Coffee gear and discussion thread

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SameGuy said:
Did you notice the "slack" with the VST baskets? They're 58.35 mm instead of the standard LM or Synesso 58.0 mm. I am considering either a Cafelat in 58.35, or a new base from Reg at 58.3 mm.
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I noticed my tor which is 57.5, or something similar is a touch loose on the edge. Even on my old triple.
However as it is convex it will fit tight as long as you don't over dose.

On the screen I find if I do not do back flush and clean regularly it will not shower in a fine way, but more towards the centre in a harder flow. Of course clean makes for a much more precise taste that I notice.
 
I just got the VST baskets with my new machine. I use the same 58 mm tamper with no real problem, both the supplied tamper and the one I purchased are rounded and not flat.
 
SameGuy said:
Did you notice the "slack" with the VST baskets? They're 58.35 mm instead of the standard LM or Synesso 58.0 mm. I am considering either a Cafelat in 58.35, or a new base from Reg at 58.3 mm.
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There's a guy on eBay who does precision 58.35mm tampers for fairly cheap, or at least cheaper than reg. I think I paid around $30 bucks for my flat bottom.
 
Hey, if Ricardo thinks it's "good to the last drop," who are we to question him?
 
IMG_20130927_190724.jpg


Coffee in a small mug.
 
Before
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During [gulp]
image.jpg



After


image.jpg



Now to clean it all up and do a final calibration. Pretty cool, though.
 
Not (or only somewhat) visible: I insulated the boiler and PID, swapped the old-style steam wand for the commercial-style v.3 wand, replaced the peeling plastic cowling, and applied about ten pounds of Dynamat Extreme sound-deadening material to the insides. HUGE difference!
 
That should help alot looks good. Hope the coffee is better for you :).
 
Well, the coffee was already "pretty good," but this will definitely help with shot-to-shot consistency, water and energy savings, convenience, and noise mitigation. Wife is already loving the sound-deadening! Plus, no more bleed-off of air locks from overshooting the temperature? She'll love that that noise is gone, too!
 
Cool! A friend has a pimped Silvia and loves it. Next weekend I will finally get my Anita out of storage and play around a bit. Just before I had packed it up, I had replaced a few tubes and tried to run it in but I guess I have to start over. Shots were way too bitter and I need to play around with the boiler pressure. Better order some coffee, so I have material to play with...

Stefan
 
I was struck by how imilahe Anita sounds compared to the Silvia, except that it's a bit more subdued (lots more heft to the QM's construction). I guess they share a very similar Ulka pump. I wonder if the Anita would also benefit from some sound deadener -- the Silvia has lots of flexible, thin panels that vibrate like crazy.

First couple of shots this morning are impressive. I had to bleed off a few times because I couldn't believe there was no huge overshoot (and thus, boil-off) causing vapor-lock. But, as I should have trusted, no vapor-lock! With 22.5 g in the VST tamped about 35 lbs, the pump built up to 9 bar and sat there until the end of the 28 second shot. Cool.
 
Just got my new base/piston for my Torr Tamper. This time I went with a 85.4 to and convex 2 bottom. Basically a convex with a flat bottom in the middle. Fits the VST basket perfectly. Not sure if it is the fit, or the different curve but shots are seriously a step up.

If I was to describe the taste I would say there was always this very slight slight hint of bitterness hiding in the background. Not really there but more implied like when you know someone is standing behind you. Now that has subsided and brought forward some flavours like cinnamon or butterscotch. Very interesting, and a bit of a surprise. Same grind settings, heat settings, pressure, etc. Did a couple of side by sides just to be sure.

Pulling 20grams in a 20 gram VST.
Also a bit energized and ready to spring my bike to work (too much coffee). :)
 
DerSnap said:
Not really there but more implied like when you know someone is standing behind you. :)
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How very existentialist, Mr. Sartre! LOL

These are interesting observations; I may have to consider getting the new base for my Reg Barber.
 
SameGuy said:
How very existentialist, Mr. Sartre! LOL

These are interesting observations; I may have to consider getting the new base for my Reg Barber.
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what is the best coffee to you?

I am sure this has been asked before....don't have the time to go back through all the thread plus my computer stinks LOL

Ethiopian Yergacheffe?

I am wondering because I really love my coffee in the AM as I am in such a rush usually I just go with the Keurig...I know I should be roasting and using a french press or whatever but I just don't have the time
 
Ordered a 58.35 mm (VST) base for my Reg Barber tamper from eBay seller precisiontampermaker and I couldn't be happier. After a series of emails to confirm the size and style I wanted, the part was shipped quickly from West Palm Beach, FL, to my address in waaaay upstate NY and got there in three days over the holiday weekend by USPS Priority Post. The workmanship and finishing is impeccable, And my digital calipers measure the base at precisely 58.350 mm. The only noticeable difference with the Reg base is that his is cut to set the handle in, providing a flush transition from the handle to the base. The new base is flat above the bevel, but together they still look like an original piece. At $27.50 plus shipping, this is a great deal. As noted above, it had an instant impact (no pun intended) on my shots.
 
Calibrated the Vario this morning as I was noticing I needed quite a bit more than 150 N (~33 lbs) of force to slow my shots at a very fine setting; the "multiple-pass" tamping style that was necessary with the undersized piston probably hid this from me while the new one made it obvious. The Vario needed five full turns of the adjuster screw to get in tune! Now I have to dial in my grind again, but set around 2/3 down the micro scale and tamped to a measured 33 lbs in one stroke, the first shot was a leisurely ten seconds to first drops and 43 seconds total to 50 ml. Interesting flavors and notes at this rate.
 
Ok, I'm back in on the fun, kind of. Got the Anita running last night after the brew pump needed a bit of help at first - had been sitting in storage for a year. Used some cleaner for the boiler and tubes, scrubbed the screen and gasket which did not need replacement after all, soaked and cleaned all the filters etc. Now the real fun begins, even though with a small delay. Need to adjust the brew pressure first but the tubing is a bit short and I am waiting for some new tubing to come in. Then it's time to dial it in. Just got 5# of Redbird to play with the fine-tuning. Still a long way to go but it was already good enough to make a decent latte this morning, needs more work before I can pull an espresso I am proud of. Already found myself looking at grinders again, but the Rocky will have to do for a little while more, I just barely avoided bankruptcy... Need to get a small scale, though. I want to keep it at a reasonable level and not make a science experiment of every shot, but I learned before that it helps to measure it all up in the beginning to figure out the routine. This should be fun, I missed the coffee rituals at home.

Stefan

P.S. I think I will have to read up on VST baskets...
 
SameGuy said:
Ordered a 58.35 mm (VST) base for my Reg Barber tamper from eBay seller precisiontampermaker and I couldn't be happier. After a series of emails to confirm the size and style I wanted, the part was shipped quickly from West Palm Beach, FL, to my address in waaaay upstate NY and got there in three days over the holiday weekend by USPS Priority Post. The workmanship and finishing is impeccable, And my digital calipers measure the base at precisely 58.350 mm. The only noticeable difference with the Reg base is that his is cut to set the handle in, providing a flush transition from the handle to the base. The new base is flat above the bevel, but together they still look like an original piece. At $27.50 plus shipping, this is a great deal. As noted above, it had an instant impact (no pun intended) on my shots.
Click to expand...

So if I understand your basically on a Euro type base also (convex 2)? Torr who I got my tamper base from also said despite VST suggesting a flat base that a slightly bevelled base seems to work better. I do know now with the VST that its pretty much exact in espresso weight, tamp pressure, etc. 20 grams is what its rated at and basically this is where I get my best shots from. If not then I did not tamp correct or set grind correct, or the espresso is just ****.

I am liking the 20 over former 23g. Give that nice clean flavour with just the right amount of depth that the 18 never hit.
 
Now if we just start a thread on old Panhead Bobbers all my bases would be covered, lol (I ride an old Evo to work).
One of the best things I ever talked myself into was a first class espresso machine and grinder (Expobar Lever & Mazer Mini). Wasn't easy pulling the trigger on so much dough, but I figured it would pay for itself in one year. And yes, it did and I've been livin' good ever since.
 
aaamax said:
Now if we just start a thread on old Panhead Bobbers all my bases would be covered, lol (I ride an old Evo to work).
One of the best things I ever talked myself into was a first class espresso machine and grinder (Expobar Lever & Mazer Mini). Wasn't easy pulling the trigger on so much dough, but I figured it would pay for itself in one year. And yes, it did and I've been livin' good ever since.
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I totally agree with you.
For years I was sort of looking what machine to get. I had ECM in mind and then they had it at a new Media Markt here in Germany. Demo model, but never used. Of course all the porno german types wanted these **** bling machines that do it all. Some even cost over 3K euro. Anyways a few months go by and its sitting there all sad so I say I will give 800 euros. A lot of haggling and I took it with 12 months zero interest. Ran a Graef grinder for about a year with it. Then I got my Mazzer Mini Mod B with 12 month zero interest. That was 4 years or so ago and they have been dream machines ever since.

Of course I had worked as a barista in many places including the Drake Hotel when back in Canada. Did some local competitions, etc and used some very fine pro machines. I would say with the exception of a few shots I pulled on a Synesso I can get better quality at home now.

I wake, hit the machine to warm up, shower, have my cappuccino and ride to work. Its a great way to start the day ;)
 
First good fix in a week, after too much Costa Coffee, I'm posting this from the tiny front bar at Raw Coffee in Al Quoz, Dubai UAE. First slap in the back of the head was a triple ristretto single-origin Sidamo Ethiopia. Huge citrus up front, very interesting profile, but not something I'd like to take home with me. Felix the barista asked me if I prefer something darker -- an obvious test, trying to weed out the Starbucks/Gloria Jeans/second Cup pretenders, I suppose -- and when I said I prefer a more rounded profile he suggested I try the "Walk In" (house) blend. It is superb​. More later!
 
DerSnap said:
I had ECM in mind and then they had it at a new Media Markt here in Germany.
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A friend of mine has an ECM and it seems like a damn good machine.

Since you are in Germany, do you have any opinion on what the reality of buying a La Marzocco in Italy would be? Is there any savings to be had? So tempted to get one, but everything here in Sweden is so over-the-top expensive.
 
aaamax said:
A friend of mine has an ECM and it seems like a damn good machine.

Since you are in Germany, do you have any opinion on what the reality of buying a La Marzocco in Italy would be? Is there any savings to be had? So tempted to get one, but everything here in Sweden is so over-the-top expensive.
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If you can manage to get a price you can live with grab a La Marzocco. I am really enjoying mine, even though it took me a bit to figure out how to do maintenance on it :).
 
rahimlee54 said:
If you can manage to get a price you can live with grab a La Marzocco. I am really enjoying mine, even though it took me a bit to figure out how to do maintenance on it :).
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What sort of maintenance do you do on yours? I do a backflush with detergent and clean the grouphead every week or so. Backflush with water nightly. and generally try to move water through both boilers a few times a week. I think that's about all I do...
 
vinster said:
What sort of maintenance do you do on yours? I do a backflush with detergent and clean the grouphead every week or so. Backflush with water nightly. and generally try to move water through both
boilers a few times a week. I think that's about all I do...
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Draining the boilers was new to me but not big deal, the biggest problem I had was the brew pressure adjustment piece got stuck and was sending the pressure to like 15 on the gauge. Just the learning curve of a new machine. The machine I had before didn't have anything you could do to it besides flush with detergent.
 
O.k., I finally replaced a few tubes in my Anita and will clean the grouphead tomorrow and dial it in with Redbird until I get shots I don't have to pour into milk... Of course, I haven't even gotten there and find myself researching upgrades already - it's a disease, at least as bad as knives... Here is the question: what will get me the bigger quality improvement, upgrading from my doserless Rancilio Rocky (to Macap M4, Mazzer Mini, Compak K3 - or a Baratza Vario(-W)?) or getting a Behmor to roast my own beans? I will have to save up for either one, and I am not sure what the best strategy is. The grinder would be for espresso only, and the Rocky would then be dedicated to French press and drip coffee, so I am leaning more toward one of the Italian metal monsters right now, but I am open to suggestions. However, since the doserless Rocky is throwing grinds all over the place (even with the yoghurt cup...), I am thinking about a grinder with a doser. As for roasting, I did that for a while with an IRoast 2 but the Behmor seems to be the better solution on all kinds of levels. Of course, it is illegal to import green beans to HI, so I will have to think of creative solutions for that...

Anyway, any thoughts on the best sequence here? Anybody selling a Mazzer mini for cheap or trading for knives or handles ;)

Stefan
 
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