here we go - sub £500 roundup from the hoff(man)
Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread
- Thread starter Siliconslave
- Start date
Yes, hand grinder, good beans and a v60, aeropress or French press is a great place to start.
Personally I prefer the pour over (V60) but lots of people really rate the aeropress.
Personally I prefer the pour over (V60) but lots of people really rate the aeropress.
there are edge of counter mats with little cutouts for the PF, or the decent espresso tamping stand is smaller (but $80! https://decentespresso.com/cradle) - finally you could get something custom made i guess...
Just go naked, much better all round
Just go naked, much better all round
Matched shower screen and filter basket is definitely worth it - i do remember back in the depths of this thread when someone was ribbed for buying a nanocoated basket but IMS or VST do seem to make a real difference to the pour 
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How have you found going to 14g Raymond - i'm tempted so i can get away with an extra coffee in the day but not convinced its going to give enough flavour.
\How have you found going to 14g Raymond - i'm tempted so i can get away with an extra coffee in the day but not convinced its going to give enough flavour.
I think Rave have just been very good at their marketing etc - I do wholeheartedly recommend trying different roasters though, there are so many excellent options around and more popping up all the time.
In fact my brother is just starting to roast semi commercially - should be getting some beans through from him any day now...
Although I’ve some how gotten it into my head that if I’m going to spend £100+ repairing it - I may as well get the Lelit MaraX I’ve been eyeing up
second hand prices for your old machine are very good at the moment...
I'm not sure i've seen any recent mentions of curved base tampers - sure you can get them still get them but from memory they really made much difference either way!
Arr the scale problem - seems finding a fast, accurate and waterproof scale is a real challenge - very tempted by a perl but for now i'm just using a cheap jewelry scale and trying to be careful with it. Although this is the second version as the first had half an espresso poured over it which apparently the screen doesn't like!
the Pearl seems to be good enough for most people, although the pyxis is tiny! The advantage of the pearl is that you can fit a PF on there.
A silicon gasket is a good investment from the sounds of it - they don't bake themselves into the machine so you don't end up having to chisel it out later down the line - wish i'd know about them with my classic but will be replacing with one on the maraX...
Theres someone building a 'smart' scales on coffee forums - https://coffeeforums.co.uk/topic/53374-coffee-scales-diy that looks pretty cool - I do need to start my temperature and timing Raspberry Pi build at some point
Isn't the timer more relevant for pour over where your time accuracy isn't anywhere near as granular?
Project wise i'm looking to put a magnetic switch on the pump which gives an accurate time of how long thats running and theres a serial connector on the marax that pumps out the current temperature. If i could add a scale into the equation then i'd be all set for a totally over the top doc brown contraption...
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The problem is with espresso the time to start pouring can vary and its relationship to the quality and output is a little vague (and related to pre-infusion and pressure profiling) so timeing from the weight change isn't really helpful unless its linked to the pump - decent have started playing around with this on their machines and scale, as do some of the high end commercial setups. For hobbyists its only useful for pour over where you're trying to control in the time it takes to pour & filter.
Generally measuring volume out is considered as being inconsistent as the crema can throw things off. If your measuring the volume of liquid pumped through by the machine its a lot more consistent.
You have to remember with home espresso there are so many variables going on and were trying to narrow them down by stabilizing (or trying to at least) a few of them. We're also only pulling a few shots a day so ideally want a way of looking at what's worked in the last shot (or not) and trying to find the right formula to repeat or fix it 12 hours later. Pouring a few starter shots to get things dialed in every morning isn't really viable either
You have to remember with home espresso there are so many variables going on and were trying to narrow them down by stabilizing (or trying to at least) a few of them. We're also only pulling a few shots a day so ideally want a way of looking at what's worked in the last shot (or not) and trying to find the right formula to repeat or fix it 12 hours later. Pouring a few starter shots to get things dialed in every morning isn't really viable either
... nothing to see here ...
Are you swapping between bags or seeing one bag through at a time?
yer, should have said throwing away a few starter shots isn't viable
aren't you just binning the filter as well? Its compostable as well...
i've managed to do the opposite for once and have about 3kg of coffee for once, i'm usually running out about a week before my subs come in!
i'm sure James Hoffman does a little swirl after inverting the grounds cup into the PF (from memory). I do quite want a dosing cup, motta do one I may have to order...
a little out of date but this is quite interesting: https://perfectdailygrind.com/2015/01/aeropress-filter-comparison-the-big-test/
a little out of date but this is quite interesting: https://perfectdailygrind.com/2015/01/aeropress-filter-comparison-the-big-test/
I've had some great coffees from https://www.blackcatcoffee.co.uk/ although they turn them around quite quickly so not had any of their current batch apart from their Half Caff blend.
Spun the shower screen a bit....even puck, no cracks, no gaps on the edge!
Post-pull:
the one thing i miss from my gaggia is the dry puck, might be that i'm using a larger basket but i always get a wetter puck on the mara
Exactly, the 3 way valve in the gaggia is great for a dry puck, e61 less so - its annoying when turning out the puck as it can make a real mess.
As were posting our pucks heres this mornings (needs a bit more dialing in):
