What’s on your coffee bench?

[livingminimal]

Originally Posted by echappist

impressive. I tried upping the preinfusion to 5 seconds, and coffee began leaking out. So back to 3 seconds I go. Is this something obtainable only on a fancier machine?

btw, 30 grams is about the volume of a single shot, correct? For making your latte art, do you go for slightly higher volume?

I mean, a lot of machines for home prosumer (thinking Linea Mini) will only even really allow for a 1second built in pre when you move the paddle over.

A lot of machines cant do a true stretch pre-infusion. I can kind of fake one with my Appartamento if I go half way up on the lever in advance but coffee will start coming through at some point.

BTW, Trade sent me Black Cat Espresso this week which is a little annoying since Intelligentisa is literally available at every grocery store here, but I got it figured out decently on just the second shot, so we'll see. Off to Virginia on Wednesday night and will definitely pick up a bag or two of Rare Bird.

[ptourkin]

Originally Posted by echappist

You don’t want that. Mostly runny stuff, i’d imagine. Or at least grind it on a finer setting. I did exactly this a few days ago, and the puck was a mushy mess (cf. something solid)

Also, find it interesting that the recipes differ so much

Had operated using 17g for a double, but that’s way too much coffee for a double basket on the Silvia. If i grinded finer, i get 30 g of overextracted stuff; if coarser, i can’t get it all to fit. Eventually settled on fine grind at 15.6 g, and if i get lucky, it should be 45-50 grams out. It has the blonding issue (basically the last 12 seconds or so), but tasted fine for the most part

a video on Clives stated 18-20g for a 35g “single shot”. A bit perplexing...

Also, anyone knows if the caffeine extracted depends on the mass of ground used or the total amount of fluid in cup or perhaps both?

Got it. Will stick to the double basket.
I'm using 17g in the Silvia double basket with 3.7 seconds preinfusion/dwell and 25 brew which is the default on the pid and getting 55-60 ml consistently at my grind setting which isn't super adjustable on the Rocky.

[echappist]

another hand-wringing question. $450 for a Eureka Mignon Specialita or $750 for a Mazzer? Both new, and from abroad.

[stackie]

What do you mean by leaking out? Seeing drops on the bottom of the PF basket? That’s ok.

With the preinfusion, you can grind a little finer. If I were to go full pressure on my puck as ground for preinfusion it would stall. If you were just seeing a few drops that’s all you want. Or were you seeing leaking between the grouphead and PF? Then you need a new gasket.

I use the 30 gram ristretto style shot for my latte art.

Jon

[stackie]

Ptourkin

That’s a pretty classic espresso double. If you love it stick with it.

Jon

[stackie]

The mignon burrs are only 50mm. You’ll outgrow that too soon.

Compare the Mazzer to Compak K3 fresh. Same burr size. $700 for a doserless grinder vs over a $1000 for the mazzer doserless.

I loved my compak. I think better value for the money.

Jon

[tctyres]

I gotta ask because I'm curious... Any OT black Friday coffee deals?

[jpritchet74]

Originally Posted by tctyres

I gotta ask because I'm curious... Any OT black Friday coffee deals?

https://www.wholelattelove.com/sale

[VTCaraco]

Fairly local to ChrisCoffee and made my first purchase through them.
Mackenzie recommended and I bought the Faema Carisma. I've been incredibly happy with their post-sale support, but have had a number of small breakdowns in the last year including a fuse blowing too often lately (10a/125v on the circuit board that controls the heat exchange).
This has me considering an upgrade, but the price is fairly steep and I'm very comfortable opening mine up and doing minor repairs.
Profitec and ECM look terrific, but I think I'm better off sticking with ChrisCoffee for the post-sale support ~ based on what I've read. They carry Rocket and Alex and others, of course.

Does an upgrade make sense?
I'm the only coffee drinker in the house and typically pull a shot of espresso before work (then switch to my drip machine during the day) and a few shots each weekend. Maybe once a month or so I'll make an espresso. This makes me wonder if I'm fine with the HX...

Is there that much of a difference if I went with something new?
I understand that the PID would be a tangible upgrade. Other factors to consider?

How much "maintenance" is normal?
I got 2-3 years without a hiccup.
In the last 1-2 years, I've had fuses, pump, valves. Nothing expensive, per se, and nothing that warranted a trip back to ChrisCoffee. Their tech, Tim, has walked me through everything and shipped the part to me (1-day shipping is the basic option given my proximity). Do I simply need to adjust my expectations that this is normal and embrace things?

I've skimmed the coffee/espresso forums and talked with both Mackenzie and Tim at CC. Any advice/perspective from the knowledgeable folks on this forum would be appreciated.

[AngryScientist]

i've been home pretty much all week, and am in full on pour-over mode this week. picked up some fresh beans and have been grinding them as i use 'em.

yes - i have an expensive fancy grinder, but this week i've been using my porlex hand grinder. for pour over size grind, it is excellent. you really can make amazingly good coffee minimal gear. some disagree - but i say good beans trump everything.

[dan_hudson]

Any one have experience with the Micro 1 (or newer A1)? Our Capresso machine has started leaking all over the counter half the time the reservoir is filled (wonky tank connection). The Jura gets really good reviews for quality of brew but their are some comments on durability.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i've been home pretty much all week, and am in full on pour-over mode this week. picked up some fresh beans and have been grinding them as i use 'em.

yes - i have an expensive fancy grinder, but this week i've been using my porlex hand grinder. for pour over size grind, it is excellent. you really can make amazingly good coffee minimal gear. some disagree - but i say good beans trump everything.

I have to agree. i have had better coffee at home with $40 worth of gear and good beans, than at some coffee shops with thousands of dollars worth of gear, mediocre beans and a barista that does not care

[Tim Porter]

I posted earlier in the thread about our Olympia Cremina. In yet another step down yet another rabbit hole, I added the matchy-matchy espresso grinder. I had been finding it tough to get pre-ground espresso to work consistently but this thing is amazing. After a few tries, I had it working pretty much just right. Makes it extremely easy to crank out a couple of cappuccinos.

[IMG][/IMG]

[jpritchet74]

Tim - that's a great looking setup that you have there!

[jpritchet74]

Does anyone else have a thing for tampers?

I have always loved my Chris King, but I use the Tune one more often.