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I loving love the Mara X look. I'm still doing research, hopefully will have the funds in May/June, but right now the front runners are profitech, the Mara X, and ECM. I also have a connection that is selling a Izzo Alex Duetto ii... I don't know about buying a 10 year old machine though. Does anyone have experience with the Alex?
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Nov 12, 2023 15:19
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hypnophant posted:I skimmed the review and it seems like he's talking about the temperature creeping up after the machine has been on for longer than a couple hours. I don't doubt that's the case, but you will certainly not want to leave your Mara on for a couple hours - the grouphead gets hot enough to burn your skin if you touch it, and it radiates as much heat as an oven. The warmup cycle is pretty quick for a traditional machine, at least. I can't remember if you've posted your opinion on your Decent here, but I'd love to hear it. A Decent seems like the only compromise-free upgrade to me. I'm not opposed to spending the money for potential final setup, but things are shaky at work right now (mortgage industry is struggling because of interest rates.) Probably should just keep saving money and then just buy a Decent when things turn around.
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Nov 12, 2023 22:40
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I enjoy my decent but it’s a definite learning curve with a million variables. Do you have specific questions?
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Nov 13, 2023 06:19
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I would have gotten a Decent above anything else if they weren’t so expensive to buy in the UK. My Lelit Bianca cost less than half the price.
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Nov 13, 2023 13:37
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sellouts posted:I enjoy my decent but it’s a definite learning curve with a million variables. I dunno, stuff like what made you choose the Decent, what annoyances might it have that a reviewer won't cover, would you do it again? I really like the idea of flow control and other advanced features on something that is not E61, being able to just download programmed profiles, and the overall gadgetyness of it appeals to me.
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Nov 13, 2023 14:41
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:I got my Flair set up and pulled three shots this morning. I think the portafilter is pressurized. It looks like the 2 in 1 filter that came on later models, but it's one piece. Hard to tell if it's truly pressurized though, the spout seems big. The puck screen has a rubber gasket on it, which gets stuck down in the portafilter easily. I found a Flair for 100 bucks with the pressure gage and some additional accessories. Looks like we're about to be flair buddies. 
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Nov 13, 2023 15:06
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Bandire posted:I can't remember if you've posted your opinion on your Decent here, but I'd love to hear it. A Decent seems like the only compromise-free upgrade to me. The Good: it performs as advertised. You can program in any combination of pressure, flow, and temperature profile you can dream up, and download pre-programmed lever profiles, configure your pre-infusion, bloom, allonge... it really does work and lets you experiment with any kind of style you can imagine. On top of that it's extremely quick to preheat, the noise is distinctive but not obnoxiously loud to my ear, the drip tray and tank are easy to deal with, and it's compact enough to sit comfortably on a kitchen counter. The UI can be very simple - more on software later - but the grouphead touch controller works fine and is simple enough. I'd love real buttons but the touch controller is ok. The Bad: we gotta talk about the tablet. I've had my Decent for around 3 years and I finally admitted the tablet is Bad when I got hit with the battery swelling. It was out of warranty so I used decent's battery-free tablet modification and the tablet works again, but only on a separate charger - it shuts down if I try to power it off Decent's usb port. Firmware to fix this is "coming next year." This is workable as a hacky solution for a prototype but most people are rightly not going to put up with this level of jank in a four thousand dollar consumer product. Or I could run Decent headless - except the stop-by-weight function needs a bluetooth scale which connects to the tablet, not the Decent itself, so I'd have to stop manually or by volume. The software has also lost a lot of its charm over time. The default skin still has an early-android vibe, which is functional but not beautiful, and it doesn't do a great job presenting the most relevant information, or guiding you through its overwhelming configurability. You can really tell it was designed by a programmer. Then there's support. Decent's email support team is pretty responsive, and from what I've heard warranty support is good, with the caveat that if you need actual repairs you'll have to ship the machine back to Hong Kong. However, the support forum is basecamp, which is also how all the documentation is delivered, and basecamp is really awful at this purpose. It's basically a much worse version of the forums, with no megathreads to organize topics or gather commonly requested information, so you have threads about equipment discussion, puck prep, new profiles, buy/sell, technical questions, and customer service requests all mixed together in General. It's a good community with a lot of knowledge but I never go there because it's impossible to find what you're looking for most of the time. There's also a discord and a proper forum now but John Decent insists on only posting in basecamp so the other options feel very neglected. The Mixed, or if you like, the Ugly. This is way too much machine for all but the most hardcore coffee snobs. There's no obvious "default profile" and you really need a whole bunch of knowledge, which the decent does not itself give you, to know how which profile to choose, let alone set up your own. There's a recommendation in the "getting started" guide but it's a straight pressure profile which doesn't leverage what the decent can do, and there's no guidance about when or why you might want to switch, and the only way to start figuring it out is to dive deep, deep, deep into the poorly organized fora and social media communities. Despite these frustrations, I don't have any regrets about buying the decent. It's a unique machine with capabilities that aren't available anywhere else at any price. It also pretty much nails its stated goal - it makes a very good cup of coffee, with an easy workflow, minimal warm-up time, and a form factor that will fit comfortably into most kitchens. It falls apart when it comes to ease of use and the out-of-box experience. Once you have it set up with a profile you like, and once you know how to dial it in*, it's a really great everyday espresso machine, but it's a machine I just can't recommend to people who aren't already a little obsessed with espresso, and with the technical knowhow to dive into forums in search of esoteric knowledge, and patience to put up with its quirks. There's incredible potential for a simplified decent with some cost engineering, a real ux team, and a more straightforward onramp with a well-tweaked default profile - that machine would be very very easy to recommend, especially if they could scale up and get the price down around the price of a nice e61 heat exchanger or cheap dual boiler. But that doesn't seem to be the direction Buckman wants to go in, and it's certainly not the machine you can buy today. *my suggestion for getting started: ignore the "gentle and sweet" profile entirely. use "flow profile for straight espresso," temperature to 94, ratio around 2:1 or 2.5:1, and adjust your grind so pressure peaks above 6 but below 8 bar. this will produce a tasty light roast shot and you can tweak from there if you think you can do better.
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Nov 13, 2023 16:36
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Bandire posted:I dunno, stuff like what made you choose the Decent, what annoyances might it have that a reviewer won't cover, would you do it again? I really like the idea of flow control and other advanced features on something that is not E61, being able to just download programmed profiles, and the overall gadgetyness of it appeals to me. I chose the decent because it had infinite control options and I thought I’d like that. Also, it was a gift from a client so if I didn’t like it I figured I could just resell it. Community is largely helpful but with so many variables it is difficult to figure out problems. I also really like the tie in to the visualizer.coffee app which makes going to the community with questions a little easier. In reality, I just stick to one profile 90% of the time. I wanted to add one and I forgot just how annoying that is. Other annoyances is that sometimes after a while the tablet loses Bluetooth connection to the machine and you have to restart everything. And it runs out of water pretty quickly so I’d definitely plumb it in if possible. Overall, I really like it. I’m at the far reaches of end game grinders and machines and I don’t look at a gs3 or leva or strada 1x and think that it would be the next machine to get.
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Nov 13, 2023 16:38
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hypnophant posted:Stuff This is really good, and exactly the sort of stuff I'd want to know about something where I once thought "if I had the money...". Especially the stuff regarding the tablet, which is where I'd have assumed it'd fall down.
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Nov 13, 2023 16:45
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hypnophant posted:*lots of words* Thank you for taking the time to type all that out. Its really helpful. This is such a niche (pun intended) space that it is really hard to get unbiased reviews that even touch on negatives. I generally think Lance does a good job, but right away in that MaraX review he just glosses over the fact that the brew temp was several degrees low for no apparent reason. sellouts posted:I chose the decent because it had infinite control options and I thought I’d like that. Also, it was a gift from a client so if I didn’t like it I figured I could just resell it. Community is largely helpful but with so many variables it is difficult to figure out problems. I also really like the tie in to the visualizer.coffee app which makes going to the community with questions a little easier. Thank you as well. And Go Stars!
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Nov 13, 2023 17:28
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Cannon_Fodder posted:I found a Flair for 100 bucks with the pressure gage and some additional accessories. Looks like we're about to be flair buddies. Nice! A couple more observations after a weekend of pulling shots: It's very sensitive to grind size and tamping. I don't have a WDT tool, which would likely help with a better tamp, but I mostly haven't been getting channeling at least. There's a range of about 4 clicks in the espresso zone on my Timemore hand grinder, the finer of which takes FOREVER to grind 15 g, and the coarser end is too coarse and the shot is fast and sour with no crema. My Capresso grinder at the finest setting with the grounds tamped until they're just starting to give firm resistance is the best so far, but just a little tamping past that and I'm having to really lean on the lever. I'm yo-yoing between just a little sour and just a little bitter most of the time, but it's fun. Just keep a pitcher of steamed/foamed milk on hand while you're doing it to resurrect any bad shots as a cortado.
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Nov 13, 2023 18:08
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For new Flair folks I'll share that my best results come from much more extraction time/volume. My best results with light roast central american stuff are at 18g in 50g out over about 50 seconds (not including ~5s of pre-infusion) at a pressure of ~7-8 bar on the Pro 2 gauge. I wonder if this need for longer extraction may be due to not being able to get the brew chamber hot enough. I pre-heat the brew head until the temp strip on the side (a great accessory from Flair's website!) says 100C but after pouring 100C water into it the strip says more like 85-90C. I'd imagine a 58 with the electric head might remedy this issue, but I can get GREAT shots at that lower temp, just have to extract more/longer. I also haven't experimented with lowering the dose. Oh and for pre-heat I found a great solution. You know those cocktail strainers like this - https://www.amazon.com/Winco-Stainl...kAaAsOmEALw_wcB ? Well it turns out they fit perfectly into a Bonavita electric kettle and you can plop the brew chamber right on top and let it heat via steam (which theoretically should get it even hotter than immersion in boiling water). Way easier than fishing chambers out of the kettle with a pair of tongs too!
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Nov 13, 2023 18:18
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amenenema posted:For new Flair folks I'll share that my best results come from much more extraction time/volume. My best results with light roast central american stuff are at 18g in 50g out over about 50 seconds (not including ~5s of pre-infusion) at a pressure of ~7-8 bar on the Pro 2 gauge. if you have a moka pot, the brew chamber also sits nicely on top of the base for easy steaming.
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Nov 13, 2023 19:06
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Nice tip on the Moka pot, I'll try that. My kettle has too big a mouth for even my biggest funnel to fit in, so I'm thinking about rigging up a little cradle from bent wire to hold the brew chamber kind of down in the kettle.
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Nov 13, 2023 19:37
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hypnophant posted:The Bad: we gotta talk about the tablet. I've had my Decent for around 3 years and I finally admitted the tablet is Bad when I got hit with the battery swelling. It was out of warranty so I used decent's battery-free tablet modification and the tablet works again, but only on a separate charger - it shuts down if I try to power it off Decent's usb port. Firmware to fix this is "coming next year." This is workable as a hacky solution for a prototype but most people are rightly not going to put up with this level of jank in a four thousand dollar consumer product. I’d be extremely surprised if that built in USB port has enough power to deliver the correct consistent voltage to power a battery-less tablet. Tablet design in general is largely built with the idea that they’ll receive a minimum voltage at all times because the battery will make up for plugged in misses. And most USB ports that are built into hardware do not supply consistent power at that level, as it is typically higher or extremely close than the maximum 5w most built-in ports support. I guess they could try and use firmware to push the port passed spec, or to try and lower the minimum voltage to keep the tablet powered, but that’s risky and I don’t know if it would even work. You run the risk of the tablet hard shutting down and bricking or corrupting the software/firmware. I don’t see why they would lock the power rating that low on the built-in port unless there was a reason to do so.
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Nov 13, 2023 20:26
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I said I usually use the same profile - well just changed to a blooming espresso for light roasts and just pulled an insane shot of Dak Candy Crush. Tastes like a jelly donut as an americano. And this is where the visualizer.coffee helped me, I found someone with a similar grinder, similar coffee from same producer, ground far finer than I thought and pulled a drat good shot without wasting half a bag getting there.
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Nov 13, 2023 20:37
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:I’d be extremely surprised if that built in USB port has enough power to deliver the correct consistent voltage to power a battery-less tablet. Our world would be better if there were stores, preferably non profit or government run, where all they do is replace modern rechargeable batteries. So much e-waste is due to lipo failure due to cycles or long term storage. Now that I have kids I have a backlog of things to DIY fix and a professional fix would be much better than trashing them. Right now I have an old phone used as a baby monitor, a car jump starter, a toothbrush, and a kids toy that otherwise work fine.
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Nov 13, 2023 21:59
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BrianBoitano posted:Our world would be better if there were stores, preferably non profit or government run, where all they do is replace modern rechargeable batteries. Yes, and no. The issue comes down to one of safety. Li-Po batteries are actually extremely dangerous when they are manufactured or installed incorrectly. They can be extremely dangerous even when they aren’t. We’re talking un-extinguish flames here. Trusting a third party market to manufacture safely and correctly install these batteries carries so much risk. This is especially true as like 80% of the 3rd party small electronics parts that exist on the market are cheaply manufactured Chinese clones that skirt the majority of regulation around them. Just take a look at Big Clive on YouTube to see some best ofs. Some of that poo poo is even sold at giant retail.
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Nov 13, 2023 22:43
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I'm wondering if anyone can help me identify what something is. I was having issues with my Profitec Pro 400 whereby the steam wand was tempremental about the angle it was at. At some angles I could open the valve and nothing would come out at all, but if I left the valve open and moved the wand around, the steam would flow as normal in some places, restricted in others, and not at all in some. I figured something may be blocking it like some scale or something so I took off the nut downstream of the valve so I could look at the joint. The joint looked fine, it was totally clean with no scale, but there was this little piece of black plastic or hard rubber in there - I included a ring for scale since it what I had to hand:  On the side that's facing up it is rounded, flat on the other side. It is just big enough to block the hole where steam flows into the wand's ball joint but there was nothing inside the assembly that would suggest it was meant to be there. It's too small to interact with the spring that holds the ball against the nut to form a seal. Is this just some bit of detritus that was loose elsewhere in the system and made its way down there? Or does it have a function I haven't figured out? I put it all back together without this thing and it seems to be working perfectly, full steam at all angles, no leaks.
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Nov 15, 2023 09:34
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Did the steam wand work okay before you had to ship it off to be serviced? It looks like a foot pad for something, and I have no idea what purpose that would have served inside the steam path.
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Nov 15, 2023 16:28
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I honestly don't know - I had it so little time with it before I had to do that initial return, less than a week. I think I could have gone that long without noticing. I also think that it's unlikely this got introduced during that return, all I think they did was tighten a single joint which I'd been unable to do with a regular spanner due to access. This thing is far smaller than any adhesive foot pad I've seen. Nevertheless, the fact that it doesn't stand out as a necessary component is what I was wanting to hear.
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Nov 15, 2023 16:48
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what's the right dose for an aeropress? i've seen conflicting takes online. mostly going for medium-light roasts, and i've got my grinder pretty much dialed in, but dosage seems to vary from 12g to 30
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Nov 15, 2023 23:10
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Hoffmann says 11g in 220g out for light roast: https://youtu.be/j6VlT_jUVPc?si=hPW2e80KZ5sBer7i There are two prior in the series where he goes into details which might help you customize. He also links to other creators guides if those fit your taste better.
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Nov 15, 2023 23:37
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SEX HAVER 40000 posted:what's the right dose for an aeropress? i've seen conflicting takes online. mostly going for medium-light roasts, and i've got my grinder pretty much dialed in, but dosage seems to vary from 12g to 30 I’ve tried a lot of aeropress recipes - the Aeromatic app is great for that, as are a bunch of different websites - but the ones I’ve ones I’ve liked best are Jonathan Gagné’s and the real sprometheus’s. Gagné - the guy behind the amazing site coffee ad astra, definitely worth a look - has an incredibly easy recipe that has nevertheless given me some of the best coffee’s I’ve ever made. The best part is, it’s incredibly easy, especially with a fellow prismo
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Nov 15, 2023 23:47
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I do 12g coffee ground pretty fine, 200g water, 4 minute steep, swirl for a bit at 2:00. Just started doing it inverted. Check out various world aeropress champion recipes, poo poo gets weird.
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Nov 16, 2023 00:30
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Sir Sidney Poitier posted:I'm wondering if anyone can help me identify what something is. I usually see this when someone's been cranking down on the knob harder than they need to, resulting in the gasket being cut into by the mating surface. If the wand isn't leaking then you're probably fine, but you may need that valve rebuilt sooner than than you would have otherwise.
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Nov 16, 2023 18:52
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bizwank posted:Most likely a piece of the valve seat gasket (you could measure it to confirm this): https://www.cafeparts.com/Gasket-Blind-%C3%98-9x6.5-mm-Silicone/Product_Manu/18369/ECM-Manufacturer/P6000.2. You can see it on page 12 here, part of the valve assembly labeled #18: https://support.wholelattelove.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/11562258755987 This is so helpful! I'd been wondering if such a document existed since the manual that comes with it is pretty light. A large part of why I got something like this was the desire to be able to fix it myself. It's smaller than described - 5mm diameter and 1.5mm across, also a domed shape - smooth on the flat side and smooth around most of the domed side. Looking at it I'm pretty confident it could not have been broken off a cylindrical part. I used the wand this morning for the first time and it was perfect - flow and sealing.
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Nov 16, 2023 20:24
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Yirga cheffe unroasted beans back in stock at sweet Maria’s right now. Haven’t seen it in stock for years
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Nov 16, 2023 21:02
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I finally finished my gaggiuino and I'm loving it. For anyone that hasn't looked at the project in a while, a group started selling the components as a kit including precrimped wires, PCB etc which makes things a lot easier and cheaper, wish that was around when I started! https://www.peakcoffee.cc/ Google Butt fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Nov 18, 2023 |
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Nov 18, 2023 01:36
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Google Butt posted:I finally finished my gaggiuino and I'm loving it. For anyone that hasn't looked at the project in a while, a group started selling the components as a kit including precrimped wires, PCB etc which makes things a lot easier and cheaper, wish that was around when I started! Looks like it doesn't come with the whole load cell stuff to turn the base into a scale, I suppose if it's just the same blackpill you can flash that version (or the other gagguino stuff) if you want it. Not bad! e: Ohh they sell it separately drat.
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Nov 18, 2023 04:00
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VelociBacon posted:Looks like it doesn't come with the whole load cell stuff to turn the base into a scale, I suppose if it's just the same blackpill you can flash that version (or the other gagguino stuff) if you want it. Not bad! Yep and the dual scales board comes with a presoldered connector and a low profile ribbon cable which is convenient. Almost considering double buying the scales kit for that, but now that I've dialed in my pump zero, predictive is impressively accurate. Google Butt fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Nov 18, 2023 |
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Nov 18, 2023 04:13
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Any easy recommendations for an espresso machine for casual coffee snobs? My partner has been thinking about getting one lately and it could be an easy xmas gift. Wirecutter says Breville Bambino Plus but I disagree with them in almost everything where I have knowledge of the subject so I don't really trust them much. For reference we use a Chemex every day and also have a few other brewing methods around the house (aeropress, french press, moka pot). Also not sure if this matters but she rarely uses dairy milk. She used to work at starbucks like a decade ago so not too concerned with needing something super automated. Also I love buying refurbished stuff so if there are any specific places to look let me know. Budget would be under 1k, prefer low as possible but always glad to hit that "bang for the buck" sweet spot.
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Nov 19, 2023 00:45
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My sister is cleaning out her kitchen clutter and gave me her Nespresso machine I’m gonna give it the good old college try, first things first, should I open it up and clean out the hoses?
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Nov 19, 2023 01:10
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Stan Taylor posted:Any easy recommendations for an espresso machine for casual coffee snobs? My partner has been thinking about getting one lately and it could be an easy xmas gift. Wirecutter says Breville Bambino Plus but I disagree with them in almost everything where I have knowledge of the subject so I don't really trust them much. For reference we use a Chemex every day and also have a few other brewing methods around the house (aeropress, french press, moka pot). Also not sure if this matters but she rarely uses dairy milk. She used to work at starbucks like a decade ago so not too concerned with needing something super automated. Reminder that you need a grinder basically just for espresso, you won't want to go back and forth between other coarseness settings and you'll have worse coffee both ways if you try (unless you're willing to waste a ton of coffee to remove the retained grounds of the wrong coarseness). I'm happy with my Gaggia Classic Pro and Eureka Mignon Chrono (with espresso burrs swapped in). Total cost there is probably like $800USD.
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Nov 19, 2023 01:24
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Stan Taylor posted:Any easy recommendations for an espresso machine for casual coffee snobs? My partner has been thinking about getting one lately and it could be an easy xmas gift. Wirecutter says Breville Bambino Plus but I disagree with them in almost everything where I have knowledge of the subject so I don't really trust them much. For reference we use a Chemex every day and also have a few other brewing methods around the house (aeropress, french press, moka pot). Also not sure if this matters but she rarely uses dairy milk. She used to work at starbucks like a decade ago so not too concerned with needing something super automated. What don’t you like about the Bambino Plus?
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Nov 19, 2023 01:34
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Bambino and Bambino Plus are great and you won’t find a better espresso machine for under $500. If you really want to live on the edge, install a dimmer switch with $5 in parts and you’ll have a pretty nice machine that you can manually control the flow on. No PID, which kinda sucks, but you won’t find those in many machines for under $800.
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Nov 19, 2023 02:45
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Stan Taylor posted:Any easy recommendations for an espresso machine for casual coffee snobs? My partner has been thinking about getting one lately and it could be an easy xmas gift. Wirecutter says Breville Bambino Plus but I disagree with them in almost everything where I have knowledge of the subject so I don't really trust them much. For reference we use a Chemex every day and also have a few other brewing methods around the house (aeropress, french press, moka pot). Also not sure if this matters but she rarely uses dairy milk. She used to work at starbucks like a decade ago so not too concerned with needing something super automated. Outside of a gagia classic, the bambino is generally considered your best bet at that price. You’re going to spend 2/3x more on the grinder. Be prepared for that.
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Nov 19, 2023 02:58
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Bambino plus is fine, especially given that you'll be spending the same or more on the grinder.
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Nov 19, 2023 04:04
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If the steam wand isn't a big deal for you then just get the Bambino. It's like $200 cheaper and makes the same espresso.
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Nov 19, 2023 04:08
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Stan Taylor posted:Any easy recommendations for an espresso machine for casual coffee snobs? My partner has been thinking about getting one lately and it could be an easy xmas gift. Wirecutter says Breville Bambino Plus but I disagree with them in almost everything where I have knowledge of the subject so I don't really trust them much. For reference we use a Chemex every day and also have a few other brewing methods around the house (aeropress, french press, moka pot). Also not sure if this matters but she rarely uses dairy milk. She used to work at starbucks like a decade ago so not too concerned with needing something super automated. a friend recently found a lightly used breville barista express on facebook marketplace for $100, that's by far the cheapest way to get into espresso if you can emulate it. ymmv. more dependable suggestions: as others have mentioned, you'll need a grinder. a new barista express, which has a built-in grinder, costs $700 and is an ok value at that price, even better if you can find one on sale for black friday, which isn't out of the question. i would describe the grinder as serviceable; it's fine for italian-style espresso or milk drinks, but won't perform as you might want if you like to drink light roasts. For that you'd want a niche zero or eureka mignon grinder for $500-700. Then the bambino doesn't get hot enough to extract light roasts well so you'd want a solid single-boiler machine like a gaggia classic or rancilio silvia, available used on ebay all the time for $400 ish. You'll need to either install an aftermarket pid or learn to temp surf to get the most out of a single boiler, but there is a lot of information available online. Alternatively you can skip the grinder, get a breville bambino or delonghi ec680 and use the pressurized basket and accept that you won't get great espresso, but you will get ok espresso without a lot of effort or cost, and you will get a steam wand so you can make cappuccino if you like. dairy milk v plant milk doesn't matter, the regular varieties of plant milk steam fine and the barista blends steam even better than dairy milk in some cases.
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Nov 19, 2023 04:56
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