Coffee Appreciation

Coffee machine arrived, produces a good coffee OOTB.

Obviously thinking* about buying the Puck Sucker now as that's just a great name for a product.

* thinking meaning, ordered from John Lewis already

If it's got the same grinder as the Barista Pro you'll want to open that sucker up and adjust the internal grind settings down a couple notches if you want better shots

Probably... the smart grinder thing.

Do you have a link to the thing to do ?

This thing https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/products/coffee-grinders/bcg820.html

I didn't buy a bean-to-cup thing... the machine was just a pure dual-boiler https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/products/espresso/bes920.html?sku=BES920UK

Though a bit of me suspects you mean the built-in grinder on the other models which this isn't.

I can't find the video I watched but this looks like it goes through the same process. I moved mine down to 4 I think, and the quality of shots is night and day better now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNvOcE4-VEo&pp=ygUhc2FnZSBiYXJpc3RhIHBybyBpbnRlcm5hbCBncmluZGVy

oh yeah, that's the one... the smart grinder pro.

though the espresso pour time is about 30 seconds and it hits 9 bar, and the grind looks fine... so maybe it's fine 🤷

Maybe it's setup different on the dual boiler machines. If it ain't broke...

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/17110810/

FYI before you adjust it

I’m still smarting about that.

Thank you. Was very confused because there was a DF64 v5, but now realise that the DF64 Gen II is newer than the V5.

In other news, the Flair 58+ is great. Really nice to be able to use standard sized stuff versus the Robot's proprietary sized stuff. Surprisingly, less fool proof than the Robot I think. That was so easy to use straight off the bat, but the 58+ definitely has a learning curve to it.

Anyone used one of these flippable tamper/levelers? Thinking about matchy matchy now

https://shop.rocket-espresso.com/products/2-in-1-tamper-leveler

This was useful... and now the grinder is dialled in I'm getting 9 bar and 30 second pours consistently and the coffee is great... it was, in fact, wildly off originally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1EszSZvKbc

Anyone heard of Diamofox? Came across their shopyfy store whilst fantasising about espresso machines I can't afford (financially or domestically). They're advertising some Lelit and other nice machines for £100+ less than anyone else but I can't see any reviews or mentions of Diamofox anywhere else online...

Would you buy an espresso machine from a business claiming to be registered at this address?

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Absolutely would not trust, steer clear.

The shop has zero legal information, no company info, anonymised email addresses in the T&Cs... this is screaming too good to be true, and you have no way to contact them at all that you can verify... the address is just a cul-de-sac... and Googling the phone number turns up nothing but this site.

Super suspicious from every angle, do not risk your money.

If I wanted to scam someone, selling high value things via the internet in a non-traceable way via a marketplace would rank highly.

If it sounds too good to be true...

I always think the "just cheaper enough" price points as troubling as the stupid cheap ones.

Looking at their page, loads of contradictory info, contact email address is proton mail (red flag), business address is a residential house (red flag), some guff about forging partnerships with manufacturers but isn't listed on companies house (guessing you can forge business relationships outside of your business, but troubling still)

You do get buyers protection rights in the UK so perhaps take a punt if you trust your credit card company to refund a dodgy purchase.

There is also a mobile number listed, maybe ring them and ask if they are scammers?

Edit: what they said. ^ ^^

Maybe there's a big garage just out of view filled £50ks worth of high end coffee gear.
I thought I'd mentioned it here because it seemed too good to be true. At least now if someone Googles Diamofox it may bring them here to be warned off.

whilst we’re on the topic, we’re looking to sell the Sage Duo-Temp esspresso machine my wife was certain we needed but has only used once in about a year and that was when we had friends come visit. (ex-)baristas, eh!

not in London, so would have to post unless you’re near to or frequent Merseyside - thinking £100 for it? (machine, portafilter, milk jug, cleaning stuff etc.)

if anyone’s interested let me know and i can sort out photos and a full list of all the bits.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/12/study-why-a-spritz-of-water-before-grinding-coffee-yields-less-waste-tastier-espresso/

Anyone used one of these flippable tamper/levelers? Thinking about matchy matchy now

https://shop.rocket-espresso.com/product­s/2-in-1-tamper-leveler

I have not, but I can't see how it would distribute the grounds below the level of the bumps, which may be zero problem of course but would bother me.

I've been using one of these, which has been fun and I enjoy as a part of my coffee ritual each morning.

I've got a couple of normal WDT tools, but wanted something that gave the exact same results each time so I could try to get to a point where I changed a single variable at a time.

Current thinking seems to be that they aren't better/possibly worse than just tapping with palm to level. WDT is pretty universally seen as gold-standard these days for puck prep, main downside is the just the time it takes.

I'd also argue you can get an identical ebay/alixepress version without Rocket printed on the side for a tenner. 61EUR is outrageous.

I've seen those but they're a bit too fiddly for my "workflow".

I just liked the idea of the combo for speed and that it might reduce the chance of channelling a little bit.

So, they can help, but "deep WDT" is bestest:
https://coffeeadastra.com/2021/01/16/a-study-of-espresso-puck-resistance-and-how-puck-preparation-affects-it/

Yeah, I've decided not to bother.

But now I want a knock box for under the machine. The missus complained spent pucks sweat the bin. We've only been knocking them straight into the bin for 10 years...

I think an 'under machine' knockbox would be great but finding one the right size for an Apartamento is proving tricky. They all seem grinder size, not small espresso machine size.

New study, but that's an old technique.

When using my other grinder (a cheap plastic Krups) I used to stir the beans with a wet spoon to reduce the static and stop the clumping/sticking of grinds in the plastic hopper.

Sure this has been done to death already but I'm after a beginner hand grinder as a Christmas gift in the £30-45 range, mostly for an Aeropress - current roads lead to the Hario Skerton as a beginner one