hypnophant posted:

Niche is a uk company; how are there brexit-related taxes?

As bandire points out, it’s a pressurized basket machine so any old grinder (or even pre-ground) will work. Refurb baratza encore is close to your price range and will work great for both drip and pressurized-basket espresso, so if you can save up for a bit that’s the one to go for.

bizwank posted:

This should fit it https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Coffee-Pressurized-Breville-GUSTINO/dp/B07JM8F4YS/

Lord Stimperor posted:

Anyone else feel that they don't like drinking coffee from a thermos flask? I don't know whether this is just sensory memory associations fooling me or if a thermos can genuinely make the taste experience worse, albeit indirectly.

leekster posted:

So I can't order a Niche where I live. I've asked distributors here and Zero themselves but no joy. What's the next best grinder to get then? I'm looking for something comparable.

Stupid Decisions posted:

Any reason ground coffee has started to stick to my grinder (1zpresso jx), aeropress and funnel?

I got some coffee from a different roaster and it is a bit darker than I would normally pick. The beans look very slightly oiliy?

I don't think it is moisture as tapping everything gets it to move. And I can brush off with a tissue or cleaning brush.
Just haven't had it before.

Nephzinho posted:

Jump on it. You don't need to upgrade from your Encore, you just need to replace the burr in it with the Virtuosa one for $30 and an hour of your time.

amenenema posted:

FWIW 18g takes about 60 "turns" so maybe some of it is just how fast ya wanna crank.

Wait

hypnophant posted:

get a puck rake/wdt tool instead

what are you dosing and what are you getting out?

also stop using that distributor. you should also get a puck rake/wdt tool

Kevin DuBrow posted:

e: sorry thought I was posting in TCC

Mr. Mambold posted:

Is there a link for that ~someone~ or was this just a friend? I gave my son a Virtuoso, but you know the caveat re: a finer dial-in system.

edit- having used a Preciso for a few years, I think a scale of 80 would do fine.

Lord Stimperor posted:

The pre-dosed idea rocks. My girlfriend made me an advent calendar. For each day, there is a drug baggy with a pre-dosed 15g of beans, a whole bunch of different ones. Dosing is imo the most annoying part of coffee making, so that rules.


She also found decaf beans that taste really, really nice.

eke out posted:

mandatory hoffmann link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8eYs2vxT-8

i have the oxo 9 cup one and it's quite solid but a little above that range at ~$200, as are i think most in this category. it's definitely a lot better than cheapo mr. coffee type things though, gets hotter, maintains temperature better during brewing, will do a nice bloom, has good water dispersion, etc.

bolind posted:

Ah, yes, EU. Major producer and exporter of coffee beans.

I also once bought some Lavazza in desperation, and I could never ever make them brew properly. Probably a year old. gently caress that.

nwin posted:

Eh it’s annoying, but not to that point. I was just testing the waters to see if there’s anything better out there with the bonus of being quiet for around the same price point.

What I don’t like is that I’ve broken three of the burr collars in the past 2 years. They’re a sacrificial part and only cost $4, but there’s no way to tell it’s broken unless I take note of the grind quality or give it a cleaning…then I hope I have a spare collar lying around which I usually don’t. I just ordered two of them so at least I have a backup. I’m thinking it’s being caused by grinding 200g once a week for my wife’s cold brew.

The Ode looks pretty good…could run into the same issues though perhaps. I just don’t see grinding 200g a go in the wheelhouse of home grinders…maybe I’m wrong.

Entropic posted:

Is there a thread consensus on what non-espresso grinder to get these days? It looks like the OP hasn't been updated in a while.

I've started actually using my Aeropress at home and realized I really need to get a proper non-blade grinder.

I've been thinking of trying v60 or clever dripper as well, but I have no interest in trying to do espresso at home so I don't need a grinder that goes espresso-fine.

Most of what I see online seems to suggest that the Baratza Encore is a quite good entry level grinder for non-espresso immersion / percolation brew methods, and that it's basically not worth bothering with the sub-$150 burr grinders because they're so inconsistent you might as well be using a blade grinder, is that about right?

Is there another grinder in the $150-$250 range that comes highly recommended?

Hawkperson posted:

I told my family I was making fancy coffee and asked for beans knowing full well what I’d get lol. And oh my god after drinking some well roasted coffee the last few weeks I finally get why everyone says Starbucks beans are burnt. Holy poo poo

Wang Commander posted:

Got a link to the burr kit?

BrianBoitano posted:

In the meantime you can reduce your coffee dose off the 60s shot setting to get closer to balance 👍

Mrenda posted:

Brut posted:

Through some odd but uninteresting circumstances I have come to own an old Delonghi EC5 espresso machine, it has no controls besides an on/off switch, a steam spout thingy that I think has never been used, and some scaling visible on the neck of the water container, but otherwise seems to be in okay shape.

I tried using it a couple times with the "Lavazza" coffee that was with it and while I enjoyed the process, I have some complaints.

First, I suspect the coffee itself is quite bad, the solution to this is obviously to buy good coffee, easy enough, now I would need to grind that coffee, with this old machine in mind (if that matters) what's the cheapest I can get away with here? $30~ for one of those plastic hario things? something like this says it has a stainless steel burr rather than a ceramic one, but are the 6 huge steps a dealbreaker? The next step would be about $60 for a Timemore C2, right? Or is it pointless to get any of those for this purpose?

Second, the portafilter/basket holder is plastic and I hate it, can I just swap it out for a metal one? I can't quite tell if these things have common threading and I just need to make sure the size is right, I believe it's 51mm on this thing but I'm not 100% sure. Looking at something like this, there's a bunch on Amazon that seem similar all from bullshit-sounding brands, I dunno if there's a more reputable source/name in this or if this would even fit at all though.

Is there anything else I can do to get a good experience out of this machine? Alternatively if doing so is hopeless, I'd like to know that too.

Brut posted:

Yeah I was using pre ground stuff from a tin, I know I need a grinder (or to always custom order preground espresso/fine grind) but I was hoping to only spend $$ and not $$$.

Appreciate the cleaning advice, it's not actually as gross as you might think as the machine basically only saw use about 3-4 weeks out of any year since whenever it was purchased, but I'll still get to it. How does descaling work, do I just pour stuff in there and flip it upside down later or does it actually have to run through the machine somehow? I've seen reference to descaling/cleaning modes on some more fancy machines but obviously this has none of that.

I think I only have one basket, it's got markings for 2 about halfway and 4 near the top, presumably that's the big one? I've just been following the matching markings on that and on the water container, should I just be going with weighing both the coffee and the water, and ignoring what the machine says?

I haven't really thought about buying a better machine for the same reason that I didn't think of buying one at all before this fell in my lap, I've been mostly "grinding" coffee with a Magic Bullet and making it with absolutely no measuring in an cheap old Cuisinart drip coffee thing, so my standards are pretty low.

That being said, I know how these things go, so quote this post at me in 6 months when I'm talking about whatever dumb poo poo I spent money on.

E: Also, on the subject of dose, I see 1:2 mentioned a lot, does that mean I'm literally only pouring in 28 grams of water in to the machine if I'm putting 14 grams of coffee in the basket? That seems like a tiny amount of liquid and way below the indicator lines on the carafe, but I guess the machine won't explode?

Brut posted:

So I'm turning the machine on, starting a timer when the coffee starts coming out, and then just hitting the power button after 30 seconds? I do have a small scale I could fit under there so I could weigh the shot as it's coming out, unless sitting on the little drain grate would mess it up.

Ordered that Dezcal stuff, seems cheap enough especially with the 45% Subscribe & Save discount, and my kettle could use descaling too, hopefully one bottle is enough for now.

Appreciate all this advice, I will continue to accept all of it, though my wallet may not.

Lord Stimperor posted:

Is James Hoffmann on a well deserved vacation and will come back with more content or have we reached the end of the third wave?

Megabound posted:

I generally prefer a medium roast as I primarily drink espresso and can't really push ratios above 1:2, which is often desirable for a light roast.