Coffee Appreciation

This is the anthracite version and after having some conversations with ECM via social media, they agreed to powdercoat the front panel for £50 extra.

Looked at this a dozen times now trying to figure out whether it looks cool or just plain "wrong".

I think it's both.

Quite surprised really that ECM did do this to be honest.

Talking about the High Line in another thread got me thinking about going back to NYC - any recommendations for Italian-style coffee?
Also any restaurants worth going to, though honestly last time we were there if the place looked interesting it was usually worth a visit.

Much easier to keep clean.

I am getting wooden handles made which should look great with the dark anthracite colour.

It is a great machine - thanks @StevePeel for the recommendation.

As for the grinder, it is good too but sprays ground coffee everywhere so might be better suited to a professional environment.

Just discovered Filtru app, seems good...

After living without a dedicated espresso machine, I found a bargain and snapped up a DeLonghi ECO310 for £20 in a house clearance. The owner said it was his brother’s and basically never used. Not so sure it’s a bargain now though...

It really struggles to deal with fine grinds that’ve been tamped down firmly, very uneven extraction throughout the shot. I thought it might be a pump issue as it isn’t exactly chucking out water but I’ve no way to measure pressure. Flow rate is ~4.5g/second. That seems unreasonably low to me. Are my expectations way too high here or have I bought a duffer?

Are you using the pressurised basket? If you grind too fine and/or tamp too hard they clog up, they're designed to give a consistent shot with minimal effort. If you want any control you'll have to swap it for an unpressurised basket.

That could well be it then. Thanks for the info. I’ll try and be less of an enthusiast until I can snag a different setup.

Can any recommend a milk frothing jug?

Or are they all the same?

Just for home use, I have one that is too large for single beverages.

https://coffeehit.co.uk/collections/barista-tools-milk-frothing-pitchers/products/rhino-coffee-gear-classic-milk-pitcher
Can't really go any smaller. I don't believe in painted pitchers either, they add some insulation and tempt you to over heat the milk.

This is what I have, good for one drink and certainly for enough to heat for my cheapo delonghi!

You should be able to get depressurised baskets for your machine and do some simple upgrades, this article helped me do some mods, admittedly I have this very machine but there won't be anything stopping you doing similar things to your machine.
https://medium.com/@danielabdilla/mastering-coffee-from-your-kitchen-top-45276afaea00

Cheers for the advice @sumo I will invest!

I use one of these: https://rhinocoffeegear.com/rhino-coffee-gear-black-stealth-milk-pitcher-12-oz-360-ml.html

No complaints from me!

In ref to some of the above recommendations, I've done some upgrading to my old Gaggia Classic. I'm now keen to go unpressurised and therefore understand I need to do the OPV fiddle down to 10bar.

I'm probably going to try this blind (270 degrees counter clockwise right?), but if anyone has a gauge I can borrow that would be great!

Already bought and fitted a new brass shower plate holder and new shower screen. I also finally got a nicer grinder so I can go fine enough. Mornings are a voyage of discovery in the Scrabble household at present.

I have a gauge you can borrow but getting hold of it from me will be tricky as I'm not in london very much at the moment.

I did mine blind and it was close enough when I checked after the first go i didn't bother to re-do it i think. I'd say give it a go and see how you get on and borrow the gauge later on to confirm if you're not having any luck.

Thanks for the offer. Let's see how it goes when my normal basket gets here.

I'm just conscious I'm playing with grind size while also now dealing with an unknown pressure. Reducing the variables seems important.

I did the OPV adjustment last night, and used the "not quite blind method" of seeing how much water comes down the return pipe in 30 seconds with a blind basket in. As I've upgraded the pump a while ago (not sure what to) I'm not sure if that effects how much water I should see through the return pipe, but it appears I'm in the right ball park.

Or a bit cheaper if you have access to a nisbets https://www.nisbets.co.uk/olympia-milk-jug-340ml/j316

Nice one - I hadn't pulled the trigger on the Rhino one as the postage was half the value of the jug.

I will swing by Nisbets in Shoreditch and see them in the flesh.

Just got my Grey Seal coffee in the mail. So good. First discovered it when I stopped by the Art Cafe when heading to the coast ...

I might sign up for their subscription and see how it goes.

I’ve got a Gaggia Gran Classic I’m not using... minded to offer it on here for something like £80?

is this a rocket? looks slightly different to the ones google images spits out

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also, do want.

@ChasnotRobert what's your setup?

Anyone experienced in grinder repairs?
My father-in-law managed to merk my kitchenaid last week.
I wasn’t there when it happened but apparently was mid-grind so possibly bushings(it’s over 15yrs old now)? It would appear every part imaginable is easily available but no idea how I’d really go about pinpointing the exact issue..

Any good leads appreciated :)

It's an ECM Classika and a Eureka Mignon grinder.

The Classika is a single boiler with PID which makes it great for espresso but a bit more limited for frothing milk as you have to wait for the boiler to get up to steam temp.

Eureka grinder has proved ideal, so far.

thanks I've been looking at this bundle... thoughts?

https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/espresso-machines/special-offer-rancilio-silvia-black-edition-with-eureka-mignon-manuale-save-65.html