Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Raymond Lin · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:13

Dj_Jestar said:
What kind of criteria do you have, @Raymond Lin ? There's loads of doserless options out there. My Mazzer Mini, for example, is the doserless variant ("Type A"). All the favourites are doserless - Vario, Baratza Sette, Rocky, etc.

If money isn't a concern then the Mahlkonig EK43 or K30, or if you want to spend really silly money then something like the Ceado E37z Hero.

I want something that

1 - direct doser
2 - can make espresso 1 day and V60 the next, so something easy to dial from each
3 - something that don't make a mess, although i have a little ring thing on the way to go on the portafilter from ebay now which will help

Not too big, no bigger than a Gaggia Classic.

Dj_Jestar · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:14

Sette 270Wi all day long.

Raymond Lin · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:23

Dj_Jestar said:
Sette 270Wi all day long.

I can see the Non-WI version being £150 cheaper, what's the difference?

jpaul · 17 Apr 2019 at 12:06

watched the niche video , for cleaning/tear-down/compactness looks good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OSl5iy0kRg

checking @Scottland had a sette, when we discussed 270 before .. hows it going ? no weighing problems ?

270Wi looks gimmicky, i would want long term reliability

1. The Wi processor contains a smoothing algorithm that helps the grinder focus on the important information: ground coffee falling into your portafilter. This smoothing algorithm allows the grinder to better ignore irrelevant spikes in load cell information. For example, bumping into the countertop can create a vibration which the Wi ignores.

but, I weigh the bean dose myself, so don't need a grinder that does it.

Raymond Lin · 17 Apr 2019 at 12:17

jpaul said:
watched the niche video , for cleaning/tear-down/compactness looks good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OSl5iy0kRg

checking @Scottland had a sette, when we discussed 270 before .. hows it going ? no weighing problems ?

270Wi looks gimmicky, i would want long term reliability

but, I weigh the bean dose myself, so don't need a grinder that does it.

I've also read a couple of user reviews where it said in order to adjust the grind, you need to empty the beans in the burr first, that is a pain in the butt.

Flibster · 17 Apr 2019 at 14:51

Raymond Lin said:
I want something that

1 - direct doser
2 - can make espresso 1 day and V60 the next, so something easy to dial from each
3 - something that don't make a mess, although i have a little ring thing on the way to go on the portafilter from ebay now which will help

Not too big, no bigger than a Gaggia Classic.

I would be tempted to try and go for a used commercial grinder. I did. Lose the big hopper and many of them become reasonable sizes.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazzer-M...343802?hash=item1a7a337aba:g:LOAAAOSwqpJctJot (I particularly like this one, it's the doserless version)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazzer-L...789300?hash=item2ac9f34334:g:fncAAOSwBg5ctcEB

Advantages of Mazzer's, they're REALLY well known, have many mods available, burrs are cheap(ish), easy to adjust and clean and parts are available if you want to change anything. Also, collapsible hopper mod is ideal for single dosing.

Currently got a Santos No1 with a few mods on it. Don't see myself changing anytime soon. Although it may get fully stripped down and repainted as it's kinda been badly painted with Hammerite by a previous owner.

Dj_Jestar · 17 Apr 2019 at 15:01

The mini is no good for frequently grind switching. It has a large retention (12g!) and adjusting is a pain.

Source: That's what I own, in case I haven't already mentioned it before

Flibster · 17 Apr 2019 at 16:38

Dj_Jestar said:
The mini is no good for frequently grind switching. It has a large retention (12g!) and adjusting is a pain.

Source: That's what I own, in case I haven't already mentioned it before

It's a luigi according to the data plate photo.

Muska · 17 Apr 2019 at 17:18

I use a Mazzer Major, that came with brand new titanium burrs for under £250, it's been a great grinder although it is huge and the Mrs hates it! One small mod and my retention is down to 0.2g (I would only change it for an EK43 (probably never to be honest!) And I wouldn't want to be adjusting the grind for different types each day though, I think I would rather buy a handgrinder for one of the duduti and leave that set correctly.

Dj_Jestar · 17 Apr 2019 at 18:04

Flibster said:
It's a luigi according to the data plate photo.

That's the proper name of the company I think. All Mazzers have "MAZZER LUIGI Srl" on the data plate. Here's mine:

jpaul · 17 Apr 2019 at 20:14

Dj_Jestar said:
It has a large retention (12g!) and adjusting is a pain.

that's bean retention ? otherwise, between sessions, whats the best strategy to avoid staleness

Flibster said:
I would be tempted to try and go for a used commercial grinder.

OK - on ebay, you have some comeback if the bearings/motor was bad, but parting with more than a £100, for an ex commercial one seems risky,
(the battered case of the first) - face to face via gumtree or pick-up maybe.

Scottland · 17 Apr 2019 at 21:26

jpaul said:
checking @Scottland had a sette, when we discussed 270 before .. hows it going ? no weighing problems ?

So I bought a Sette 270W from CoffeeHit about a year ago, I got a refurb one from them as a) it was significantly cheaper b) still has a 12month warranty with them and c) they service them and sell all the parts so figured if reliability becomes and issue I can at least use them.

Some points from me:

It's a little inconsistent weighing into a portafilter. Sometimes it's spot on, other times it's 2-3g short. It's due to the way it sits in the arms, and it's quite fiddly to adjust and get spot on (The Wi model might help with this). I now grind directly into the plastic container and use one of these to empty into the portafilter. This actually works really well, a quick shake gets rid of any clumping and virtually zero waste from spillage.
It's consistently 0.5g less than what I set it for, so I always set it for 0.5g above what I actually want.
I have the brew burr set as well as the espresso burrs, it still produces too many fines for pour over for me so pretty much only use it for espresso. It's fine for Aeropress or Moka though.
It is pretty loud, not too loud but it's a shame they couldn't cram in some foam inside to quieten it down a little.
It's really easy to keep clean. Takes aprx 60 seconds to remove the burrs, knock out any grounds and give it a quick brush.

Overall, despite it's shortcomings or quirks - I'm perfectly happy with it. I wanted something that would give me easy consistent results and that's easy enough for my wife to do the same. Once I'd played with what works and doesn't work well, and got a workflow dialled in I get exactly what I want from it. But it's worth bearing in mind the points from above as it might not be for everyone.

Also, CoffeeHit also sell the Wi upgrade module. I'm tempted to try it, but not sure if it's worth the hassle given mine works fine for me at the moment.

Dj_Jestar · 17 Apr 2019 at 22:47

@jpaul 12g of grind retention. The chute is completely horizontal and over an inch long with the static guard at the end (furthest from the burrs) . I have to dump a full shot of beans every morning if I want to avoid a stale cup. There are mods to improve this (as @Muska notes) but I've not built up the courage to mod mine. Honestly I kind of regret not having checked for this before I bought it, however it still gets great reviews so maybe I just overthink it.

Raymond Lin · 18 Apr 2019 at 08:20

Much to my silent protest against spending £500 in a kickstarter project, thinking and looking for something more time tested and a commercial machine would be a better buy, it seems the Niche Zero is the one to get...may be.

Street · 18 Apr 2019 at 17:01

Dj_Jestar said:
Yeah I posted about mine a few pages ago, after someone else recommended/talked about theirs - this was it:

500g 58mm Espresso Coffee Distributor Tool Macaron Coffee Leveler Tamper with Three Angled Slopes Non-slip Thread for 58mm Portafilter https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0788M5HS9

Use it daily. Immeasurable value to me now, there's just no way I could ever be as consistent without it.

I think I'll take a punt on one of these. I saw the OCD ages ago but couldn't stomach £150 for it so this looks much more reasonable. I didn't think to look on Amazon for a cheap version at the time then forgot about it.

Nick1881 · 18 Apr 2019 at 18:47

Raymond Lin said:
Much to my silent protest against spending £500 in a kickstarter project, thinking and looking for something more time tested and a commercial machine would be a better buy, it seems the Niche Zero is the one to get...may be.

You won’t regret it. Mines been great so far and apparently it will get better as the burrs season.

Scottland · 18 Apr 2019 at 19:57

Street said:
I think I'll take a punt on one of these. I saw the OCD ages ago but couldn't stomach £150 for it so this looks much more reasonable. I didn't think to look on Amazon for a cheap version at the time then forgot about it.

I've got a similar one too, very good. I think I paid about £15 from Aliexpress. I still tamp after though

Raymond Lin · 18 Apr 2019 at 21:40

Nick1881 said:
You won’t regret it. Mines been great so far and apparently it will get better as the burrs season.

What I’m conflicted internally is whether I can tell the difference. I saw a video where they used a bunch of grinders and did a double blind test and the long and short of it is that the results was so varied it was pretty even across all the different grinders from blade to burr...meaning it is pointless?

On the other hand, my techy nerdy side of me just want new toys. I bought a leveller tonight to help with the spread a bit. I know if I get the Niche I need a scale too which adds to the cost which I don’t have at the moment.

Nick1881 · 18 Apr 2019 at 21:50

Raymond Lin said:
What I’m conflicted internally is whether I can tell the difference. I saw a video where they used a bunch of grinders and did a double blind test and the long and short of it is that the results was so varied it was pretty even across all the different grinders from blade to burr...meaning it is pointless?

On the other hand, my techy nerdy side of me just want new toys. I bought a leveller tonight to help with the spread a bit. I know if I get the Niche I need a scale too which adds to the cost which I don’t have at the moment.

I feel like I can taste the difference when I didn't think I would, it's not like the grinder I had was really bad either.

Scales can be cheap, I have some that were £18 from Amazon with a timer.

Raymond Lin · 18 Apr 2019 at 22:01

Nick1881 said:
I feel like I can taste the difference when I didn't think I would, it's not like the grinder I had was really bad either.

Scales can be cheap, I have some that were £18 from Amazon with a timer.

I’ll probably get it because my current grinder is over 1 years old and never been serviced or cleaned

it’s probably time to retire it.