Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Our local Sainsburys sells Union coffee beans and it's fantastic for a supermarket coffee. I recently bought some beans that had a roasted date of only 2 weeks ago. I can dial it in perfectly with my Rancillio Rocky and Silvia and it delivers a really nice coffee. A great supplement in between my monthly $quare Mile subscription.
 
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looking at getting an electric grinder...had a hario skerton manual ceramic burr grinder for years...I rinse it out after every use (only used weekends really), how often can/would you clean a grinder like the Wilfa Svart?

also...any other suggestion for a grinder ~£150 other than Wilfa Svart? was hoping to see some more reviews of that level of grinder on James Hoffman channel but could only really find this vid (Wilfa Svart vs Baratza Encore)
www.youtube.com

Grinder Showdown: Wilfa Svart vs Baratza Encore

You asked for it, so here it is! The Wilfa Svart Grinder (£105) vs the Baratza Encore (£150).Note: I purchased the Wilfa from Workshop Coffee. However, I now...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
builder22 said:
looking at getting an electric grinder...had a hario skerton manual ceramic burr grinder for years...I rinse it out after every use (only used weekends really), how often can/would you clean a grinder like the Wilfa Svart?

also...any other suggestion for a grinder ~£150 other than Wilfa Svart? was hoping to see some more reviews of that level of grinder on James Hoffman channel but could only really find this vid (Wilfa Svart vs Baratza Encore)
www.youtube.com

Grinder Showdown: Wilfa Svart vs Baratza Encore

You asked for it, so here it is! The Wilfa Svart Grinder (£105) vs the Baratza Encore (£150).Note: I purchased the Wilfa from Workshop Coffee. However, I now...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Do you rinse out the ceramic burrs? I thought you were never meant to get them wet!

I clean the metal burrs on my electric grinder when I can be bothered (maybe monthly if I'm using it a lot?) - Use an old toothbrush and plastic wire brush thing.
 
builder22 said:
Yeah just rinse water through and work it back n forth a few times.
You get ceramic sinks and toilets so should be fine? :o
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Those are glazed :p

Well, good to know it hasn't destroyed your grinder TBH, I'm mega paranoid.

... I did once sleepily pour the water for my water tank, through my grinder actually! I'd forgotten that. Cue a very bleary eyed disassembly session.
 
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Couple of new additions:
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Decided to trade in my faulty Sette against a Vario W+ using CoffeeHit. Considered all options, including repairing it but ended up deciding the Vario W+ was the way to go for me.
Also took the opportunity to pick up the Timemore Basic+ scales. These are so much better (faster) than my cheaper 'coffee' scales - although still as accurate these will track weight in the cup as soon as liquid starts going in whereas my old ones had some lag in there especially at the begging of the shot.
 
Scottland said:
Decided to trade in my faulty Sette against a Vario W+ using CoffeeHit. Considered all options, including repairing it but ended up deciding the Vario W+ was the way to go for me.
Also took the opportunity to pick up the Timemore Basic+ scales. These are so much better (faster) than my cheaper 'coffee' scales - although still as accurate these will track weight in the cup as soon as liquid starts going in whereas my old ones had some lag in there especially at the begging of the shot.
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good outcome - did you visit a/their showroom ?
what grind process have you adopted - grind a shot at a time with pf under the spout, I guess it's fairly quick (with my Rocky it's 30s to grind a shot, old school)
 
No, I bought a Sette 270 from them as a refurb originally - which then had an issue about 12 months in so I was able to get it repaired by them and upgraded to a 270Wi at the same time for a small fee. So I already had a good relationship with them, they're really helpful. They're a fair way from me, so was just easier to send it in to them and they shipped the Vario to me a few days later. Really good people there and would definitely recommend them because you get exactly the service you want from a small niche supplier.

The Vario W+ can't grind into a pf holder as the scales are at the bottom where the catch bin sits. So I'm just grinding into the catch bin, tipping into the pf (I have a funnel anyway). Stir using a WDT thingy and away I go. I'm still getting used to it, had to adjust it as I couldn't get fine enough at first. I am using older beans though, so will have another fiddle when I get some fresh in there. Been using it for filter and aeropress the last couple of days - definitely better than the Sette for that.

Some observations coming from a Sette;
  • It's built much 'better'. It feel much chunkier and even things like the beans hopper feel better quality
  • Despite only 1 dimension being smaller (depth), it feels much smaller on the counter top
  • It's about twice as slow as the Sette, but at half the volume. The Sette noise really started to bother me after a while
  • Very little static, and it's much cleaner than the Sette so far as the catch bin is quite sealed whereas it was completely open on the Sette
  • The adjustment process of the burrs seems quite good. I might 'hyper align' it at some point, if I can be bothered.

Quite happy overall, sure the Niche or another single dose machine might be better in some respects and the Eureka might look posher, but this is a good all rounder that should last a while hopefully.
 
I've got some curry vouchers to use and want to upgrade my Delonghi Dedica to a Bean to Cup machine. I've narrowed it down to the Delonghi Evo ECAM290.81.TB or Philips Lattego 3200 EP2236/40 for that budget. I'm leaning towards the Delonghi at the moment. Anyone have experience of these? Budget wise £450-550.
 
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Scottland said:
  • It's built much 'better'. It feel much chunkier and even things like the beans hopper feel better quality
  • Despite only 1 dimension being smaller (depth), it feels much smaller on the counter top
  • It's about twice as slow as the Sette, but at half the volume. The Sette noise really started to bother me after a while
  • Very little static, and it's much cleaner than the Sette so far as the catch bin is quite sealed whereas it was completely open on the Sette
  • The adjustment process of the burrs seems quite good. I might 'hyper align' it at some point, if I can be bothered.
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speed is interesting, my slow rocky is not a problem, I'm not running a bar; if anything the faster Sette is heating/degrading the beans more. you grind a cups worth at a time ?
is there a particular way of handling catch bins to potentially minimise static, no one seems to have stainless catch bins.

Belloni said:
I've got some curry vouchers to use and want to upgrade my Delonghi Dedica to a Bean to Cup machine.
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whose grinder ? I'd doubt either of beans to cup will be much better at espresso than dedica ... more powerful steam maybe, but, harder to clean ... and inbuilt grinder, perhaps not as good as you already have.
 
To be honest speed has never been a factor for me, but the noise has so definitively worth it from that perspective.

Isn’t the niche bin SS? Not sure if any of the changes on the + Vario do anything for static, but it’s definitely not an issue for me.
 
I do quite fancy a Sage Precision Brewer for the office, but fear for my caffeine intake - maybe i could have decaf between espressos...

& second Ray's question!
 
and the - isn't it a delonghi presidente in the middle .. is that e61 ?

I still miss Nancy - Silvias mother; the successor a Bezerra HX isn't as cute, but steams.
 
jpaul said:
and the - isn't it a delonghi presidente in the middle .. is that e61 ?

I still miss Nancy - Silvias mother; the successor a Bezerra HX isn't as cute, but steams.
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looks like a gaggia classic, rancilio silvia, Sage barrister pro (or similar) and sage precision brewer. Afaik only the Gaggia uses a e61 size grouphead.
 
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