Coffee Appreciation

Just recieved my Peak water. This can't be right?

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I've been umming and arring about buying one of these since lockdown began, what was your old machine and how happy are you with the lelit? :)

Mine is the same if you are talking about things looking out of alignment? I thought it was odd when I put the filter in but it works fine.

A Yellow Bourbon order shipped same day as a Square Mile order on Tuesday has arrived first in SE London. Witchcraft.

Ah. Well there's something else going on so. . The lid and bypass pin aren't fitting snugly into the liner. So when I try and move the dial from release it won't budge.

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I’ve gone from a Gaggia Classic to this, the Classic was pretty standard. So no OPV mod or PID,

I must say I’ve only pulled one shot but it was night and day. Fuller flavour and a far better crema.

I need to read through the instructions and guides to fully understand the nuances.

From what I have read the MaraX is an upgrade, mine is the PL62 not X, I bought mine used but paid significantly less.

I found it easier to fit blue armature which fits to the dial at the top into the filter before putting the filter into the blue insert. Once it's clicked into place you can then slide them both in and it fits - not snugly, because the finishing on it is rubbish, but it fits and does the job.

It's all pretty terrible to be honest, the original blurb was:
"At the heart of Peak Water is our innovative disc filter, combining precisely calculated flow dynamics with our new ‘filter maze’ system"

The graphic on their kickstarter suggests that the amount of time the water spent in the filter is the variable.

It isn't.

My first filter started making the top chamber stink like paint. I complained, they sent me a new filter - so I opened up the old one. There's no maze. All that blue dial does is changes how covered/uncovered a little hole is that allows water to pass through without touching the resins that are inside the filter. The rest of the water just gets dumped straight through the resins - it's just a big empty chamber, filled with the mushy resin stuff, no maze, no clever flow dynamics. It's literally mixing uniformly filtered water with unfiltered water rather than varying the time that all of the water is exposed to the filter.

They've pointed out that other filters simply pass water from top to bottom and suggest theirs is different. The only difference with theirs is that it mixes top to bottom filtered water with unfiltered water. And in some cases, gives off some pretty foul odours.

I'm not impressed, especially given it was unapologetically delivered 2 years late - even with funding from Innovate UK.

The video reviews I have seen say that when its working it might be a little better for coffee than a Brita filter. Perhaps time to go with the tried and tested...

I found it easier to fit blue armature which fits to the dial at the top into the filter before putting the filter into the blue insert. Once it's clicked into place you can then slide them both in and it fits - not snugly, because the finishing on it is rubbish, but it fits and does the job.

Have just tried this and I can get it in and the dial moving this way but once put in all back together I can't move the dial again.

Absolutely.

Before I got the peak, I was actually using the cheapo filters from Wilko. I'll be going back to them once the replacement filter in the peak starts smelling like emulsion.

How do you find those Wilko filters? Just reluctantly spent over £30 on a box of Brita ones. A lot of money for what they are (other than a microplastic nightmare).

So. Much. This.

I thought I was missing something when looking at the old filter (which they can't recycle as they've not set-up the facility yet). My second filter already has a hint of anchovy. Will be digging the Brita out.

Yellow bourbon ordered Tuesday arrived today. 3kg reup.

@StevePeel you have performed amazing service to the community during this period. Thank you

Managed to force the dial in. Not a great start. Too late for coffee now, will taste test in the morning.

Out of curiosity what setting are people using. London water is pretty hard, right?

Perky Blenders, Waltham Forest. They advertise their coffee as Specialty Coffee.

Is this an Americanism, or are my spider senses tingling unnecessarily?

@StevePeel you have performed amazing service to the community during this period.

Yeah, this. Thanks @StevePeel

I use these ones - https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-3-pack-universal-water-filter-cartridges/p/0196657 - rather than the maxtra style ones.

They come in six for £9 too. They're good. I got the peak out of curiosity rather than feeling the wilko filters didn't do a good enough job.

On the topic of filters, I was looking to buy another batch. Is there anything out there better (cost/function/waste-wise) than the standard Brita maxtra filters? It's a design that's been around a long time so I'm sure there are other options, but are any of them worthwhile?

lol

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If that’s what annoys you most about something called Perky Blenders...

Aw thanks for the kind words 😊

Tbh it does look as though it’s going to transform into the toaster. I have looked and cannot see any autobot insignia

Living with a pre teen and 9 year old I consider myself lucky that stuff finds its way back to the cupboard.

Treated myself to Comandante C40 grinder.

Me too! My lockdown man maths made it an easy decision!

Very impressed myself - I'm not going down to espresso grinds but it's no effort to turn - only for single servings so far though. I've only just got an Aeropress as well (why did I wait so long?) so use it mainly for that, but French press is noticeably 'cleaner' with hardly any fine powder.

I might take some ground coffee from it to work if I ever get back to the office, but the idea of taking it on holiday is appealing!

I'm using the espresso gring in my Aeropress to to make espresso style shot for afternoon flat whites. Works super well!

Forgot that I have a french press, will test that out tomorrow!