Baratza Virtuoso+ grind settings.
The Encore's step up: same 40-position collar, better burr geometry and a tighter particle spread.
The chart
Starting points, not targets. Each number carries a ± 1-setting band because that is the honest resolution of this dial — land inside the band, then let taste move you.
| Brew method | Virtuoso setting |
|---|---|
| Espresso anchor | 7 ± 1 |
| Moka pot | 11 ± 1 |
| AeroPress (short, fine) | 13 ± 1 |
| V60 / pour-over | 16 ± 1 |
| Kalita Wave | 18 ± 1 |
| Chemex / batch drip | 20 ± 1 |
| Clever / switch immersion | 24 ± 1 |
| French press anchor | 31 ± 1 |
| Cold brew | 35 ± 1 |
One setting on this grinder moves the grind by about 0.27 of a point on the 1–10 universal scale — so roughly 2 settings is the smallest change worth making between brews.
A chart gets you a starting number and then stops. Coffee Aeye quotes every recipe in Virtuoso setting to begin with — and when you rate the brew, it tells you which way to move and how many, on this dial.
€4.29 on Google PlayWhere these numbers come from
Two anchors, and interpolation between them. Espresso and French press are the only two bands that manufacturers and community charts actually document with any consistency, so those are the fixed points: espresso at 7 and French press at 31. Everything between is a straight line drawn through them, quantised to the setting this dial actually resolves.
Absolute accuracy is not possible and this page will not claim it. Burr wear, per-unit zero points and assembly tolerances all shift where a number lands. What the two-anchor method gives you is the right shape — correct spacing between methods, correct direction of travel — which is what you need to dial in efficiently. The rest comes from calibration.
How this grinder works
The same forty stepped positions as the Encore, so the two look interchangeable — but the Virtuoso+ hardened burr set runs marginally finer at the coarse end, which is why French press anchors at 31 here and 32 on the Encore. Small difference, real difference.
Calibrating the chart to your own Virtuoso
If the chart runs consistently coarse or fine for you, do not nudge every row. Re-anchor it:
- Find your espresso mark — the setting where a 1:2 shot in about 28 seconds actually happens on your machine. If you do not pull espresso, use the finest point where a moka pot does not choke.
- Find your French press mark — coarse enough that a four-minute steep is clean rather than muddy, and the plunger does not fight you.
- Enter both in Coffee Aeye. Replacing the two anchors corrects the zero point and the slope at once, and every method in between re-derives from your own two numbers.
This matters more on some grinders than others — it matters most anywhere the dial is stepless or the zero is set by hand.
Known quirks of the Virtuoso
Nearly the Encore chart, deliberately not identical.
One position of divergence at the coarse anchor is not a rounding artefact — it is the burr geometry. Do not substitute one chart for the other on the assumption they are the same machine.
The digital timer is a repeatability trap.
Timed dosing drifts as beans age and degas. Weigh your dose; use the timer as a convenience, not a measurement.
Cleaner at filter settings than the Encore.
The tighter distribution shows up most between about 18 and 26 — the pour-over band. That is the range you are paying the difference for.
Moving the dial when a brew tastes wrong
The chart gets you into the right neighbourhood. Taste gets you the rest of the way, and the rule is the same on every grinder here:
| What you taste | What it means | Move |
|---|---|---|
| Sour, sharp, thin, empty finish | Under-extracted | Finer |
| Bitter, drying, harsh, ashy | Over-extracted | Coarser |
| Balanced but weak | Ratio, not grind | Hold |
| Balanced but overwhelming | Ratio, not grind | Hold |
On this dial, 2–4 settings is one meaningful step. Change one thing per brew. The full method is in the V60 dial-in guide.
Coffee Aeye holds this chart for all 18 supported grinders and closes the loop on it. Rate a brew and it converts the fault you tasted into a concrete move — how many setting on your Virtuoso, in your own dial numbers, not a vague "grind finer". Calibrate your two anchors once and every recipe in the app re-derives to your unit. Get it on Google Play — €4.29, one-time.
Convert a setting to another grinder
Settings do not transfer between grinders — click sizes, burr geometry and zero points all differ. The grinder converter maps a Virtuoso setting onto any of the other 17 through the same universal scale this chart is built on.