OT:Espresso Machines - Manual/Lever

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by Gsinill

In case you can't find one, there is a guy in Hungary that makes them in exchange for your 230V one.
PM me if you need more info.

I've found one, but it's a single element and mine oddly, is a dual element with a single switch. I think it will still work though? I'm not sure but I think on this one it's wired so the low power element is on when it's plugged in.

I'm considering just wiring on a U.S. plug and seeing what it does as-is, but also ordering a 110v element in the meanwhile.

EDIT: I think it might actually be a thermofuse not a secondary element...

[William]

Interesting Campy upgrade...





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[Louis]

Can't be the zip-tie, I have them all over the place on my bikes.

[William]

Originally Posted by Louis

Can't be the zip-tie, I have them all over the place on my bikes.

Of course, only the best Campy zip-ties for my LP!!!






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[Pastashop]

Originally Posted by mwynne

Given budget, space, and the amount of use our filter grinder gets, I'm leaning towards a manual grinder since it will see much less use. Got a short list, just trying to weight pros and cons... (Kinu Phoenix, 1zpresso JE-Plus or JX-Pro)

I’ve tried to buy one of the fancy grinders, but everything unavailable. Finally settled for the available option — been using a 1ZPresso for about two months now. It grinds through the dose with incredible efficiency. 30 grams in about a minute, very little retention. The grind settings are easy to dial in, stays very consistent. It’s easy to take apart and clean, but no real need to. Has 3 quality bearings. Easy to hold and load... will hold up to 4 scoops of beans. I’m mostly doing Aeropress, but like an occasional Turkish and filter.... Recommend.


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[mwynne]

Originally Posted by Pastashop

I’ve tried to buy one of the fancy grinders, but everything unavailable. Finally settled for the available option — been using a 1ZPresso for about two months now. It grinds through the dose with incredible efficiency. 30 grams in about a minute, very little retention. The grind settings are easy to dial in, stays very consistent. It’s easy to take apart and clean, but no real need to. Has 3 quality bearings. Easy to hold and load... will hold up to 4 scoops of beans. I’m mostly doing Aeropress, but like an occasional Turkish and filter.... Recommend.

I've got a JX-Pro being delivered today! For the cost difference between that and JE-Plus, I think I can deal with the slightly less posh JX-Pro for my given uses.

[mtechnica]

It’s too early to declare victory but I did get a chance to test the machine.

The other day I cleaned the inside with espresso machine cleaner. Yesterday the bottomless portafilter and grate showed up in the mail, along with the seal kit, etc... I’m ignorant about this machine but it seemed like it didn’t do anything weird so I tried to use it without rebuilding it.

The first shot was a huge mess. When I lifted up the water, liquid started coming out. I bailed and turned the grinder to a finer setting then tried again. It only leaked a little this time and produced a shot in ~10 seconds which I have read was too short. It tasted sort of questionable but it was almost drinkable.

Then I switched to fresher beans, ground even finer, and went from 12 to 15 grams. I tamped it HARD. This time, no leaks when the lever was up. Pulled a 30 second shot with solid resistance. Decent crema (I think?). And best of all it tastes great! So then I steamed some oat milk and made a... well I’m not sure what you’d call it but there was about 6oz of steamed milk.

I’m going to try messing with it more this weekend.

[William]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

It’s too early to declare victory but I did get a chance to test the machine.

The other day I cleaned the inside with espresso machine cleaner. Yesterday the bottomless portafilter and grate showed up in the mail, along with the seal kit, etc... I’m ignorant about this machine but it seemed like it didn’t do anything weird so I tried to use it without rebuilding it.

The first shot was a huge mess. When I lifted up the water, liquid started coming out. I bailed and turned the grinder to a finer setting then tried again. It only leaked a little this time and produced a shot in ~10 seconds which I have read was too short. It tasted sort of questionable but it was almost drinkable.

Then I switched to fresher beans, ground even finer, and went from 12 to 15 grams. I tamped it HARD. This time, no leaks when the lever was up. Pulled a 30 second shot with solid resistance. Decent crema (I think?). And best of all it tastes great! So then I steamed some oat milk and made a... well I’m not sure what you’d call it but there was about 6oz of steamed milk.

I’m going to try messing with it more this weekend.

Keep working with it, you will get it dialed in. I'm still waiting on a proper tamper for this thing (went the custom route), but that said I'm still pulling in some good shots. I just think you have to figure out the nuances of the machine...as well as beans, grind, and tamp.






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[William]

Since we are on manuals here, has anyone tried the Aram espresso machine? Spendy little bugger but seems to be well thought out and quality made. Came across the review and thought it looked interesting. I'm not in the market since I'm spending time with the La Pavoni for now but still looked cool.

In-depth Review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlUxtgM_Ipc




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[jkbrwn]

Speaking of James Hoffman, I was just about to share his Dialing in Espresso series relating to the few messages above. I found it really helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFwJF-_SUr0

[William]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

Speaking of James Hoffman, I was just about to share his Dialing in Espresso series relating to the few messages above. I found it really helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFwJF-_SUr0

I saw that but hadn't looked at it yet, thanks for sharing!



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[William]

Just arrived in the mail yesterday... a custom Oregon Myrtlewood 51.5mm tamper from Thor Tampers. Fits the double shot basket like a glove and the light and dark gain patterns look great as well imo. The core is weighted so it has a nice solid heft to it. Great price, great product. Now we'll see how it does in the long term.

I was starting to get some decent shots by getting creative with the junk plastic tamper that came with the La Pavoni. Now I’m getting her dialed in…definitely a lever fan now.





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[grawk]

that looks fantastic

[William]

Btw, not sure if anyone has tried this here but since the Aeropress filters are so cheap I thought I would give it a go. Not saying I will keep doing this but it does seem to work well and minimize channeling. Supposedly it produces better extraction...

https://sprometheus.com/aeropressfilter/


Just rinse and reuse. You get a lot of pulls through a single filter.




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[William]

Very interesting results trying a filter on the bottom of the basket and one on top of the tamped puck. It allows one to go much finer on the grind then without resulting in more extraction. The ground espresso is no longer being restricted by being pushed into the holes in the basket. A grind setting that was causing firm resistance on the lever becomes much easier to pull through giving the ability to grind finer.

The filter on the top seems to cause better/more even dispersion of the water through the puck with the added benefit of drastically reducing any of the espresso flushing back into the shower screen. It also pretty much eliminates the possibility for channeling.

Flavor is very full and tasty to my pallet. Anyway, still playing with it but the results are good.







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