Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Gunder
May 22, 2003

SSP multipurpose. Ordered it direct from Option O.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

theHUNGERian
Feb 23, 2006

hypnophant posted:

Seconding this, especially the part about spending more on the grinder. If I had to start over with that budget, I would just buy the niche (around $650 shipped to the states, at current exchange rates) and stalk ebay for a deal on a used gaggia or silvia, which seem to go for under $300 pretty regularly. That leaves ~$50 for a tamper, knockbox, and a few other accessories.

Side note: I have a feeling someone is going to get a great deal on this little guy. I haven't used one but the CC1 has a solid, but low-key, reputation, with some nicer features than the gaggia/silvia at a similar price point. The description says they're having problems with steam after 3 years which 9 times out of 10 means they haven't been descaling it enough (or at all) and there's buildup in the boiler or wand, a very easy problem to fix.

Thanks for the input.

How much attention should I pay to pressure. Hoffman and others are hellbent on 9 bars (although others argue that it should have a non-constant profile), but a lot of machines either don't have a gauge or a gauge with no way of making adjustments to the pressure if it were to be off (unless of course I void the warranty). Or should I be adjusting the pressure by adjusting the grind size and tamping?

hypnophant
Oct 19, 2012

theHUNGERian posted:

Thanks for the input.

How much attention should I pay to pressure. Hoffman and others are hellbent on 9 bars (although others argue that it should have a non-constant profile), but a lot of machines either don't have a gauge or a gauge with no way of making adjustments to the pressure if it were to be off (unless of course I void the warranty). Or should I be adjusting the pressure by adjusting the grind size and tamping?

Okay couple points:

You can't reaaaally adjust the puck pressure by changing grind size. Grind size changes the resistance which impacts pressure but without control over flow, it's not feasible to balance all the variables which affect extraction this way. You just have to adjust your grind so the flow rate is in the range that gets you the best extraction and let pressure do what it does. Tamp is binary; you either tamp "enough" or "not enough" and there's no relation to any of the other variables. If the coffee puck is fully compressed at atmospheric pressure, you tamped enough; if it isn't, you didn't and you'll probably find out about it because you'll get channelling.

You should be able to tweak the overpressure valve (OPV) without voiding the warranty. I don't know how it works on a breville or something but on an italian machine you just unscrew whatever panels you need to get to what you have to get at. That doesn't help you much unless you want to rent a Scace device but I would not worry at all about the warranty.

On numbers: I get best results, on the Decent, setting flow rate to 2 ml/s and adjusting grind size so that pressure peaks at 6-8 bar. I set a pressure limit at 8.5 because I feel I get more sweetness staying below that, but try to keep the grind such that it doesn't hit that limit. The Decent will hit 10 or 12 bar if no pressure limit is set, which adds a really noticeable unpleasant flavor to the coffee. Unfortunately a lot of machines seem to come set from the factory to 10 bar at the pump and will end up hitting 9.5 or so at the puck, which is higher than I would prefer. You do get better crema at higher pressures but at home you should prioritize better taste over a prettier shot. Double unfortunately you can't do much about the puck pressure unless as noted above you rent or somehow borrow a Scace and muck around with the OPV.

All that said, if you are learning to make espresso then the best answer to "How much attention should I pay to pressure" is none. As long as you have a real espresso machine with a pump (or a manual lever), ignore pressure entirely and just learn to make good tasting espresso with the tools you have access to, and think about optimizing later. None of the things I talked about in this post matter anywhere near as much as getting a high quality burr grinder with stepless (or fine-enough stepped) adjustment. IMO if you don't have at least a niche or eureka or comparable you shouldn't think about them much if at all.

sellouts
Apr 23, 2003

hypnophant posted:

Okay couple points:.

This post rules, thank you so much for making it.

Do you have a profile on the diaspora for what you use?

VelociBacon
Dec 8, 2009

Do not buy a thing that isn't 58mm basket/portafilter sizing, it's shooting yourself in the foot before you even get started. I think the appliances like Breville and delonghi are 54mm or less.

Oneiros
Jan 12, 2007



i'd say it's fine if you just want a machine that can put out decent espresso and you have no deeper desire to go down the rabbit hole of precision baskets and bottomless portafilters and custom turned tamps and

but if you think you're gonna maybe wanna play around with the equipment at all, yeah, get a machine that takes a standard 58mm portafilter

hypnophant
Oct 19, 2012

sellouts posted:

This post rules, thank you so much for making it.

Do you have a profile on the diaspora for what you use?

I don’t. To be honest after trying out pressure profiles, lever profiles, allongé, blooming espresso, etc I always end up coming back to the extremely basic flow profile with preinfusion, which I think is even the one recommended in the startup guide. I tweak the times, temps, and add pressure limits, and I usually stretch the ratio to 2.5 or sometimes 3:1 but that’s the one that’s been most consistent for the coffees I drink. (Turbos came closest to getting me to switch, but it was just a little too much dialing in with every new bag of coffee, whereas the basic recipe usually just worked with minor adjustments.) This is with 95% single origin light roasts, and using unimodal ssp burrs in the lagom p64.

With that setup I find I can get a lot of astringency if I grind too fine or dose a bit too high, which I think tells me I’m playing around at the upper limit of extraction; the next step would probably be to get a refractometer but I’m happy with what I’ve got, at the moment.

VelociBacon posted:

Do not buy a thing that isn't 58mm basket/portafilter sizing, it's shooting yourself in the foot before you even get started. I think the appliances like Breville and delonghi are 54mm or less.

I don’t quite agree with this. There’s nothing special about a 58mm basket and the only accessories that carry over are baskets and tampers, which are cheap enough to replace. The europiccola for instance is a 49?mm basket and that’s a lovely, classic home lever machine. There are also some 58mm portafilters out there (cough breville) which aren’t compatible with vst/ims baskets which to me is one of the main reasons to want to have a 58mm basket.

Oneiros
Jan 12, 2007



i think the only brevilles that take a (non-standard) 58mm portafilter are their higher end dual-boiler/automatics

and if you're shelling out enough money for those you're either probably not looking at breville at all or actually do want their special sauce

theHUNGERian
Feb 23, 2006

hypnophant posted:

Okay couple points:

Thanks.

remember
Nov 23, 2006
I’m looking to buy a grinder for only espresso. I’m thinking a budget around $600 but I’m flexible and fine with not spending my full budget if there isn’t a huge benefit. I’ve been looking at the Eureka Manuale, zero, specialita, Baratza Vario+, Sette 270 and Malhkonig x54 but leaning towards the X54. How stupid would it be for me to get a used Mazzer Super Jolly if I buy a used one for $300-350 or so? I’d probably eventually replace the burrs so might aim for one that needs a burr replacement for cheaper. I’m not so much concerned about zero retention but I don’t want so much retention that I’ll have issues every morning. I have a Gaggia Classic Pro it’d be paired with. I’m currently used a Breville Smart Grinder Pro that I’m fine with using in the meantime so I’m in no rush. I pull 2-3 shots for myself everyday and a couple more on a weekend day sometimes.

Pilfered Pallbearers
Aug 2, 2007

VelociBacon posted:

Do not buy a thing that isn't 58mm basket/portafilter sizing, it's shooting yourself in the foot before you even get started. I think the appliances like Breville and delonghi are 54mm or less.

This isn’t quite right as pointed out below.

Most of the Breville machines use 54mm, and you can get IMS and the other brand (blanking on) precision baskets without issue. I have an IMS 16-20g one and it even fits in the stock portafilter.

There are less options, and they won’t translate, but frankly you’re talking less than $100 of accessories that won’t transfer if you bump to a e61 group machine. If you’re gonna drop that much on an upgrade you’re gonna want new everything anyway.

Pilfered Pallbearers
Aug 2, 2007

remember posted:

I’m looking to buy a grinder for only espresso. I’m thinking a budget around $600 but I’m flexible and fine with not spending my full budget if there isn’t a huge benefit. I’ve been looking at the Eureka Manuale, zero, specialita, Baratza Vario+, Sette 270 and Malhkonig x54 but leaning towards the X54. How stupid would it be for me to get a used Mazzer Super Jolly if I buy a used one for $300-350 or so? I’d probably eventually replace the burrs so might aim for one that needs a burr replacement for cheaper. I’m not so much concerned about zero retention but I don’t want so much retention that I’ll have issues every morning. I have a Gaggia Classic Pro it’d be paired with. I’m currently used a Breville Smart Grinder Pro that I’m fine with using in the meantime so I’m in no rush. I pull 2-3 shots for myself everyday and a couple more on a weekend day sometimes.

I can’t speak about the Mazzer, but with that budget I’d be getting a niche or a df64. Maybe a df83 if you’re willing to bump the budget up a bit.


I have an Eureka Manuale, and while I love it I would trade it in a heartbeat for one of the above grinders.

Sir Sidney Poitier
Aug 14, 2006

My favourite actor


Pilfered Pallbearers posted:

Most of the Breville machines use 54mm, and you can get IMS and the other brand (blanking on) precision baskets without issue. I have an IMS 16-20g one and it even fits in the stock portafilter.

This interests me. Is there a particular model number for what you have? I want one. Ideally I'd prefer not to replace the portafilter.

Edit: Also, to what extent are these compatible with the Normcore 53.3mm tamper I just ordered?

Sir Sidney Poitier fucked around with this message at 08:52 on Feb 14, 2023

Pilfered Pallbearers
Aug 2, 2007

https://youtu.be/PXThYLEQcq8

Opus review just dropped.

For the IMS I’ll dig up the receipt

nwin
Feb 25, 2002

make's u think

Pilfered Pallbearers posted:

https://youtu.be/PXThYLEQcq8

Opus review just dropped.

For the IMS I’ll dig up the receipt

Looks like I’m keeping my Niche.

I wasn’t expecting the opus to be on par with the Niche, but hoping it would be good enough to where I could sell the niche and buy both the Ode and Opus to upgrade my filter coffee from my 10 year old virtuoso. Ah well!

Bandire
Jul 12, 2002

a rabid potato


Having to remove the hopper for micro adjustments sucks. All the rest of the quirks are forgivable for the price, but dialing in and keeping dialed on this would drive me nuts. Just going through a single bag, I usually have to make a tiny adjustment or two on my Niche as the coffee ages.

Also, did Lance pronounce "chassis" as "cass-iss" at 4:33? :psyduck:

Gunder
May 22, 2003

remember posted:

I’m looking to buy a grinder for only espresso. I’m thinking a budget around $600 but I’m flexible and fine with not spending my full budget if there isn’t a huge benefit. I’ve been looking at the Eureka Manuale, zero, specialita, Baratza Vario+, Sette 270 and Malhkonig x54 but leaning towards the X54. How stupid would it be for me to get a used Mazzer Super Jolly if I buy a used one for $300-350 or so? I’d probably eventually replace the burrs so might aim for one that needs a burr replacement for cheaper. I’m not so much concerned about zero retention but I don’t want so much retention that I’ll have issues every morning. I have a Gaggia Classic Pro it’d be paired with. I’m currently used a Breville Smart Grinder Pro that I’m fine with using in the meantime so I’m in no rush. I pull 2-3 shots for myself everyday and a couple more on a weekend day sometimes.

Have a look at the Lagom Mini with the moonshine burrs, especially if you're looking to make light roast espresso. Obsydian burrs if darker roasts are more your thing. I'd buy that every time over a Niche.

George H.W. Cunt
Oct 6, 2010





Yea that review makes me want to see how the Baratza ESP is going to turn out.

Corb3t
Jun 7, 2003

Yeah, I think I'll wait for ESP reviews before I pull the trigger on the Opus. The two-ring system is pretty annoying, but I don't really foresee myself needing to make much adjustments to the inner ring once I have it dialed in for Espresso - I'd just want to be making more minor adjustments to the outer ring based on specific bean, yes?

I'm just curious how many realistic adjustment steps there will be on the ESP for espresso. I'm not really looking for a grinder that needs to do both espresso and pour over, just espresso. I like my Encore (and ESP) well enough, but prefer the Opus's overall aesthetic and footprint. The ESP has has a better dosing cup.

Corb3t fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Feb 14, 2023

Pilfered Pallbearers
Aug 2, 2007

Sir Sidney Poitier posted:

This interests me. Is there a particular model number for what you have? I want one. Ideally I'd prefer not to replace the portafilter.

Edit: Also, to what extent are these compatible with the Normcore 53.3mm tamper I just ordered?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304503353459

This is exact what I bought and where I bought it from.

I use a tamper I got for $3 on clearance from Amazon, so I can’t speak to a normcore, but IMO a precision basket will go way further than a fancy tamper. The stock basket is pretty bad.

Also keep in mind the basket holes are MUCH bigger, so you’re going to need to grind finer and your grinder is gonna need to keep up.

Corb3t
Jun 7, 2003

Pilfered Pallbearers posted:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304503353459

This is exact what I bought and where I bought it from.

I use a tamper I got for $3 on clearance from Amazon, so I can’t speak to a normcore, but IMO a precision basket will go way further than a fancy tamper. The stock basket is pretty bad.

Also keep in mind the basket holes are MUCH bigger, so you’re going to need to grind finer and your grinder is gonna need to keep up.

Same basket is half as much on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Precision-...ps%2C215&sr=8-5

George Wright
Nov 20, 2005

Corb3t posted:

Yeah, I think I'll wait for ESP reviews before I pull the trigger on the Opus. The two-ring system is pretty annoying, but I don't really foresee myself needing to make much adjustments to the inner ring once I have it dialed in for Espresso - I'd just want to be making more minor adjustments to the outer ring based on specific bean, yes?

I’ve found that each bag is different and that requires a different grind setting. Sometimes this is a big difference, sometimes it’s a small difference.

I’ve also found that an individual bag needs a slightly different grind setting between the first day I use it and the last. This is usually a fairly small adjustment. Within the lifespan of a single bag I probably make 2-3 small adjustments.

I don’t think there is a single setting you can call “dialed in for espresso,” and based on the review it looks like you would be needing to make adjustments more often on the inner ring than the outer ring.

MJP
Jun 17, 2007

Are you looking at me Senpai?

Grimey Drawer

theHUNGERian posted:

What is the thread's opinion for a machine + grinder for legit espresso at <$1k? I am not terribly intimidated by a manual machine (Flair 58), but one reviewer stated that a Breville Bambino is a better first espresso machine.

Gaggia Classic - got mine for $100 on FB Marketplace. Spend $20 to replace the stock milk frother want with one from a Rancilio Silva.

Unpressurized filter baskets - $10ish each for basic ones.

Tamper - 3D printed for cheap or buy for $30ish.

Vario + - $350 if you can find a used bargain, I think like $450-$480 new. It works great for espresso and can grind for normal coffee makers or other methods with ease.

hypnophant
Oct 19, 2012

I am issuing my strongest possible recommendation against buying your precision basket from amazon.

Corb3t
Jun 7, 2003

George Wright posted:

I’ve found that each bag is different and that requires a different grind setting. Sometimes this is a big difference, sometimes it’s a small difference.

I’ve also found that an individual bag needs a slightly different grind setting between the first day I use it and the last. This is usually a fairly small adjustment. Within the lifespan of a single bag I probably make 2-3 small adjustments.

I don’t think there is a single setting you can call “dialed in for espresso,” and based on the review it looks like you would be needing to make adjustments more often on the inner ring than the outer ring.

I see, after re-watching the review, I better understand how the inner ring's steps give you additional steps for fine-tuning. Being able to adjust the grind by 16 microns seems pretty nice, and I'll definitely be dose grinding my shots, so maybe taking the hopper off to make adjustments isn't the end of the world.

I'll still wait it out and see how the ESP fares.

Corb3t fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Feb 14, 2023

Pilfered Pallbearers
Aug 2, 2007

hypnophant posted:

I am issuing my strongest possible recommendation against buying your precision basket from amazon.

Yup, exactly why I didn’t buy it from there.

eBay shop seems legit, and ships from Europe, and is in line with proper IMS basket prices. $16 is not.


MJP posted:

Gaggia Classic - got mine for $100 on FB Marketplace. Spend $20 to replace the stock milk frother want with one from a Rancilio Silva.

Unpressurized filter baskets - $10ish each for basic ones.

Tamper - 3D printed for cheap or buy for $30ish.

Vario + - $350 if you can find a used bargain, I think like $450-$480 new. It works great for espresso and can grind for normal coffee makers or other methods with ease.

This person should probably not be buying a Vario at their budget point, and frankly the vario isn’t typically recommended as an espresso only grinder at those price points either.

Also no one should be 3D printing a tamper unless they need one for as little money as possible, which is almost never. Tolerances of 3D printing aren’t generally tight enough to get the flat surface you want your tamper to have, and most machines come with a stock tamper that’s going to be significantly better than a 3D print.

eke out
Feb 24, 2013



how's everyone else in the kaffelogic crew liking theirs?

my thoughts so far:
- new chaff collector is really nice, substantial, and well-designed. the least annoying chaff experience of any roaster i've owned
- default profiles kinda suck
- but it definitely has the capacity to do excellent roasts, gotten some really nice very light roasts using the 'raost v5' and 'nordic light' user profiles from their community. the latter has produced easily some of the lightest not-green-not-hosed-up coffee i've ever successfully roasted, and the former is an easy go-to for anything i want to take a little further
- my heating element died roast #17, but they responded quickly and immediately sent a replacement unit without any hassle, no complaints

will have to see how it holds up in the long term, but i feel like it's extremely versatile and agile and well-built with a high ceiling for what you can do with it. i've only just begun truly loving around with the profile creation side of things, it's hard to imagine any other roaster that can do this at this price point and it seems like it can easily compete with Ikawa Pros

eke out fucked around with this message at 01:26 on Feb 15, 2023

KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD
Jul 7, 2012

I'm currently a Nespresso Espresso Peon and I think it's time to upgrade to something that's a) more economical in the long run and b) makes better espresso.

Wirecutter recommends the Breville Bambino Plus or the Gaggia Classic Pro, but it's Wirecutter so I'm not sure how much I actually trust that.

I'm looking for something inexpensive and capable, like under $400 if possible. I'm a current Nespresso user so it's not like I'm a giant snob here. Although other threads have convinced me to become a giant snob about things that I didn't previously care about (hello, shaving thread.)

hypnophant
Oct 19, 2012

KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:

I'm currently a Nespresso Espresso Peon and I think it's time to upgrade to something that's a) more economical in the long run and b) makes better espresso.

Wirecutter recommends the Breville Bambino Plus or the Gaggia Classic Pro, but it's Wirecutter so I'm not sure how much I actually trust that.

I'm looking for something inexpensive and capable, like under $400 if possible. I'm a current Nespresso user so it's not like I'm a giant snob here. Although other threads have convinced me to become a giant snob about things that I didn't previously care about (hello, shaving thread.)

Bambino. Don’t get a gaggia unless you also intend to get an espresso grinder. Espresso grinders start at $300.

e: i should say more about grinders. freshly roasted whole bean coffee which has been ground immediately before brewing is the best way to experience coffee; store-ground coffee tastes almost, but not completely, unlike it. If I had only $400 to spend to buy all the coffee equipment I could ever use, I would spend $390 on a grinder and $10 on a plastic funnel to hold filters, and give up on ever drinking espresso again. The problem is that grinding coffee is pretty difficult and grinding coffee for espresso is really difficult. Coffee beans are quite brittle, so they like to shatter into non-uniform particles. You want the coffee particles to be uniform in size, which means you need to hold one rotating and one fixed burr in fairly close proximity, but not touching. For espresso you need the particles to be really uniform in size, and also finer than other methods, since espresso relies on the coffee bed’s resistance to flow to build up water pressure to create the extraction which gives espresso its unique texture and flavor. This makes espresso grinders more expensive, since they need beefier motors as well as much sturdier structures to grind coffee so finely and precisely.

The bambino, and some other espresso makers in its weight class, get around this by cheating; they use a different style of basket (the metal part which holds ground coffee) to create pressure instead of the coffee bed, obviating the need for finely and precisely ground coffee. This method produces an espresso-like beverage which lacks texture and flavor, but is fine in milk drinks. It’s still better with freshly ground coffee but you can use a cheaper grinder, and you can use store-ground if you have to, which will utterly fail to make espresso if you try it in a machine with a normal basket.

hypnophant fucked around with this message at 02:39 on Feb 15, 2023

gwrtheyrn
Oct 21, 2010

AYYYE DEEEEE DUBBALYOO DA-NYAAAAAH!

eke out posted:

- my heating element died roast #17, but they responded quickly and immediately sent a replacement unit without any hassle, no complaints

my heating element went out even earlier, and that's counting the setup "roast," and I'm pretty sure I've heard other people having this issue too. I wonder what's the deal with it...maybe the whole "turn it upside down and shake to get beans out reliably" might not be doing it any favors.

Hopefully they figure something out at some point because dying in under 20 roasts is pretty bad. Other than that, my least favorite part about it is the whole "pick up the entire roaster and invert/shake to empty" step.

eke out
Feb 24, 2013



gwrtheyrn posted:

my heating element went out even earlier, and that's counting the setup "roast," and I'm pretty sure I've heard other people having this issue too. I wonder what's the deal with it...maybe the whole "turn it upside down and shake to get beans out reliably" might not be doing it any favors.

Hopefully they figure something out at some point because dying in under 20 roasts is pretty bad. Other than that, my least favorite part about it is the whole "pick up the entire roaster and invert/shake to empty" step.

yikes! hope it's some problem with recent builds or something that they addressed, since I don't recall hearing about these problems with the pre-existing models they've sold for years. otherwise the price tag of honoring those warranties is going to add up pretty fast for them

gwrtheyrn
Oct 21, 2010

AYYYE DEEEEE DUBBALYOO DA-NYAAAAAH!
yeah I have no clue, I just hope it's not something that's just going to keep happening. Perfectly possible it could be an early run thing since I was in the first set of shipments

qutius
Apr 2, 2003
NO PARTIES

KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:

Wirecutter recommends the Breville Bambino Plus or the Gaggia Classic Pro, but it's Wirecutter so I'm not sure how much I actually trust that.

Wirecutter makes, in general, perfectly fine suggestions IMO. The Bambino Plus paired with a decent grinder is able to make espresso just fine, especially if you're just shooting for "better than Starbucks" milk drinks at home a couple times a day.

Pilfered Pallbearers posted:

This person should probably not be buying a Vario at their budget point, and frankly the vario isn’t typically recommended as an espresso only grinder at those price points either.

If someone can find a good deal on a Vario+, it will serve as a perfectly fine grinder, especially if they want to do more than just espresso. My Preciso lasted me for years, for both brewed coffee and then espresso with a Breville machine until I wanted to seriously upgrade and spend many times that.

Maybe I'm missing the context of your comment, but a good deal on a Baratza grinder is a home run in my book. Great customer service, easy to fix, and support that will be able to steer you in the right direction instead of just having to buy an entirely new unit when somethings up.

Pilfered Pallbearers
Aug 2, 2007

qutius posted:

Wirecutter makes, in general, perfectly fine suggestions IMO. The Bambino Plus paired with a decent grinder is able to make espresso just fine, especially if you're just shooting for "better than Starbucks" milk drinks at home a couple times a day.

If someone can find a good deal on a Vario+, it will serve as a perfectly fine grinder, especially if they want to do more than just espresso. My Preciso lasted me for years, for both brewed coffee and then espresso with a Breville machine until I wanted to seriously upgrade and spend many times that.

Maybe I'm missing the context of your comment, but a good deal on a Baratza grinder is a home run in my book. Great customer service, easy to fix, and support that will be able to steer you in the right direction instead of just having to buy an entirely new unit when somethings up.

I more mean someone looking to spend $1k on a setup, and someone buying a $450-500 grinder for espresso, should not buy a Vario+.

I don't have one, but the Vario seems great if you get a deal and that's the price range you're looking for.

bergeoisie
Aug 29, 2004
I recently got a Niche Zero and the little cup is super static-y. It's kind of a pain to knock it like 4 times to get the last remnants of ground beans out. Anything I can do to fix that?

BrianBoitano
Nov 15, 2006

this is fine



Have you tried RDT?

https://youtu.be/cxQ2mVL8wSc

If you don't have a sprayer, instead splash some water on a spoon, shake it off, and stir your beans with the small amount of water still clinging onto the spoon.

Bandire
Jul 12, 2002

a rabid potato

hypnophant posted:

Bambino. Don’t get a gaggia unless you also intend to get an espresso grinder. Espresso grinders start at $300.

e: i should say more about grinders. freshly roasted whole bean coffee which has been ground immediately before brewing is the best way to experience coffee; store-ground coffee tastes almost, but not completely, unlike it. If I had only $400 to spend to buy all the coffee equipment I could ever use, I would spend $390 on a grinder and $10 on a plastic funnel to hold filters, and give up on ever drinking espresso again. The problem is that grinding coffee is pretty difficult and grinding coffee for espresso is really difficult. Coffee beans are quite brittle, so they like to shatter into non-uniform particles. You want the coffee particles to be uniform in size, which means you need to hold one rotating and one fixed burr in fairly close proximity, but not touching. For espresso you need the particles to be really uniform in size, and also finer than other methods, since espresso relies on the coffee bed’s resistance to flow to build up water pressure to create the extraction which gives espresso its unique texture and flavor. This makes espresso grinders more expensive, since they need beefier motors as well as much sturdier structures to grind coffee so finely and precisely.

The bambino, and some other espresso makers in its weight class, get around this by cheating; they use a different style of basket (the metal part which holds ground coffee) to create pressure instead of the coffee bed, obviating the need for finely and precisely ground coffee. This method produces an espresso-like beverage which lacks texture and flavor, but is fine in milk drinks. It’s still better with freshly ground coffee but you can use a cheaper grinder, and you can use store-ground if you have to, which will utterly fail to make espresso if you try it in a machine with a normal basket.

The Gaggia also comes with unpressurized baskets out of the box, so that's not really a difference. The Bambino is probably easier to hit its full potential since it is more temp stable due to having a PID, and I it is probably better at steaming milk. The Gaggia has a higher espresso quality ceiling, especially if you are willing to mod and tinker. Its also probably more durable and serviceable.

Either way, you probably will want a grinder. The price floor for "real espresso" is probably closer to $1k after buying the machine, grinder, and all the accessories you are going to want with it. (Scale, tamper, WDT tool, bottomless portafilter, portafilter baskets, etc). Its a money pit for sure.


BrianBoitano posted:

Have you tried RDT?

https://youtu.be/cxQ2mVL8wSc

If you don't have a sprayer, instead splash some water on a spoon, shake it off, and stir your beans with the small amount of water still clinging onto the spoon.

The manual actually says not to do RDT with the Niche. I believe the burrs are not coated, so it could potentially cause the burrs to rust.

.Z.
Jan 12, 2008

bergeoisie posted:

I recently got a Niche Zero and the little cup is super static-y. It's kind of a pain to knock it like 4 times to get the last remnants of ground beans out. Anything I can do to fix that?

Did you get a brand new one or a used one? If it's a used one you might have the old grind cup design. The new cup cut down a lot on the static issue.
https://nichespares.com/products/niche-grind-cup

If you've got the new cup, give the grounds a stir with a wood skewer.

Sir Sidney Poitier
Aug 14, 2006

My favourite actor


bergeoisie posted:

I recently got a Niche Zero and the little cup is super static-y. It's kind of a pain to knock it like 4 times to get the last remnants of ground beans out. Anything I can do to fix that?

I just got one too and have exactly this problem.

BrianBoitano posted:

If you don't have a sprayer, instead splash some water on a spoon, shake it off, and stir your beans with the small amount of water still clinging onto the spoon.

This is what I do and it completely eliminated the static today.

Bandire posted:

The manual actually says not to do RDT with the Niche. I believe the burrs are not coated, so it could potentially cause the burrs to rust.

There's also plenty of folks saying they've been doing it ages and it's been fine. The amount of water that's ended up on my beans would not go anywhere near causing such a problem - this is a tiny spoon, with maybe 1-2 droplets of water on it, stirred through 16g beans so gently caress all would end up in there after it'd been run for a few seconds after the grinding is done. For how much comes out of even a small spray bottle I can see why it might be iffy.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

bergeoisie
Aug 29, 2004
It’s a brand new niche, so I’d assume it has the new cup variant.

I’ll try wood skewer first, then wet spoon, followed by full spritz if that doesn’t work. Thanks!

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply