Espresso Machine Recommendations Please

[Chuckles]

We use Peace coffee at work and I really really dislike it. I used to buy gelato supplies from Up but have never actually tried their coffee. Good people tho. Right now I am using a Sumatra from Alakef coffee which is from Duluth. I love it. Got it for free with the machine. I was thinking Dogwood for my next move. I have really enjoyed everything I had had at FiveWatt but have never thought to buy their beans. Dogwood is closer to me, it would be great if they turn into a winner.

Just looked at a map and saw a place called the Roastery. A one man roasting operation on Lyndale just south of the creek. Really close to me. I am going to check it out.

 

[Luftmensch]

There are idiots who will pay 90 bucks for a tamper. Seriously, it's a small piece of machined metal with a plastic knob on top.

I can neither confirm or deny that I once sent a basket to Australia and had Pullman machine me a custom tamper.

I didn't go that far! Just a standard fitting tamper. Jarrah is a nice iconic Australian wood for the plastic knob on top though:

Nothing wrong with a little kitchen bling so long as you know what you are paying for.... a piece of metal that has to do no more than fit into a standard basket

 

[WPerry]

Just looked at a map and saw a place called the Roastery. A one man roasting operation on Lyndale just south of the creek. Really close to me. I am going to check it out.

Report back, please. I've heard good things, but similar effusive praise for the roaster in Linden Hills, and my subsequent disappointment, has made hesitant.

Side query: was there still a Dogwood at Calhoun Square (if the building is still called that)? I wasn't sure if they'd closed, post-... everything, but this talk has me wanting to re-visit some Neon beans.

 

[Chuckles]

Dogwood was closed...

 

[podzap]

Would love to hear your thoughts on it. It is supposed to do a great filter grind.
It was developed with Tim Wendelboe of Norway, who does the most wonderful light roasts I have ever tried.

Well one update on this grinder. It's my first flat-burr grinder, and I was a bit unfamiliar with most grind sizes for this and that just based on my eyeball.

Today, just out of curiosity, I tried to do an espresso grind at setting 1, nothing came out. Tried incrementally from 2 all the way up to 9 before I finally got output. At setting 9 out of 41, it produced an espresso grind. That meant that the machine was shipped while being very seriously out of calibration. Unbelievable, really. And nothing in the manual explains anything about calibration, I had to google this and found a video about how to replace the stock burrs with 3rd party burrs and then how to calibrate it afterwards.

Luckily, this machine is super easy to calibrate. Three screws out, rotated the upper burr mounting plate 9 clicks counterclockwise, three screws back in and test. Quick dry run at setting 3, no burr contact. Setting 2, safe. Setting 1, safe. Fine, throw in 5 grams of beans at setting 1 and out came an espresso grind. Went up to setting 28 which is for french press / cold-brew and got a completely different grind than I was getting before on 28.

Started a new cold-brew going now in the Hario Mizudashi with 90g ground at setting 28 and we will see this evening how it turns out.

 

[Luftmensch]

Today, just out of curiosity, I tried to do an espresso grind at setting 1, nothing came out. Tried incrementally from 2 all the way up to 9 before I finally got output.

Yikes...

You didn't hear any nasty sounds did you? With some grinders you have to make sure you don't crash the burrs - if you do, you'll know!

 

[podzap]

Yikes...

You didn't hear any nasty sounds did you? With some grinders you have to make sure you don't crash the burrs - if you do, you'll know!

No, they just weren't far enough apart to let the beans in. And they still looked quite OK when I took them apart.

Still clearly under 30-day return policy and warranty as well, so I would have just exchanged it for another one.

 

[Chuckles]

Bumping to update.

I am very happy with the Sylvia and Rocky grinder. If I had to do it over again I might spend more as the upgrade in the quality of my morning routine has been huge. I wish the machine was direct plumbed. My wife is steaming milk more than I would have guessed.

If anybody reading this is going down this route go ahead and buy an 18g basket when you buy the Sylvia. It is a game changer as there is no reason to put it off.
....

For the Minneapolis crew @LostHighway @WPerry

I finally made it to the Roastery on Lyndale yesterday morning. Just a guy sitting in a small basement room with a nice looking roaster and some burlap sacks of green beans. He was excited to see me and my 10 year old walk in. He was listening to new pressings of the Beatles on a vintage sound system. Pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I just needed somebody who could translate what I could describe for flavor profile into bean selection and roast. I ended up with a Guatemalan French roast and an Indian monsoon season bean. I have only tried the French roast but it tasted just as described. I am far from qualified to be picky on his knowledge or technique but I was happy to have met the guy. He gave my son a tour of his roaster and we chatted about vinyl shops in the neighborhood. I think he is my people. It was a nice bike ride down the creek and back, the trees were fantastic with color. I think you are both ahead of me on the coffee journey but the Roastery might be worth checking out. He said he delivers for free starting at 2 pounds.

 

[LostHighway]

The Roastery is a bit off my turf although I have been driving to that area occasionally either to buy baguettes or alcohol.
Aged or monsooned coffees can be something of an acquired taste unless you prefer very low acidity, they sometimes pick up a peppery note which is interesting, but they can taste very flat if you're used to or prefer brighter coffees. I just got a fresh batch of green beans and need to set to work rebuilding my Behmor.
I agree with @WPerry that the Linden Hills roaster isn't worth a visit unless his skills have improved dramatically.
I think a plumbed in rotary pump espresso machine would be a substantial bump over the Silvia. I don't think I've seen any new ones recently for less than $2.5k but some of the other forum members will have better idea than I do.

 

[WildBoar]

Bumping to update.

I am very happy with the Sylvia and Rocky grinder. If I had to do it over again I might spend more as the upgrade in the quality of my morning routine has been huge. I wish the machine was direct plumbed. My wife is steaming milk more than I would have guessed.

If anybody reading this is going down this route go ahead and buy an 18g basket when you buy the Sylvia. It is a game changer as there is no reason to put it off.

Great to hear it worked out well for you. The nice thing about starting with the Silvia is when you are ready to update to a double boiler you can get most of your money back out of it.

I did not plumb my machine, even though it came with everything needed to do so. But it has a pretty large reservoir so I only need to fill it every 5-6 days, and that is with steaming milk with most shots.

That roaster really sounds great. That will make the experience even better.

 

[WPerry]

Bumping to update.

I am very happy with the Sylvia and Rocky grinder. If I had to do it over again I might spend more as the upgrade in the quality of my morning routine has been huge. I wish the machine was direct plumbed. My wife is steaming milk more than I would have guessed.

If anybody reading this is going down this route go ahead and buy an 18g basket when you buy the Sylvia. It is a game changer as there is no reason to put it off.
....

For the Minneapolis crew @LostHighway @WPerry

I finally made it to the Roastery on Lyndale yesterday morning. Just a guy sitting in a small basement room with a nice looking roaster and some burlap sacks of green beans. He was excited to see me and my 10 year old walk in. He was listening to new pressings of the Beatles on a vintage sound system. Pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I just needed somebody who could translate what I could describe for flavor profile into bean selection and roast. I ended up with a Guatemalan French roast and an Indian monsoon season bean. I have only tried the French roast but it tasted just as described. I am far from qualified to be picky on his knowledge or technique but I was happy to have met the guy. He gave my son a tour of his roaster and we chatted about vinyl shops in the neighborhood. I think he is my people. It was a nice bike ride down the creek and back, the trees were fantastic with color. I think you are both ahead of me on the coffee journey but the Roastery might be worth checking out. He said he delivers for free starting at 2 pounds.

I was talking to one of the guys on my cycling team about that roaster last week - very high praise (he said that worked with him on his own personal blend that he roasts for him, talked about his experience/consultation work, etc, etc), but he's not an espresso guy, so I always take it with a grain of salt. I'll get over there to him sometime soon, though.

In the meantime, I've been enjoying the workflow and results with a more measured (literally) brewing approach. It's got me thinking about an upgrade, too, and along the same lines - rotary (quiet and the ability to be plumbed), dual boiler, PID, probably flow control just because. I'm thinking a Profitec Pro 700, though I could see myself spending a few hundred more for the ECM version (same company, same internals, slightly better fit & finish, steam/hot water joysticks instead of knobs, etc). That's a big outlay, though, so it'll probably be in the spring at the earliest, so I'll have plenty of time to hand-wring.

 

[Luftmensch]

If I had to do it over again I might spend more as the upgrade in the quality of my morning routine has been huge.

Glad to hear it has been a large change for the better. It might be one of those experiences you have to try? Translating other peoples' experiences into your own world frame can be difficult. For us, having espresso at home has become as basic an assumption as having a well stocked fridge!! So long as we can afford to do so, we're going to keep doing it...

Like @WildBoar says, these machines can hold their value pretty well. If you upgrade/trade down the track you will recoup some of the original purchase.

I'm thinking a Profitec Pro 700, though I could see myself spending a few hundred more for the ECM version (same company, same internals, slightly better fit & finish, steam/hot water joysticks instead of knobs, etc). That's a big outlay, though, so it'll probably be in the spring at the earliest, so I'll have plenty of time to hand-wring.

That is exactly what I would be looking at if I were getting an upgrade (I kind of am...). A nice cross between manual and configurable. Any more complexity would be too much coffee machine for me.

 

[gregfisk]

Something to consider if you want to get into espresso at home and don’t want to spend a lot of money is buy an older used machine. This Brasília is the first machine we got and now use at our beach house. What’s great about it is it’s really easy to work on and parts are available and cheap. I do all my own repairs on this machine and it’s not difficult to figure out. The only downside to this machine and all small machines for that matter is the small boiler. Like all small sized machines the steamers run out of, well steam. Otherwise this machine makes a great cup.

 

[Luftmensch]

Like all small sized machines the steamers run out of, well steam

How big is your Brasilia boiler?

A heat-exchange machine with a 1.8L boiler has plenty of choof for home use. Dual boilers will have a steam boiler at around 0.5L. These can easily froth milk for two people. Probably even four...

I am curious how small boilers can be before they are limited.

 

[gregfisk]

The Brasília Lady boiler is 300ml. It will froth milk for 2 lattes but that’s about it until you refill and reheat.

 

[karaRobert]

My wife use this Philips 3200 automatic latte machine, which is pretty expensive in my eyes($800). Personally I don’t drink coffee much, but when I do, she whips it up and it does make a good cup.

 

[podzap]

My problem with automatic machines is that I love them, however DeLonghi has the damn patent on side-loading water tanks and DeLonghi automatic machines are mediocre at best. Without a side-loading water tank, you can't keep the machine on a kitchen countertop that has a wall cabinet above it because there isn't enough clearance to lift the water tank in and out of the machine.

I'd really love to have an all stainless automatic machine with a high-quality burr grinder, high quality internals, analogue pressure gauges, etc, that has a side-loading water tank. Other option is getting one plumbed in, but that mostly narrows the choices for automatics down to Jura and they simply don't meet my desires as described in the previous sentence. If anybody knows something that I am missing, please let me know!