[Closed] Show me your..........Espresso / Grinder Set-Up

All I use for coffee is this...

[img] http://johnlewis.scene7.com/is/image/JohnLewis/231952462?$prod_main$ [/img]

and it's used flat out everyday.

PS No use to you as your asking about griders etc. I know nowt about that 🙂

I photographed these machines for Londinoum Espresso, 1,2 and 3 lever machines, they have a 'affordable' single lever home machine in the works, I'll be nabbing one of those to go with my Mahlkonig grinder 😀

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Fully renovated Mazzer Super Jolly and Italian LaPavoni

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Kitchenaid Artisan Espresso machine and Kitchenaid Artisan Burr grinder, the espresso machine uses two Gaggia Boiler units (one for the group head and one for steam) wrapped up in a fancy package, it can make a decent enough espresso but i wouldn't say it's any better than the Gaggia baby class it replaced for obvious reasons.

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When this goes pop i may replace it with a [url= http://www.sageappliances.co.uk/the-barista-express.html ]Sage by Heston Blumenthal[/url], a mate has recently bought one and i'm quite impressed with it.

I just took delivery of an eBay Super Jolly last week, a big step up from my little porlex. There is currently a space on the countertop where I'll be putting a Rocket Apparamento once it arrives.

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Rubbish at selling stuff 🙂

Rocket Giotto PID with Eureka Zenith. The grinder is brilliant and have found it more "diallable" than the electronic jolly.
Didn't bother with the dual boiler on the rocket as you have to flush both anyway and the steam is more than powerful enough for domestic use.

[img][url= https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8674/28308739060_bd096391e2_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8674/28308739060_bd096391e2_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/K8xFRW ]2016-07-27_09-14-29[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/69664992@N06/ ]monde35[/url], on Flickr[/img]

I favour the one button, all in one setup that is....

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What is that machine Mr Smith? Great shot BTW

Mine?
Eureka Mignon grinder
Sage dual boiler machine

[url= https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8143/27962959313_03beb2a820_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8143/27962959313_03beb2a820_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/JAZtAa ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/128070574@N05/ ]Andrew Fraser[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8787/28308864850_9b5a688701_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8787/28308864850_9b5a688701_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/K8ykfJ ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/128070574@N05/ ]Andrew Fraser[/url], on Flickr

Bought this Gaggia for £25. The previous owner didn't descale it so the solenoid was blocked. He mistakenly replaced the pump and refitted the pressure valve the wrong way around. He got the hell in with it and sold it cheap. I cleaned it out and now have working machine, winner!
Oh, and a hand burr grinder

Rancilio Silvia and Macap m4 for me:

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My machines
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A cappuccino
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And an espresso in one of my favourite TdF cups
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Simple but effective.
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One button Jura bean to cup here. Nice beans go in the top, espresso comes out the bottom. I use an aerolatte jug and whist rather than steam or the froth attachment.

Downsides: well it uses three esspresso's worth of filtered water (rinse, run rinse) for one cup. Water tank is on the back, so I have to pull it out to refill, could do with a finer grind, so quality is bean-dependent.

Previously I had a Gaggia Classic and it was unreliable. More trouble than it was worth.

Previously I had a Gaggia Classic and it was unreliable. More trouble than it was worth.

How easy is a lapavoni to operate/maintain?

Quite fancy one... would happily buy a non worker for cheap if they are user servicable.

I've just bought my first Racilio Silvia. I have had loads of Gaggia Classics and a few Babys.. I'm not keen on the Baby the switches are no where near as good as the Classic. The Gaggia Classic is a brilliant machine I have the first ever Mark 1 with the 1425 watt boiler and the slightly newer still Italian made 1300 watt one. The very latest Romamia made ones are pap in comparison though 1200 watt and now they have gone down to 900w and done away with adjustable OPV valve and no three way solenoid on the group head!.. Yet the machine is more expensive! At least they changed the boiler from Alloy to stainless though but that doesn't make up for it!

Home: Isomac Zaffiro & Malkhonig Vario
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Away: Aeropress & Hario hand grinder
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How easy is a lapavoni to operate/maintain?

Maintenance is easy. It's about £30 for a set of seals (I think) and the whole thing comes apart with a couple of spanners and some pliers. I've done mine twice in about 5 years, once when I bought it then just a couple of seals when it grew a leak a year or so ago.

Operation is more fiddly. I love it. I probably make a good enough espresso 4/5 times if I know the coffee. When it's a good one is bloody great though. It's pretty picky with beans, seems to like a medium or darker roast, thankfully easily available from our local roasters. People get frustrated with them as it does take a while to get used to it. The pulling of the lever is just another variable to learn.

Get a broken one and fix it. Won't take much and you'll love it after.

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I'm nuts one is in my garage workshop though to be fair!

I'm selling one of the Gaggias, possibly both if anyone is interested. The Mark one on the right is a bit modded, OPV valve adjusted to 9bar and Rancilio Silivia steam wand upgrade bottomless portafilter. The other is standard.

I have found the Krups grinder the model above to be as good as anything too for my machines and such a good price compared to the Rockys and Gaggia offerings.

Just the standard Gaggia and Iberital grinder (all in need of a clean)...

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A regular clean and de-scale keeps the Gaggia sweet. Makes a lovely espresso...

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Some cool pics here. The Gaggia's seem to be a popular choice.

MrBlobby - The colour of that espresso in the last pic looks great!

A cappuccino

Bubble holes in the foam, you sir, disgust me. 😀

Give the foam a light mix with a spoon or wire whisk and don't reboil milk.

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[img] http://s484.photobucket.com/user/ohnomojo/media/image.jpg1_1.jpg.html ][IMG] http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr204/ohnomojo/image.jpg1_1.jp g" target="_blank">http://s484.photobucket.com/user/ohnomojo/media/image.jpg1_1.jpg.html ][IMG] http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr204/ohnomojo/image.jpg1_1.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL][/img]
eureka Olympus 75E

I like my espresso out of bodum double walled glasses, trouble is i keep breaking them as they are rather fragile.

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My old Baby Class on the left which is now out at my work for caffeine top-ups during the day and the Baby Gaggia on the right was an Amazon bargain @ £60 so i bought it as a spare back-up machine. 😉

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No pics but a rather boring combi of Isomac Tea III and Mahlkonig Vario (currently awaiting new burrs so I'm using the backup grinder, a Rossi RR45).

Mr Blobby, that extraction looks a bit on the quick side!

I have to say that I look at these gadgets and wonder how long it takes to clean them, including taking apart and reassembling. Then I thought that it must be part of the housekeeper's duties cos life is simply too short to deal with all that crap.

😉

Cinnamon girl I'd wager that apart from instant granules, it's about the quickest cleanup of any method of making hot brown drinks. I run some cleaner through it once a week, wipe up some spilt grounds now and then. Fairly sure that's faster than cleaning a French press or mokapot after every use. So is it Mellow Birds or Nescafe you're unwittingly admitting to here?

bob_summers - it was a rather tongue in cheek post! What sort of cleaner do you use then? Presumably if you have hard water then it's needs to be descaled regularly?

Edit: the only coffee snobbishness on my part is a refusal to drink instant coffee. I use an electric coffee filter machine as well as a cafetiere with coffee from Aldi or Sainsbury's. 🙂

I use Joe Glow in a blank portafilter; 5 x 10sec cycles then 5 x 10sec rinses, so less than 2min per week. Descaling when I remember but we don't have very hard water here.

Some nice machines and setups here !

A topic full of win

I have to say that I look at these gadgets and wonder how long it takes to clean them, including taking apart and reassembling. Then I thought that it must be part of the housekeeper's duties cos life is simply too short to deal with all that crap.

Any time spent making coffee or cleaning the apparatus pales into insignificance compared to the hours waiting for the other half to decide on something/get ready/do her hair or make-up/take a bath etc. I find making a coffee is the perfect antidote to wasting time.

Mr Blobby, that extraction looks a bit on the quick side!

It's never quite perfect! That one could perhaps do with a couple of turns on the grinder 🙂

Any time spent making coffee or cleaning the apparatus pales into insignificance compared to the hours waiting for the other half to decide on something/get ready/do her hair or make-up/take a bath etc.

^^ This. Back flush once every couple of weeks, descale once a month or so. Doesn't take that long.

I do rather fancy one of those LaPavoni. If my Gaggia ever dies...

Wot ... no mention of the good old fashion stove top Moka yet?

Wot ... no mention of the good old fashion stove top Moka yet?

Clue is in the title...

Espresso

🙂

Clue is in the title... Espresso?

Doesn't a Moka produce coffee by passing boiling water pressurized by steam through ground coffee? Surely that's the same process as any of the machines?

Or is it that my coffee snobiness is behind the curve here? 😀

Not enough pressure for proper espresso. You need around 9 bar, a Moka pot is nowhere near that (around 1 to 2 bar.)

Thanks for the explanation

Looks at Bank Balance and brings out Moka 🙂

🙂

With a bit of effort you can get a nice coffee from a Moka pot, it's just a different drink to an espresso.

Normally manage to produce a coffee with a decent creme.

Just to keep the debate going, isn't a Moka the original espresso maker? (invented by Luigi De Ponti who made the news recently when he died)

Takes me 10 seconds to knock the portafilter coffee cake out after a pour...Then a little wipe of the group head. Done...Once every 5-6 weeks descale. Put descaler (citric acid) in and leave 20 mins and then knock a few empty cups out.. Once in a blue moon back flush... Not really a hassle at all. Cleaning my french press cafetiere is more of a ball ache..

Moka pot tastes nothing like as good as proper pressurised Espresso extraction. I wish it did! I could have a lot more money in my bank! Plus I always forget to turn the gas hob off and that has its own pitfalls the least being a Moka pot that looks like the terminator.

Just to keep the debate going, isn't a Moka the original espresso maker? (invented by Luigi De Ponti who made the news recently when he died)

No idea! But from the Espresso page on Wikipedia...

Angelo Moriondo’s Italian patent for a steam-driven "instantaneous" coffee beverage making device, which was registered in Turin in 1884 (No. 33/256), is notable.

In 1905, the patent was bought by Desiderio Pavoni, who founded the “La Pavoni” company and began to produce the machine industrially (one a day) in a small workshop in Via Parini in Milan.

And for the Moka pot...

It was patented for the first time in Italy by the inventor Luigi De Ponti for Alfonso Bialetti, in 1933

So it looks like (at least in terms of patent) that a pressurised espresso machine pre-dates the moka pot.

Good work mrblobby!

As it's now the afternoon I've now switched to drinking tea. My Moka will be out again in the morning, but can I love it the same again?! 😀

Kitchen's done so after a three year wait, finally managed to get the coffee machine ordered.

Being an amateur home barista is certainly not as easy as it looks!

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Like that a lot.

Mine are:
Gaggia Classic with Rancilio Silvia V2 steam wand mod. You can also do a V3 steam wand mod like [url= http://kabalin.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/gaggia-classic-steam-wand-upgrade.html ]this[/url]

Anfim Super Best grinder.

Eureka Mignon MKII grinder.

🙂

Sage Duo and a Sage pro grinder for me. Hardly touch them maintainance wise.

Rocky and Silvia here. To avoid descaling too often I use a Maxtra filter jug for all the water. (The kettle is 5 years old and hasn't needed a descale yet, the previous kettle without filter died in 18 months).

Rocket owner here too, had it for 6 years. Did a load of barista training once upon a time and had machine set up properly -pressure, group head etc. Works perfectly. It you have to experiment with grinds on new coffees. I have a couple of go to ones that I know produce lovely coffee so tend to just use them. Never, never drink takeaway coffee now for over 2 years as they are all bloody awful.

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Here's mine Isomac tea and Mahlkinig Pro M grinder

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I have a Rancilio Silvia with the Rocky grinder. It's a struggle! Never got proper espresso out of her and i blame the grinder. Do SIlvia owners agree here?
I cut the bottom of the portafilter out to see how the extractions were doing, and it's the same every time; channelling!
Cannot stop the channelling. If i go any finer on the grind it chokes. The grinds come out in clumps and i have to stir them up and get it as even in the basket as i can, then just hope for the best. Just seems to pull too quickly and rush through giving me a harsh, sour but very weak tasting filthyness. It's horrendous.
I bought it in 2012 and gave up probably 2014. I fitted a gauge and set the pressure to 9 bar etc. I temp surf.....
First world nightmare.
I just use an Aeropress now. I also have a pour over and that tastes amazing so i was considering selling the espresso gear and buying the full Hario setup with hand grinder.

Is there such a thing as a budget burr grinder that is worth using? My Dualit's plastic adjuster has cracked and I can no longer get it fine enough for espresso in my Gaggia classic.

@doorag. Are you using supermarket beans or ones from a roaster mail order/local to you?
My machine won't produce a cream with supermarket beans, I drank so much one morning there were shakes and palpitations, nothing would work.
Filtered water helps if you are in a hard water area.
The screen and water spreader are prone to clogging up, new screen and polypuf cleaning solution should sort that out. Don't overfill the filter to avoid it in future.
Apologies if this is teaching granny to suck eggs.

@sandwich
Haha. I hear you on the not feeling so good.
Deifinitely ruled the bad beans already. Water is soft here but full of chlorine. I actually think hard water makes a better brew - tea or coffee.
I was meaning to buy a bigger basket at one point (21g). The standard one isn't deep enough to tamp 14g before the tamp fouls the sides (58mm tamp).
It's the channelling that stops the water hitting all the grinds and extracting that goodness, resulting in foulness.
Are you using the Rocky? If so, are you around the 5 mark?

Pavoni Grinder, Pavoni coffee machine, the latter is nearly 20, the former a few years younger.

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R58 to go with Olympus 75E grinder.

Plenty of E61 vibes here. Gits!

Some nice machines you lot have.

If I have a nice kitchen or big enough space I would like to have an Elektra T1 Sixties or an ECM ...

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Takes up a lot of space but you do get good espresso.

Rocky set at 7 or 8. I'm using Wogan beans. Standard 2 shot basket with after market tamper. Sounds like you might have an undersized basket. Happy Donkey do oem Rancilio spares.

My grinder is an Iberital over two feet tall bought on ebay and postage from London cost more than i paid for it, it wakens folk up at 630 am when i fire it up
A Gaggia classic and baby my two machines and in the cupboard a bean to cup temperamental de longhi

redmex - Member

My grinder is an Iberital over two feet tall

Likewise!

Dreams