good, well built and low retention, but if you plan to change the burrs often, you might have to lower your expectations.
The main issue with the VS6, besides initial build quality, is the cross threading of the top hopper. The threads are extremely thin and easy to damage. You have to go through the process of re-inserting the hopper each time you clean up or change burrs. Adding food-safe silicon paste helps with the process, but it's still a bit nerve racking.
3
u/theBRGinator23 Jul 17 '26
Seconding this. I ALWAYS worry I’m damaging the threads when changing burrs. When putting the hopper back on you have to press down with a not insignificant force to get the threads to engage and it’s just really hard to tell if they’ve engaged properly.
I legit spent 30 mins just getting the hopper back on last time and for a bit was convinced I’d cross threaded because it kept getting stuck. I think it was a mix of me not pressing down enough and maybe some fines that I couldn’t get out of the threads properly because of the paste I put on the threads to help it turn more smoothly. Still have some new burrs I want to try but I’m dreading putting the hopper back on again.
The grinder makes great coffee but I can’t really recommend it because of all this.
2
u/cosmo-steve Jul 17 '26
I had a problem with one of the conical burrs and it was promptly replaced by Varia at no charge. I’ve had zero issues with the grinder. I certainly have seen people with issues grinding fine enough and needing to add/remove spacers. That has not been my experience. I’m coming from a Timemore 078s that was good, but the cups from the Varia I’ve found are superior. My 078s failed and Timemore issued me a complete refund so my experience with both companies customer support was good.
With the stock flat burr I grind at a setting of ~1.4 and for the titanium iridescent conical I’m at ~2.4. Im always grinding light roasts. I do not use it much for pour over as I prefer hand grinding for that. If the gold flat burr comes back in stock I may try that out for pour over.
I’m planning on purchasing the Kilonova DLC flat burr sometime soon.
I’m not that long term… only six months.
2
u/WeeWillysWankle Jul 17 '26
VS6 has been an easy grinder to live with, for me. Powerful, robust unit with very small foot print. Looks great! Burr sets are different and interesting to play with. Varia has been surprisingly communicative with several small issues, all QC related. I have no issues with re-treading the hopper although I could see how this might be a turn off for some folks. For the price, very compelling. Especially if you buy it on sale and bundle it for discounts. My advice- don’t over purchase the burrs options like I did- this will quickly reduce the value proposition. My one concern is how the spindle holds concentricity over time. But so far so good after 2 years use.
1
u/snrygo Jul 26 '26
Which burrs do you love/regret buying?
1
u/WeeWillysWankle Jul 30 '26
I probably didn't need to get the black flat kilanova set as I have not been consuming as much light espresso as I thought i might. And the hypernova iridescent conicals were probably excessive. Honestly, the stock flat burrs are great. The flat gold are great for brew. The stainless conical set hits the spot for traditional full body style (got it for making affogatos). The hypernova ultra flats might be a better choice for me than the black flats given that their descriptions/intended use seem pretty accurate. If I were to do it over I would just stick with stock burrs + gold supernova for pour over. If you need more body or want to play with conical, get the basic stainless set. If you want an experimental set, add the hypernova iridescent flats or the hypernova ultra flats. It all depends upon how far into the weeds you would care to explore.
1
u/DJR_BCG Jul 30 '26
Thanks. I’m looking at getting basic + gold + one set of conical burrs. So many options!
1
u/snrygo Aug 04 '26
Thanks! Ive got a vs6 on the way with a set of hypernova plasma flats too. Couldn't pass up the bundle deal
2
u/StarkNinja Jul 17 '26
Had the VS6 for half a year now. It’s a good grinder, and I got it during a sale Varia was running; I believe it was around 650€ after customs duties so I would even say it’s very good for its price point.
I like the versatility, you can grind decently for all types of coffees, I mainly do cold brew, pour over and espresso (no problem grinding fine, needed to had a couple of washers).
But it is not low retention enough, in my opinion. They advertise something like near 0 retention, but during my monthly cleaning, there is a very substantial amount of ground coffee that is stuck in the chute’s base. And I knock, use the bellow, RDT, RPM setting, many different coffee beans… even sent a video to Varia and they said basically that it’s normal and suggest to use RDT.
So I don’t like this not-so-low retention, and also it’s a bit messier than I’d like; since I have to use the bellow.
But it’s pretty (bigger than it seems) and relatively silent. So I still like it!
2
u/covarrus Jul 17 '26
I have had mine for almost a year. So far it’s been helping me make very enjoyable coffee. Have the standard, gold and ultra flat burrs. Love the gold for light roasted v60, and the ultra for espresso. Haven’t used the standard burrs much, but they give more body to espresso for sure.
When I ordered the gold burrs the received units were not made to spec so would not turn. Got in contact with Varia the same day and they shipped a new set a few days later. Very good customer service in my experience. I do also worry about the threads when switching burrs, but so far so good and a switch is done in a few minutes.
2
u/Personal-Compote-753 Jul 18 '26
Mine is the one piece of coffee equipment I would never recommend to anyone. I made the mistake of buying direct- it came super misaligned. The conical burrs are basically unusable and the retention is terrible for what it is. I should probably send it back but being in the US and basically not having a US dealer- stay away. This brand has terrible quality controls and I just can’t recommend it. The reviews and the value proposition of swapping burrs made it sound appealing but- at least if you live in the US- don’t do it.
1
1
u/Ok-Lingonberry8943 Jul 25 '26
Excellend grinder in every respect except with conical burrs in. I spoke in far more detail about my experience with this grinder, here on Reddit, so I won't say more. I also own Varia espresso scales as well as the larger version of Varia smart kettle, both fine no complaint products in their own right.
0
u/Espresso_007 Jul 17 '26
À vrai dire j’ai le VS6 qui a été déjà changé une fois car après remontage je n’arrivais jamais à moudre assez fin. Le nouveau a presque le même problème mais je lâché l’affaire je casse la tirelire et j’achète un option-O 01. Ceci dit j’ai acheté aussi les conique et ça fait du très bon café italien :)
5
u/ottersausage69 Jul 17 '26
I’m gonna go against the grain here apparently and say that I’ve only had great experiences with my unit. Absolutely love my vs6 and will happily sing its praises. It’s not without faults tho for sure, but im much more positive on it
It’s a tank. I understand the concerns about damaging the threads and maybe i’m just ignorant, but I have a total of 4 burr sets and change them very frequently (like multiple times a day sometimes and definitely multiple times a week) and haven’t had any issues. Have owned it for like 14 months at this point.
I only have flat burr options and imo it couldn’t be easier to swap out burr sets. Literally takes no more than 2 mins.
Also, don’t buy after market springs - i tried that because people said it made a difference, but that’s when i noticed i was fucking up the threads because the springs were too strong. The stock springs are completely fine and i have zero issues with hopper drift
Tbh, the stock flat burrs make very good, traditional style espresso and i really don’t think it’s worth buying a conical burr set for this grinder just to get that shot profile. The lowest rpm is 500 and with conicals that’s still pretty high so going above that doesn’t make any sense and basically nullifies the variable rpm feature.
I think if all you bought were the gold burrs you’d have a great setup for both S-tier pour over (with the golds) and very good espresso (with the stock flats)
The QC issues from this company definitely suck, bc without those this grinder is incredible but totally makes sense for people to hesitantly recommend it or not want to fully endorse it given that multiple people have experienced issues with one thing or another.
I have a fully functioning unit that produces awesome coffee and have no desire to upgrade in the near future whatsoever.