On 14/07/2020 at 3:57 PM, blybo said:

I'm not so sure about that. I've sold my dual boiler now but most prosumer machines are pretty much the same inside, Breville just made them easier to get consistent coffee from and added features which are 3rd party upgrades on many other prosumer bling machines. When I upgraded to my Expobar I found it took months till I could get near the same consistency out of it that the Breville gave. I still get days when I have no idea why a shot pulls so differently to others after nearly 4 years with the Expobar.

I hoped I was being cautious about the Breville. I did have to troubleshoot one for an acquaintance once and was not excited by the coffees although they were quite good. I went from a prosumer to a commercial spring lever and the coffee improved by leaps and bounds. When I had it serviced the guys kept it for a week after the service, "testing" to find out how it made the best coffee they'd run across.

 

Unfortunately the true commercial machines are not cheap at all, but it paid for itself in two years of not buying coffees at a shop. Two cups a day can really add up fast!

A few changes to my coffee station in the last 2 months

 

- Installed some over-head shelves

- Added a new grinder

- Bought some vinyl and wrapped the machine (yes had a lot of time recently) ?

 

 

Damn that just looks like alot of work to make a brew 

 

I was just about to post how yummy the new Columbian bean I have been getting from the Vic Market tasted from my 'all in one'. DeLongi magnifica machine but now I'm just embarrased ??‍♂️

 

Regards Cazzesman

On 10/08/2020 at 4:29 PM, MAST88 said:

A few changes to my coffee station in the last 2 months

 

- Installed some over-head shelves

- Added a new grinder

- Bought some vinyl and wrapped the machine (yes had a lot of time recently) ?

 

 

Where did you get the shot mirror?

15 hours ago, sakabatou said:

Where did you get the shot mirror?

Amazon

10 minutes ago, MAST88 said:

Amazon

hehe... can you provide any more detail? maybe a closer photo or a link? I'm guessing that whatever you've used will be a lot better value than Lyn Weber

7 hours ago, sakabatou said:

hehe... can you provide any more detail? maybe a closer photo or a link? I'm guessing that whatever you've used will be a lot better value than Lyn Weber

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07HNBWJ3M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was $32, but currently unavailable. I like it better than the Lyn Weber as the Lyn Weber gets dripped/sprayed/splashed on, Lyn Weber is better build though.

 

1 hour ago, MAST88 said:

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07HNBWJ3M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was $32, but currently unavailable. I like it better than the Lyn Weber as the Lyn Weber gets dripped/sprayed/splashed on, Lyn Weber is better build though.

 

Thanks!

found it on Aliexpress....wish me luck!

I'm going to take a stab and suggest that saying I have found the Nespresso Ristretto Intenso pro capsule to be a great coffee will not go down very well here? 

 

 ?

20 hours ago, Super Mustud said:

I'm going to take a stab and suggest that saying I have found the Nespresso Ristretto Intenso pro capsule to be a great coffee will not go down very well here? 

 

 ?

We'll let you say you found it to be a great capsule. 

Crikey loving this forum - also a big coffee fan.  Currently have a Rocket R58 and Niche Zero grinder (after having the good 'ol Macap M4D for a long long time).

Nice set up mate, Niche is hands down the best grinder for its price, very consistent. Prices will undoubtedly goes up soon due to high demand from home-single-doser ?

Keen for some advice.

 

I have a Behmor roaster and currently roast about 1kg a week (300g batches).  I'm roasting more than usual in isolation as both of us are working form home.

 

It's starting to make some weird noises.  The afterburner has failed. The unit's had better days. I don't think it's going to last much longer.

 

So any advice on a replacement home roaster?  Will spending up to $2k get a great roaster or should I invest more?  

Just now, MAST88 said:

Nice set up mate, Niche is hands down the best grinder for its price, very consistent. Prices will undoubtedly goes up soon due to high demand from home-single-doser ?

It's been really good from an efficiency point of view.  While I was really happy with the grind quality of the Macap, there was lots of grind retention and I was wasting so much purging old coffee from the unit.

 

The biggest change is weighing doses before grinding - but if anything I think it has been better to do this than timed grinds as my shots seems to be more consistent now.  Moving to a conical burr certainly has a different flavour profile - I tend to skew towards fruitier coffees (Ethiopia etc.) and if anything I'm picking up the fruit flavours a little better now.  

 

It's a quiet unit, feels solid, uses a known quality burr set and has a nice small footprint so suitable for home. Agree - I think it will do well and pick up in popularity over time. 

Around 2k you can get a new Hottop or 3k you might be able to get a used Bullet R1, both will allow you to profile your roast. I have the Hottop but havent use it yet.

 

I agree for home use, single-dosers are more cleaner and less wastage compared to timed-grinders. Im currently looking for some SSP/Mahlkonig Peak burrs to test it with the Ditting KR804, should be good ?

According to the real experts the crucial grind measurement is in volume after tamping; but I've never figured out how to do that. Maybe if you used the same beans and roast all the time, but —boring.

Weighing each shot's beans is the best I can do.

On 06/09/2020 at 6:12 PM, MAST88 said:

Around 2k you can get a new Hottop or 3k you might be able to get a used Bullet R1, both will allow you to profile your roast. I have the Hottop but havent use it yet.

 

I agree for home use, single-dosers are more cleaner and less wastage compared to timed-grinders. Im currently looking for some SSP/Mahlkonig Peak burrs to test it with the Ditting KR804, should be good ?

Thanks for the tips @MAST88.  Looking into both machines all evening and it really does seem the Bullet is the way to go - clear improvement in roast quality and automation too which could appeal to me.   May just put an order down for a V2 and pray it comes before the Behmor gives up.......

 

Burr/grinder combo should do really well. Keen to hear how that goes.

Hi, I have a Rancillio Rocky and a VBM Levetta/Piccolo. I've been considering a upgrade and the new Levit MaraX has caught my attention (along with other sub $3k machines). 

Has anyone got one of these Levit machines, I'd be keen to hear your thoughts.

 

43 minutes ago, Mr_Gadget said:

Hi, I have a Rancillio Rocky and a VBM Levetta/Piccolo. I've been considering a upgrade and the new Levit MaraX has caught my attention (along with other sub $3k machines). 

Has anyone got one of these Levit machines, I'd be keen to hear your thoughts.

 

I was looking in this < $3000 region and was told the Expobar Minore IV was the stand-out option by several people, including our resident coffee bean roster @joz. I've been very happy with mine and now around 4 years old and going strong.

1 hour ago, blybo said:

I was looking in this < $3000 region and was told the Expobar Minore IV was the stand-out option by several people, including our resident coffee bean roster @joz. I've been very happy with mine and now around 4 years old and going strong.

Good prices for the Minore considering its  a dual boiler. 

The MaraX has more agreeable dimensions for my space, basically the same as my current machine.

15 hours ago, Mr_Gadget said:

Hi, I have a Rancillio Rocky and a VBM Levetta/Piccolo. I've been considering a upgrade and the new Levit MaraX has caught my attention (along with other sub $3k machines). 

Has anyone got one of these Levit machines, I'd be keen to hear your thoughts.

 

I don't know anything about the MaraX but I have had a Levetta. Given that the price difference is less than 2 times, I think the difference in the coffee would be minimal unless there have been some real, major developments. It is still an E61 group though, so the touted improvements may have little effect on taste. My upgrade to a Diadema Junior Extra lasted only a short while because of the low level of improvement.

 

How about a new grinder? A nice conical burr one would make a difference and, if your daily production is fairly low, some of the manual ones would be inexpensive. Even a flat burr like the Macap M4D would be some improvement in grind size consistency. That's where I went from the Rocky and while the improvement was definitely there it wasn't astounding. Mind you my Rocky had been extensively modded.

 

IMO both the VBM and the Rocky punch above average for the price.

5 hours ago, GregWormald said:

I don't know anything about the MaraX but I have had a Levetta. Given that the price difference is less than 2 times, I think the difference in the coffee would be minimal unless there have been some real, major developments. It is still an E61 group though, so the touted improvements may have little effect on taste. My upgrade to a Diadema Junior Extra lasted only a short while because of the low level of improvement.

 

How about a new grinder? A nice conical burr one would make a difference and, if your daily production is fairly low, some of the manual ones would be inexpensive. Even a flat burr like the Macap M4D would be some improvement in grind size consistency. That's where I went from the Rocky and while the improvement was definitely there it wasn't astounding. Mind you my Rocky had been extensively modded.

 

IMO both the VBM and the Rocky punch above average for the price.

There are a few things that bother me about my current machine that the MaraX solve. These are:

 

1) brew and steam at same time

2) no wait time if making more than 2 coffees

3) proper knobs for steam

4) stable temp without flushing

5) supposedly it's very quite

 

In saying all that, a new grinder was also in mind and the newish Rocket Fausto was on my list, the macap looks like a very good grinder too. What about the Niche Zero grinder?

 

 

13 hours ago, Mr_Gadget said:

There are a few things that bother me about my current machine that the MaraX solve. These are:

 

1) brew and steam at same time

2) no wait time if making more than 2 coffees

3) proper knobs for steam

4) stable temp without flushing

5) supposedly it's very quite

 

In saying all that, a new grinder was also in mind and the newish Rocket Fausto was on my list, the macap looks like a very good grinder too. What about the Niche Zero grinder?

 

 

1) over-rated, trying to split the attention between 2 tasks that take about 10-25 seconds is hopeless (at least for me it was—and still is ).

2) useful

3) ???. My current machine (Izzo Pompeii) has push down spring levers.

4) can make a big difference 

5) I did quieten my Diadema with Dynamat (for car stereos) and was pleased with the difference. Vibe pumps can be noisy (rotaries are quiet) and the 'tin can' noises also almost disappeared.

 

I don't know about newer grinders, I still use the Macap and an early Orphan Espresso Pharos. I haven't felt the need to upgrade.

 

A check for reviews etc. on CoffeeSnobs could be informative. 

 

Enjoy the coffee!

Hi, looking to get some scales to gain some consistency to my coffee making. I've noticed the prices range wildly from round $30 to over $300.

 

I'm happy to spend around $50 assuming they are accurate enough. I've seen a couple online such as the 10 mile scale and a couple of Rhino branded scales. Any experience with these or other suggestions.

 

Thanks.

Edited September 25, 20205 yr by Mr_Gadget

3 hours ago, Mr_Gadget said:

Hi, looking to get some scales to gain some consistency to my coffee making. I've noticed the prices range wildly from round $30 to over $300.

 

I'm happy to spend around $50 assuming they are accurate enough. I've seen a couple online such as the 10 mile scale and a couple of Rhino branded scales. Any experience with these or other suggestions.

 

Thanks.

If you're planning to dig deep into brews such as V60 and chemex then the Acaia Pearl is one of the best, very responsive, easy to clean, long lasting batteries (I make 1,2 cups a day and charge it once every 2 months), can measures rate of pour, it also can connect to apps which graphs your brewing profile - which i find too gimmicky. But if you're only after a scale to weight beans or extraction shots then the cheaper scales like Brewista Smart scale would do a go job. Ive tried Hario and theyre not responsive, the Ohaus Navigator is extremely responsive but way too large. Everyone I know just end up with Acaia Pearl or Lunar at the end. Hope it helps.