I tested the Geimori GU38 coffee grinder and it could win a Varia VS3 lookalike contest — but the similarities (mostly) end there

The Wirsh Geimori GU38 looks like it could be one of the best coffee grinders. If appearance were everything, I’d be singing this tiny, lightweight grinder’s praises. However, looks aren’t everything, and functionality is — surprisingly — kind of a big deal in a home cafe setup.

While obviously a Varia VS3 lookalike, you’ll be disappointed to learn that the similarities end there. True, the GU38 is just as gorgeous, just as small, and just as light as its inspiration, but due to its non-uniform grinding and 1.67% retention, it can’t come close to the VS3’s stylish-but-also-functional design.

Want to find out more about this $199 grinder? Keep reading this Wirsh Geimori GU38 review.

Wirsh Geimori GU38 review: Cheat sheet

• Who is it for? If you want to grind coffee on a kind of low budget
• What does it do well? It looks great and is super small, ideal for small kitchens
• What does it cost? $199, so $100 cheaper than the VS3
• What are its weaknesses? The non-uniform grind won’t impress serious coffee lovers

Wirsh Geimori GU38 review: Specs

Wirsh Geimori GU38 review: Price & availability

The Geimori GU38 is available for $199 from Amazon U.S., but it’s also on sale often for around $159. Even at $159, this grinder is probably not worth your money. There are better-value grinders out there.

For starters, one glance at the GU38 will tell you that it’s a dupe of the Varia VS3 ($299). The VS3 isn’t even expensive enough to necessitate a dupe — in my humble opinion — especially when said dupe performs considerably worse and will only save you $100.

I’d recommend checking out the $199 Baratza Encore ESP, or maybe treat yourself to the new Baratza Encore Pro ($299). If you want to save a bit more moolah, though, the Breville Dose Control Pro is just $159 and is a much better grinder than the Geimori GU38.

Wirsh Geimori GU38 review: Design

I have to hand it to Wirsh: the GU38 is a beautiful machine. Well, that’s because it’s pretty much a “You can copy my homework but change it a bit so the teacher doesn’t notice” of the Varia VS3.

There are a couple of differences, though. The Geimori GU38 has a walnut hopper lid, which is gorgeous, and obviously is emblazoned with ‘Geimori’ instead of ‘Varia’. For all its functionality flaws, it’ll look darn pretty in your kitchen. It weighs just 5.5 pounds and is 3.5 inches wide and 12 inches tall. This would be a great option for small kitchens.

Comparatively, the Varia VS3 weighs 7.7 pounds and is 3.5 inches wide and 12 inches tall — so the GU38 won’t save you any space, but it’ll save you some weight.

As the VS3 comes with a little spray bottle to minimize static and bellows, it’s got all the makings of a premium grinder. You’ll be pleased to know that the GU38 also ships with said spray bottle and bellows — and a little brush! Of course, Geimori couldn’t let Varia pip them at the first post.

However… (imagine me saying that while simultaneously sighing) the similarities end now. From here on out, the VS3 beats the GU38 in every way. Strap in, folks.

Wirsh Geimori GU38 review: Performance

I test every single coffee grinder with identical criteria. First, being sound and time. The Geimori GU38 is quiet — just 75dB, much quieter than the Encore ESP, same as the Mignon Specialita, yet louder than the VS3’s 67dB. It does take a while to grind: 20g at medium grind took a whopping 39 seconds, but the VS3 was the same — a symptom of its DC-power.

After, I look at ease of use: is it a confusing stepless grinder that’ll make beginners cry, but please anyone with a James Hoffman subscription? Next, I take static and clumping into account: do you need a WDT tool to make decent espresso?

Finally, I examine perhaps the two most important aspects of any grinder: uniformity and retention. This refers to the consistency of your coffee granule size. Are the granules the same size? High uniformity. All different sizes? Low uniformity (therefore bad grinder).

Retention means how much coffee sticks in the burrs while grinding. For example, if you grind 20g of coffee, how much coffee comes back out? You want this number as close as possible to your original number.

Ease of use

The GU38 is a stepless grinder, like the Varia VS3, so there are no fixed grind intervals, giving you lots of fine control over your grind. You'll still need to ensure the grind level isn't set too fine so that the burrs touch and damage one another, or too high so that the dial comes off. I rotated the grinder dial clockwise (admittedly past the highest point of 65) and the dial literally came off — user error.

Actually grinding is really easy: you just put the magnetic canister under the chute and press the ‘grind’ button. Of course, there’s no preprogrammed dose time or dose volume, but most ‘serious’ coffee drinkers don’t use these features regardless, especially if they're using one of the best coffee scales.

Static & clumping

For all its uniformity flaws (which I'll cover below), the Geimori GU38 has a pleasant lack of static. Of course, there’s always going to be a little static — grinding something into something small inherently results in static — but I’d say the GU38 doesn’t perform any better or worse than the competition.

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The Eureka Mignon Specialita and the hand-grinder Comandante C40 MK4 have similar levels of static: not the worst, but not the best. The best I’ve ever used is the Mazzer Philos ($1,500… yes, $1,500), but if you’re on a budget, the Baratza Encore ESP will do.

Uniformity

To test uniformity, I sieved my grounds using my Kruve coffee sifters, $89 on Amazon. The results below refer to how much coffee passed through each sieve. If you see 300: 0% / 500: 100%, that means all of the coffee grounds are between 301-500 microns.

In an ideal world, you want large jumps: 0% to 100% is perfect. As you’ll see in a moment, something like 0%-10%-30%-80%-100% means the grinder cannot grind uniformly.

As you can see, these results are generally non-uniform. As only 50% of the coffee passed through the 300 sieve, this means 50% of the grounds are smaller than 300. Then, only 80% of the coffee passed through the 500-micron sieve, which means 20% of the coffee granules are between 501-799 microns.

Therefore, this espresso grind has some coffee with Turkish grind, and some with Chemex/Kalita Wave grind. You won’t get a good coffee with this.

Retention

To test retention, I weighed out 20g of coffee using my Fellow Tally Pro. Then, I ground this coffee on click 20. After squeezing the bellows to clean the chute, I weighed the resulting coffee.

Here are my results.

The revered Mazzer Philos had an average retention of just 0.8%, the Varia VS3 0.75%, the Baratza Encore ESP 1.55%, the Breville Dose Control Pro was a huge 2.15%. While the GU38 isn’t as retentive as the Dose Control Pro, it pales in comparison to the VS3.

Wirsh Geimori GU38 review: Storage & maintenance

As the GU38 is just 5.5 pounds, it’s a really lightweight coffee grinder. The Varia VS3 is made of mostly metal, so it’s much heavier — 7.7 pounds. Of the mostly plastic grinders I’ve reviewed, the Baratza Encore ESP is pretty heavy at 7 pounds, the Breville Dose Control Pro is a hulking 10.4 pounds, and the Casabrews Tornado is 8.9 pounds.

I found the grinder quite easy to clean; simply brush away the coffee grinds from inside the hopper and from underneath. However, other users online have reported that the machine cannot grind oily (dark roast) beans, as these clog up the burrs.

Wirsh Geimori GU38 review: Verdict

If this were a competition of “lightest grinder”, the GU38 would win hands down. However, this is a competition of “best grinder”, and in that case, the GU38 isn’t even allowed to spectate the medal ceremony.

As this grinder has pretty disappointing uniformity, especially for the Baratza Encore ESP-matching price, I’d just recommend buying that model instead. True, the Encore ESP isn’t the model of perfection when it comes to uniformity, but it’s considerably superior to the GU38.

There are so many good grinders around the $200-mark, so I would just get one of those instead. Want to treat yourself? Varia VS3. Only want to spend $199? Baratza Encore ESP. Want to save even more? Breville Dose Control Pro.