Bellevue, Washington-based Baratza was founded in 1999 by Kyle Anderson and Kyra Kennedy, two brilliant minds from the commercial espresso machine industry with a true passion for coffee and espresso. Baratza originally distributed Solis coffee grinders but quickly developed and manufactured the more advanced Baratza Maestro family of grinders. Always on the cutting edge, Baratza responded to home espresso enthusiast needs with the Virtuoso Preciso grinder, and more recently with the weight based Vario-W.

Baratza has always prided themselves for working closely with the demanding home user as well as reputable coffee equipment review companies, so that they can consistently deliver innovative equipment and designs. In fact, coffee lovers should count themselves as lucky, because without Baratza, affordable high-quality home espresso and coffee grinders would not exist.