I very much like the idea of grinding directly into the cup, then the cup fits straight onto the portafilter - what the Niche has become well known for.
Is there a cup I can get that I can use with the SPTK that will fit the portafilter as neatly?
Gaggia woes
Penance Nothing loaded up?
Cuprajake Hehehe, yes I’ll have to wait for that free cup 😅 I do have a funnel right now and that’s what I do, but I’m just thinking of ways to streamline the process as much as possible - also minimise the number of things I have out. If I could grind into the cup and then directly into the PF, can et rid of the funnel.
I did have a look at that, just wasn’t sure how good it was based on a couple of the reviews. One shows a rust spot?
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Be made of chinesium
Sure acaia sell one if you want to spend, Motta also make one im sure, eureka do one too as do normcore
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
Had mine around 3 years with no rust or other issues, it is cheap s i guess you takes your chances.
Cuprajake A lot of them have a thick/wide rim/border, which I think won’t show it to fit directly underneath the SPTK, but this one has a section that is completely bare that will allow it to fit. Shame about the chinesium, but then it is cheap.
Penance Thank you, guess it’s worth a try for the price. Fits well into the PF?
Glad you took the plunge. The Elizabeth comes set at around 10 bar, which is around 9 bar at the group. The stock setting is just fine. Very easy to adjust though if needed. I would stick with your current grinder and learn the machine first. You may be perfectly happy and save some money. I went with the Niche first that I used with my Breville Barista Express, which helped quite a bit, but not enough. Then I upgraded to the Elizabeth. Wow. So good.
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dndrich Thank you, I’m glad also. Yes I suppose that’s wise to learn the machine first and take it from there. In which way is the Elizabeth better than your Barista Express?
Got a text from FedEx, being delivered tomorrow 🙂
DrForinor Oh so many ways. The Barista Express was a nice machine to learn on, but it uses a thermoblock and not a true boiler. The group just could not get the portafilter hot enough, so many of my shots were sour. Then the steam was anemic, and took a while to get going. The grinder was just adequate, and did not give consistent grind shot to shot. Despite all of that I did like the machine, and learned the basics of espresso with it. Breville did a nice job for the price. The Elizabeth has all the qualities of a full size machine in a coffee house, including great temperature control with PID, and lots of thermal mass to make sure the puck stays hot during the extraction. Add to that the pre infusion, fast recovery after a shot, amazing software, tons of dry steam for milk steaming simultaneously while pulling a shot…so many other features that are actually useful like the purge mode, cleaning mode…the list goes on. So much packed into a small footprint. And, the case is easy to open so that if I ever need to service it, it should be easy to do.
dndrich It’s so strange that my cousin managed to make a really nice coffee, perhaps he just got lucky.
That’s amazing to read all about the Elizabeth from you. Your enthusiasm for the machine is brilliant!!! 😁😁😁
DrForinor My coffee from the Barista Express was just fine with milk drinks, and satisfied the wife for a year every day! She found the machine easy to use. Milk drinks hide lots of problems, since the whole milk is so sweet. So yes, I was satisfied with the Express, but wanted more, and went with the Niche and the Elizabeth. So glad I did.
One thing I would recommend is that you put felt feet on the bottom of the Elizabeth so you can slide it on the countertop. The water reservoir has a small opening for filling. Lots of folks do not like that. Some have modified it to be larger. The tank is simple and robust, so I have no interest in changing that. But to fill it what I did was buy a plastic jug and funnel that I use only for this purpose. I fill the jug part way, pull out the machine, put the funnel in there, and fill the tank. Done. I probably fill the tank twice a week with our use.
dndrich True about the milk, it was a milky drink that he made each time.
Any tips that you can pass on, that you’ve learnt about the Elizabeth?
dndrich I shall prefer the felt pads now, thank you.
Other than the felt feet, I would have to think about that. The machine works just great. I would definitely follow the DaveC documents I linked, and program the machine to his settings right out of the gate. I keep button 1 set for 6 seconds pre infusion, and 30 second run time. This is the button my wife uses since she does not weigh the shots. She just wants some rote way of doing it. For me I have button 2 set to 6 seconds of pre infusion, but no end time. So when I pull a shot I use button 2, and have the cup on a scale. When I reach my ratio of say 2.5 to 1, I push the button to stop it. I look at the shot timer to see how I did. With my coffee I find a temperature of around 198 and around 35 seconds of extraction to be perfect. I can steam milk while watching the scale, and hit the button. Very simple. For the next shot I then weigh out the beans, and grind. While grinding I knock out the puck and do a quick purge by hitting button 1 and 2 at the same time, which is what it is designed to do (hold 1 and hit 2, then let go). By the time I have the portafilter loaded and ready to go, the temp of the brew boiler is back up to 198, so ready for the next one. I have my machine set to show the actual temp, not the target temp. Again, that is in the programming.
You’re gonna love it.