Images of items I have purchased (except trainers [no feet pics])

[Raymond Lin]

How autistic do you need to be to own a machine like this? I am tempted to replace my absolute work-horse Delonghi but don't want to go too OTT with bean weights and separate grinders etc...

I wouldn't even go near that kind of machine without a half decent grinder, like the DF63 or Niche Zero. Pairing a £3k machine with a £200 Sage grinder seems like a waste of the potential of the espresso machine.

 

[Street]

How autistic do you need to be to own a machine like this? I am tempted to replace my absolute work-horse Delonghi but don't want to go too OTT with bean weights and separate grinders etc...

I've always weighed and timed my shots anyway even with my old Gaggia, best way to get consistent results!

I wouldn't even go near that kind of machine without a half decent grinder, like the DF63 or Niche Zero. Pairing a £3k machine with a £200 Sage grinder seems like a waste of the potential of the espresso machine.

That's my next upgrade, but for now my old Mignon will have to suffice.

 

[LuckyBenski]

Probably less than an Manual lever machine.

Don't give him ideas!

 

[fez]

How autistic do you need to be to own a machine like this? I am tempted to replace my absolute work-horse Delonghi but don't want to go too OTT with bean weights and separate grinders etc...

The machine itself is super basic. Its just a prosumer grade basic machine that doesn't do anything but pass water through coffee at a flat X bars of pressure. The steam power on these is amazing and the heat up time is super fast but they are fundamentally basic but made with very high quality parts.

You need a high quality grinder to make them remotely worth having and you have two options. A single dose grinder ie. you weigh your beans out, dump them all in and get them all out again or you have a dosed grider where you can either set a weight or set a grind time and you should get roughly the same amount out each time, however this relies on having a similar weight of beans in the hopper all the time and for the home coffee drinker this results in slightly stale coffee.

Then you need to or at least should weigh the output every time or occasionally to make sure your bean weight to espresso weight is correct. Different beans produce considerably different volumes for the same actual weight off espresso.

God damn coffee is a rabbit hole and unless you care that much, one of the super automatic machines where you just dump the beans in and press a button is probably best.

 

[SquirrelMadness]

I used to have a Delonghi magnifica and at the time thought it was the best purchase I made, used it multiple times a day for years.

After a while it "broke" AKA started to get clogged up despite being cleaned/descaled according to guidelines.

The coffees it made were starting to taste bitter at the 6 month mark... like the water became bitter. No amount of descaler was fixing it.

So I took it apart, sold it bit by bit, and went back to instant coffee. Don't see myself getting a coffee machine again.

They're great for cappuccinos but for regular americano/flat white instant is better. I don't drink black coffee so can't say for that.

Oh and the part that was clogged was the coffee strainer in other words, a part which was incredibly hard to get to... and it was clogged with actual coffee, no limescale present.

 

[dlockers]

The machine itself is super basic. Its just a prosumer grade basic machine that doesn't do anything but pass water through coffee at a flat X bars of pressure. The steam power on these is amazing and the heat up time is super fast but they are fundamentally basic but made with very high quality parts.

You need a high quality grinder to make them remotely worth having and you have two options. A single dose grinder ie. you weigh your beans out, dump them all in and get them all out again or you have a dosed grider where you can either set a weight or set a grind time and you should get roughly the same amount out each time, however this relies on having a similar weight of beans in the hopper all the time and for the home coffee drinker this results in slightly stale coffee.

Then you need to or at least should weigh the output every time or occasionally to make sure your bean weight to espresso weight is correct. Different beans produce considerably different volumes for the same actual weight off espresso.

God damn coffee is a rabbit hole and unless you care that much, one of the super automatic machines where you just dump the beans in and press a button is probably best.

Yeah I think I will "nope" out of this before I get too crazy with it. The Delonghi is perfect for my black coffee; it's chugging along nicely with its 6th year anniversary coming up! At least 4 or 5 uses per day.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I used to have a Delonghi magnifica and at the time thought it was the best purchase I made, used it multiple times a day for years.

After a while it "broke" AKA started to get clogged up despite being cleaned/descaled according to guidelines.

The coffees it made were starting to taste bitter at the 6 month mark... like the water became bitter. No amount of descaler was fixing it.

So I took it apart, sold it bit by bit, and went back to instant coffee. Don't see myself getting a coffee machine again.

They're great for cappuccinos but for regular americano/flat white instant is better. I don't drink black coffee so can't say for that.

Oh and the part that was clogged was the coffee strainer in other words, a part which was incredibly hard to get to... and it was clogged with actual coffee, no limescale present.

A lot of trendy cafe in Asia now offer drip coffee as their main drink, it's almost in the front and center of their shop (because it looks good). It takes more effort, more time and also creates a cleaner cup due to the paper filter.

It's what I drink now at home, the Gaggia has been emptied of water and just have been sitting there for months.

An expensive grinder through a Hario Switch or V60. As good coffee as these trendy cafes. Nothing to clog up.

 

[Street]

The machine itself is super basic. Its just a prosumer grade basic machine that doesn't do anything but pass water through coffee at a flat X bars of pressure. The steam power on these is amazing and the heat up time is super fast but they are fundamentally basic but made with very high quality parts.

That was mainly why I wanted it. I'm not bothered about flow control or pre infusion and think machines like the Decent are a bit gimmicky. I just wanted something that will be consistent and last me a good amount of time if I look after it. You're right about the steam, I made better milk in my first attempt with this than I have with 10 years of using my Gaggia.

 

[Chrisc]

How autistic do you need to be to own a machine like this? I am tempted to replace my absolute work-horse Delonghi but don't want to go too OTT with bean weights and separate grinders etc...

Exactly my predicament. i dont mind dropping £500 on a coffee machine but I dont want to be all Anal about it.

We have had a couple of the automatic ones at work which were in the region of £800 and its once again just sat in the corner broke.

 

[NickK]

Don't give him ideas!

I have a doserless M4 MCAP.. but I feel this is diverting the thread..

The joke here is the spring loaded Elektra Microcasa a lever is notorious. We're talking to the point of the right days following bean roast, the grind quality and amount within the puck. Operation is sweet and to the point - you prep, lock in the portafilter and pull the lever down. Boiling Water transfers across into the group head and then you let go of the handle, the water supply is cut and it pressures the water through the puck.. the only thing stopping a shotgun of superheated steam is your skillfully prepared puck.
If the puck is too permeable (dry, old beans, bad grid, bad tamping) then the spring will hammer the water through resulting a massive spray from your cup everywhere.
If the pick is too impermeable (oily beans, too close a grind, over tamping) then spring will not be able to push the water through the puck.. and it will sit there.. fully loaded with steam.. and no backoff relieve valve.. when this occurs you need to defuse by taking some strain off the sprint and wrap the thing in a towel.. and pray as you unclip the portafilter.
Oh.. did I say that the group head heat is not regulated.. so if you don't regulate it then a cold GH=sour shot, over heated GH = acidic shot.. so the number of shots you can do at a rate is dependent on you... plus the boiler takes 15 minutes to heat to temp with only enough water for two Italian-sized cappuccinos.

If you've tamed it.. then you're rewarded with one of the most stunning espresso shots and the most stunning velvety milk foaming.

So it's sort of an autistic's nightmare due to the unpredictability even when following ridged prep steps.

 

[fez]

A lot of trendy cafe in Asia now offer drip coffee as their main drink, it's almost in the front and center of their shop (because it looks good). It takes more effort, more time and also creates a cleaner cup due to the paper filter.

It's what I drink now at home, the Gaggia has been emptied of water and just have been sitting there for months.

An expensive grinder through a Hario Switch or V60. As good coffee as these trendy cafes. Nothing to clog up.

I love a good drip but theres something I just love about milk based drinks. Lattes, flat whites etc.

 

[Mekrel]

I guess it's like with anything in life, people are on a scale of passion where at one end they'll spend lots of money, time and effort where you can question the reward vs others who are happy with a jar of instant and a spoon. Obviously nothing wrong with either, just a different opinion.

I've bought my fiancé a coffee machine for Christmas (The barista express impress). It's an upgrade on her cheap Swan machine and the assisted tamping means less mess vs filling and tamping the portafilter manually.

A separate grinder wasn't really an option right now as whilst the kitchen isn't small, the space utilisation is really poor which won't be fixed until it's replaced.

My spending lots of something I probably don't need to is car cleaning stuff ha.

 

[MacRS4]

Coffee can get out of hand though, but you know what, if you really like it, and you can afford it, why not? I've got the Oracle, a pour over system, plunger thing, a separate grinder etc.

 

[nlel1975]

Hehe glad to help, I was in a similar state a while ago chasing a chromebook, the chromebook turned out to be awful, but that's not the point!!!

The scales are quite fun, although the 'air quality' report is dubious

Received an email today, my scales have been sent. I think if you've claimed a promotional offer in the past they approve your claim quicker. They don't want people returning the watch and keeping the free gift.

We got a good deal, even on Black Friday week the watch is only 17% off, we got 20% off and a set of scales worth £180.

 

[m@rty]

That looks expensive

 

[Participant]

That is a fab machine for the money - I had one before upgrading to the Oracle. I did find it quite sensitive to the quality of the beans though, and keeping the hopper full. When it started to get low the grind & amount become unpredictable - easily solvable just by topping up the hopper!

Mine was way to fussy for the beans I bought. I got rid of it. Great coffee but overall PITA.

 

[NickK]

Mine was way to fussy for the beans I bought. I got rid of it. Great coffee but overall PITA.

I went with a simple Delonghi Dedica and simply grind Sainsbury's supplied beans weekly for my daily consumption. The Elektra MCAL is, to be blunt, a diva supermodel and not something you can simply do two scoops, tamp, lock'n'press a button. The dedica wins out for daily use with average beans.

 

[Kainz]

No pics sadly but I took delivery of the new Govee COB Light Strip Pro as I was frustrated with Hue's boring old offerings. I returned the Govee earlier as I just wasn't happy with the colour rendering.

Fantastic build quality and ridiculous brightness but colours weren't a patch on my old Hue strips. Warm yellows were white, pinks were very light reddish whites, orange was light yellow. All the other colours like RGB were perfect. If your strip can't even do warm hues right then you need to do more work despite the silly amount of LED's per metre (1260).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DB52Z7VS

 

[Cromulent]

Time for a beard and hair cut! My last pair lasted for about 10 years so hopefully last as well.

 

[ChrisD.]

10700k, your time has come to an end. Welcome, 9800X3D.