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  • The Porlex & drill combo might be OK for a stovetop, but I imagine the La Pavoni might expose its failing more.

    Had a Porlex + drill for the first 6 months or so, there were probably issues around grind consistency and whatnot but for me the main issue was the steps were too large (the Porlex can grind fine enough by the way, though I couldn't get a Rhino to do the same), so I'd end up juggling dose and grind size to get a decent shot. That proved to be irritating. But it's a decent enough setup to start out with IMO.

    Just as a heads up, this might seem obvious but the pressure gauge is for the boiler pressure, nothing to do with the pressure you'll be forcing the water through the coffee bed at (unlike the pressure gauge you get on the Robot, obviously, as it doesn't have a boiler...).

  • Gotcha - cheers!

    What basket size is it by the way? I can't seem to find this anywhere, and I need to buy some sweet overpriced tampers.

  • It's a 51mm tamper, I just got a generic £10 one but I do advise tamping on the lighter side. Not sure if you caught James Hoffman's recent Europiccola video but tamping at the pressure I was used to would result in relatively little water passing through the centre of the puck compared to the edges.

    On that note, I'm not sure if your one comes with a bottomless portafilter, but I definitely recommend getting one. This site has a pretty comprehensive selection of parts: https://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/en/Spare-Parts/c-49.aspx?BrandIDs=42

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