espresso making mags?

[Patches]

A buddy just gave me a Unic Diva... a single head commercial machine that he got from a restaurant that went under about 10 years ago. A pretty nice machine, you can pick them up for not too much and they appear to be quite easy to work on - lots of space inside compared to my old prosumer unit. Beefcake, too - the pump/motor is almost as big as a football!

Parts are expensive but no worse than my old ECM, and available.

http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/commer...nicdiva/latest

[Lev]

^^^^^ Holy shit - espresso porn! I can smell it from here....

Haha. Tasted good too

[willywhit]

I just inherited a Francis Francis ! X1 that supposedly still works. it retails for like $900.
http://www.illyusa.com/webapp/wcs/st...x1-ground-E410
anyone know about these machines ? it might have to be rebuilt but I figure I can sink some $$ into it since it was basically free.
what's the advantage to getting a higher end machine over the Krups combo machine I've been using to make drip coffee and a shot of espresso every morning ?
http://products.howstuffworks.com/kr...ine-review.htm
How important is it to run the decalcification tablets to ensure it doesn't get tweaked ? I usually run it daily to avoid it getting clogged up, esp the steamer, I blow the residual milk out after steaming.
I've yet to run these tablets, gotta get some.
http://www.wholelattelove.com/articl...o_machines.cfm

[carvedog]

So I am looking at the screw together espresso makers and I wonder if anyone has heard of anything larger than the 18 oz or so version?

Large camping type trip and I want better coffee than melitta drip for the group.

[Name Redacted]

12 cup = 96 oz I think....
http://www.amazon.com/Bialetti-Expre.../dp/B000CNY6UK
Been using these camping for years and they work great. Pretty unbreakable and simple. I use one at home everyday. Wish there was a titanium one for backpacking They also work pretty fast on a b-packers stove usually

A large lexan french press also works well if you don't mind the bisphenol A taste

[carvedog]

12 cup = 96 oz I think....
http://www.amazon.com/Bialetti-Expre.../dp/B000CNY6UK
Been using these camping for years and they work great. Pretty unbreakable and simple. I use one at home everyday. Wish there was a titanium one for backpacking They also work pretty fast on a b-packers stove usually

A large lexan french press also works well if you don't mind the bisphenol A taste

This from the product info. Looking for something bigger - thanks though.

Product Features
Size: 12-cup

* Stovetop brewer makes 12 2-ounce cups of espresso in just 4 to 5 minutes
* Made of durable polished aluminum in a unique octagon shape
* Flip-up top and side-pour spout provide added convenience
* Wash by hand with warm soapy water and rinse clean; made in Italy
* Measures 5-1/2 by 10 inches

[Name Redacted]

Ah ha! 12 quarter cups...... Oh well I tried, now that I think of it 96 oz would be hudge. That's pretty big though. (24 oz is still more than the 18 you were talking about technically)

I don't know if they come bigger or if they would work any bigger. Seems like the pressure required and the coffee required would be prohibitive in something that size.

I would probably recommend a french press for the size of group you are talking about. Maybe you could fashion one out of a five gallon bucket

[FlimFlam]

My personal habit has grown to about 5 shots per day. But hey I just read an article in the Boston Globe saying coffee is good for you. I use Lavazza's Blue capsule machines most of the time just for convenience.

Patches nice crema on those shot glasses.

Willy...Decalcification importance really depends on your local water. If you live in an area that has heavy mineral content your going to need to do this fairly regularly or you will be rebuilding your heat element before too long. If the water is fairly soft then I wouldn't worry about it too much...like anything though preventative maintenance is always good and water filters are probably the best insurance you can buy.

FWIW I work for a Lavazza Distributor & am one of their national reps. If anybody would like a good source for their coffee send me a PM. We have offices across the US so shipping should be pretty reasonable.

[pechelman]

my folks are in town for a visit and my mom who loves her espresso was blown away by what I was making with a Fresh Roast, green beans, a Zass handmill burr grinder, and an "entry level" gaggia dose machine.

been pretty happy with everything in general
the zass cranks out some amazingly non-clumpy, light fluffy grind with almost no static. makes distributions a non-issue. its not super consistent, but there are only like 20 bigger chunks that rise to the top after the cursory double tap of the PF on a cutting board to level it out.

the gaggia dose also pulls some super consistent shots.
the steam wand is a bit hokey, but by moving the o-ring down one notch, ive turned it from a panarello turbo frother into a standard steam tip. (ie it doesnt suck air back into the wand)

and the roaster is pretty fool proof, especially after I installed a thermocouple.
turn the dial, sit and wait for first crack, and watch it carefully.

i think my favorite bean ive found so far has been the ethiopia idido misty valley around a FC to FC+ roast, around 5 days post roast, from sweet marias. unbelievable flavor profile.

[willywhit]

My personal habit has grown to about 5 shots per day. But hey I just read an article in the Boston Globe saying coffee is good for you. I use Lavazza's Blue capsule machines most of the time just for convenience.

Patches nice crema on those shot glasses.

Willy...Decalcification importance really depends on your local water. If you live in an area that has heavy mineral content your going to need to do this fairly regularly or you will be rebuilding your heat element before too long. If the water is fairly soft then I wouldn't worry about it too much...like anything though preventative maintenance is always good and water filters are probably the best insurance you can buy.

FWIW I work for a Lavazza Distributor & am one of their national reps. If anybody would like a good source for their coffee send me a PM. We have offices across the US so shipping should be pretty reasonable.

just when I was ready to say..."thanks for the thread jack"....I'll PM ya about the Lavazza beans.
the answer is :
http://www.tcsrepairservice.com/
it's $85 to have them tech it out, evidently the boards like to fry out.

[Lev]

It's Business Time

[BurnHard]

BUMP!

School me on grinders doods!

Looking to spend no more than ~$120ish right now.
Should I wait till I can afford to pay more, or can I get something decent within that budget? Looking to make espresso & moka.

Gaggia MDF? ($300 new! Oouch. $180 used...better)
Saeco Titan Burr Grinder? $129
Baratza Maestro Coffee Grinder? $99
Capresso Infinity Burr Grinder? ~$80

[Steven S. Dallas]

We have [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BCG450XL-Conical-Burr-Grinder/dp/B000MDHH0Q"]this thing[/ame], made by Breville. Works great, very easily adjustable, love the timer function (maybe that's common, I don't know).

edit: wtf is up with this Amazon icon? Lame.

[pechelman]

BUMP!

School me on grinders doods!

Looking to spend no more than ~$120ish right now.
Should I wait till I can afford to pay more, or can I get something decent within that budget? Looking to make espresso & moka.

Gaggia MDF? ($300 new! Oouch. $180 used...better)
Saeco Titan Burr Grinder? $129
Baratza Maestro Coffee Grinder? $99
Capresso Infinity Burr Grinder? ~$80

bernardo, how many cups a day?

between those, id say the baratza
id also say to get the virtuoso if you can swing it, as its better suited to espresso grinds than the maestro

but if you dont drink more than say, 3-4 doubles a day, Id tell you to get a manual handcrank grinder with a stepless adjustment for anywhere between 20-90$

you really can get some excellent grind out of a manual one, and way more adjustable than with an electric stepped one in this price range.
burrs will be of a higher quality, and you can dose your beans before you grind so you can get exactly what you want in the filter basket. and you also can keep your beans in a sealed jar rather than in a hopper to keep them fresher. theres also little to no waste or spilling with a hand crank. finally, static and clumping are pretty much a non issue in a hand crank.

i love my zass grinder, but i hear some of the vintage ones from the 40-60s from west germany are the shit. like PeDe Diennes and KyM.

www.sweetmarias.com
www.orphanespresso.com
are two good places to start
also ebay.

[BurnHard]

Pech, awesome info, thanks!

3-4 doubles a day, tops, unless I have a big dinner party.
Manual grinder sounds awesome, but I think I'm gonna stick to being lazy and get an electric one. I can bump my budget to ~$150ish, but that's about it. And I don't have to be limited to the options I listed above - if you have other suggestions in that price range, hit me.

The Virtuoso does look nice. Maybe I can make $200 work...

Edit: Ok. Fuck it. Disposable incomes rule. Which one between these:

Baratza Virtuoso
KitchenAid Pro Line Coffee Mill
Baratza Maestro Plus Coffee
Gaggia MDF

[pechelman]

virtuoso ftw

heard lots of mixed things about the gaggias, and even the rocky at the next step up.

the only other grinder that i can think of off hand, that ive heard decent things about, are the ascaso's, but those are in the 250 range. Grind quality is a touch better, but the real benefit to those extra 50$ over the virtuoso, is the fact you get a stepless adjustment. (honestly, its a huge deal if you use fresh beans &/or roast and have a decent pump\lever machine)
http://www.1st-line.net/cgi-bin/cate...Slr&type=store
http://www.1st-line.net/cgi-bin/cate...Sdb&type=store
(they have a ton of models and in different colors, so feel free to browse)

ill say that when using my roasted beans, i constantly adjust my handmill dial by about a couple minutes of rotation (as if looking at a clock), to dial it in. 5minutes of rotation for me equals about 3-5seconds of extraction time, so it sucks to be locked into one step or the other with some of these stepped adjustments ala Rocky\Gaggia\Virtuoso


ps, you can always attach a drill \ electric screw driver that you may already have to the top of a manual handcrank....

[BurnHard]

Hmmmm. Spending too much time on home-barista.com ...
Someone recommended the Nemox Napoletana on there, and found one for $350:

http://www.1-800-espresso.com/nemox-napoletana.html

Duh! Should I go for this instead as a first investment?

[Cruiser]

ps, you can always attach a drill \ electric screw driver that you may already have to the top of a manual handcrank....

Pechelman = Master Enginerd

[pechelman]

Hmmmm. Spending too much time on home-barista.com ...
Someone recommended the Nemox Napoletana on there, and found one for $350:

http://www.1-800-espresso.com/nemox-napoletana.html

Duh! Should I go for this instead as a first investment?

that looks like a nice setup, though personally, id just focus on one thing at at time. ive also not heard of nemox and would be concerned about spare parts for either the grinder or espresso...if the pump fails, you may be left with a very large and possibly mediocre grinder.

If you're looking for a pump driven espresso machine, I might be selling my 3-4month old gaggia dose, with a few accessories for 200$, if this lady accepts my offer on her machine. Ive got it pretty well dialed as well, so i can show you all the tricks in person. Would cut the learning curve by 80% i think.

[BurnHard]

I could swing this one:

http://www.1st-line.net/cgi-bin/cate...Sdb&type=store

Probably better to invest in a good grinder like that than a combined espresso machine.
I think I'm sold on this one (and definitely sold on stepless adjustment). Thanks!

[pechelman]

sure thing
they also sell one of those I-mini's in polished aluminum (though its like 25$ more)

thats a great grinder and i think you should be able to get parts for a long time.

to put it in perspective, i think the nicest\best home grinder id ever consider getting, if i ever went electric, would be a macap m4 doserless\stepless in the $400's.

edit
ive also heard great things about 1st-line in general, so they should take care of you should anything happen.

you may also find this of itnerest
http://www.home-barista.com/advice/u...ini-t4398.html
http://www.home-barista.com/grinders...iew-t4801.html

[pechelman]

excited because my "new" machine was just finished.
hopefully this will be delivered next week!

[Cruiser]

^^^ Is that a manual pump? If so, you're hard core. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

In related news I'm going to look seriously at a roaster next month. ~$1600 in vet bills this month (dentals and several sists removed on both idiot hounds) made the cash flow more like a cash trickle.

[PedalPaddle]

at $400, it's a bit out of your desired price.. but i have been very happy with my baratza vario grinder (ceramic burrs, electronic timer, very adjustable - the pf holder gimmick is crap but really not a detractor). i have that paired with an expobar office lever (thanks to suggestions from 'spro lovin mags) and pull consistently great shots.

[pechelman]

^^^ Is that a manual pump? If so, you're hard core. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

In related news I'm going to look seriously at a roaster next month. ~$1600 in vet bills this month (dentals and several sists removed on both idiot hounds) made the cash flow more like a cash trickle.

well, im not sure you would call it a pump, but i guess you could
but yea, theres a piston attached to the lever
you push the lever down, you push the piston and force water through the coffe.
you pull the lever up, you pull the piston up, and you draw water into the chamber.

the great thing about this machine is how small it is
super portable, so i can bring it on over
well, super portable except for the 18lb transformer ill need to carry with it
hehe

you will be so stoked on the roaster
let me know if you need anymore info or halp
also, before you start ordering tons of green coffee, i just realized i have about 15-16 different varieties in my cupboard so you can try em.
or you can just tell me what flavors you want and i can tell you what to buy