Six days in and the workflow is now sorted.
I’m quite enamoured with the 9barista, so much so that the Nurri and Decent have sat idle for the last 5 days other than coffees for a guest who is staying. Honeymoon period and all that. I’m sure the pendulum will swing back shortly.
The 9barista produces excellent espresso and is “rinse and repeatable” provided your heat source is stable. I can now get the espresso startiing to pour close to recommended maximum 6 minute point from turning on the heat, and the pour time between the recommended 30 and 40 seconds.
6 minutes may sound like a long time but bear in mind that after I turn the induction cooker on (at the start of the 6 minutes) I then weigh the beans whiile the water is heating, grind with the Varia VS3 which takes 55 seconds, tamp and only then insert the portafiler. So the waiting time is then down to around 4 minutes which is when I pop out of the roastery and heat a cup under hot water.
The pour always interests me. It’s upsde down of course in that it pour upwards and not downwards. Rich, brown espresso oozes out slowly, full of color and the odd speck or stripe and plenty of crema.
I can recommned the 9barista for anyone with a lack of bench space or a limted budget but who doesn’t want to compromise the quality of their espresso. Also brilliant as a travel espresso machine, in tandem with a lightweight induction cooker. I’m comparing two portable cookers at the moment and a third once Fedex retrieve it from the people they incorrectly delivered it to - yay. If you intend to use the 9barista for travel the induction cooker is essential because otherwise you have dial it in, so to speak, at every new location and can take a good three shots to figure out.
Question for @wilburpan: when I have finished clearning the 9basista after each shot, I pre fill the boiler/base ready to go for the next shot. Do you see any issues with that? It makes the starting process a bit faster for the next shot.
