I had long thought of, since getting the Evo, having a dedicated thread to share my coffee experience. The laziness got the better off me. I also didn’t have much recounting the journey stories like experienced folks like Dave, dfk41, Systemic, MRS, Jake and many more. Jake’s recording of his journey is beautiful. With the duo due to be delivered soon, it’s about time I take a leaf out of Jake’s and have a thread sharing the user experience of using the Duo the way it was originally meant to be and designed for. Swapping the burrs seem to be quick and easy. Can one really integrate it as a part of a daily routine? Or, would it become a faff over time - what ever may be the reason ? I make 3 espressos in the morning for 3 and at least a filter or two for self during the day. There may or may be any decaf espressos in the evening. I think users like self are perfect candidates for the duo. I have every intentions of swapping the burrs - there is no reason not to otherwise. It remains to be seen if I will enjoy using the dual burrs daily or get bored swapping daily after the honeymoon period - 3 months! I will post my views as I experience it. There will not be any reviews or comparisons for three reasons. 1) I can’t be asked, 2) Tom, I am sure, will do the honours as usual and 3) I can’t afford to buy :-) I do want to know how I will like the espresso (taste wise) from JX pro vs the duo. I mostly drink medium light / light. I take full 2 mins to grind 17g. One thing for sure is I won’t be missing the hand-grinding part! 😁 More later!

Shipping notification https://i.imgur.com/n3egQCZ.jpg

cant wait for you to get hands on, its about time they hit the hands of more real world users, im sure you will love the grinder, im finding 6 to be a good starting point with beans for espresso and then 30-40 range with filter, which i dont drink alot of tbh,

@"Cuprajake"#p48288 Great shout. I will start at those ranges Jake.

Thx to @"dfk41"#4, grabbed a few KGs of cheap beans from Amazon for £30 to season the burrs sets. Supposed to be light / medium roasts [URL=https://i.imgur.com/on0KllQ.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/on0KllQ.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

think i ran about 500g through, got bored and just used it lol

@"LMSC"#p48290 Would be terrible if you tried drinking it snd enjoyed it!

I think Niche suggest this, but if you can, once unboxed, leave it to come to room temp which takes an hour or so. If you touch it, it will be freezing cold which is just a by product of the delivery system……enjoy matey!

@"dfk41"#p48297 Yeah! I saw their video. Thx mate.

> @"LMSC"#p48286 Swapping the burrs seem to be quick and easy. Can one really integrate it as a part of a daily routine? Or, would it become a faff over time - what ever may be the reason ? You will find that while waiting for the kettle to boil, you can swap the burrs, why not to get extra good filter as opposed to just using the espresso burrs.

@"DavecUK"#p48306 Indeed. No point in getting the filter burrs set otherwise. Let’s see how it goes over time 🤞

Coffee with Duo

MediumRoastSteam

LMSC - thanks LMSC. Something definitely not quite right there, in my opinion.

LMSC

@MediumRoastSteam - The hand-tight shifting does make me wonder, what the mysterious issue could. I hope Niche would come back with their thoughts on this, if not the grind size.

Despite a lack of flexibility, I am hoping that 0.5 mark on the Duo for two bags is a one-off. This may still be the case as I am going to have to establish it by testing, may be, 10-12 light roasts.

The Smith Street’s Colombian El Refugio Washed Gesha is the first step in that direction. I pulled 1:2.5 shot 93C/99C and grinding at 0.5 on the Duo. The shot lasted 54s!

What a great coffee! It is a light roast. The espresso on its own has plenty of blackberry, toffee and had a sparkling taste. I was surprised to get a strong coconut flavour as espresso. The Americano had almost similar taste profile. It shows Hazelnut, which should come as a flat white!

https://www.smithstreetcoffeeroasters.co.uk/product-page/el-refugio

tompoland

LMSC following with intest. sounds like something is amiss.

LMSC

Re-zeroed again. I could hear faint / very slight burrs chirping at 0.5 past Zero and more at -1.0, which were very similar to factory configured. The optimum burrs position had changed, although it was a toss up between the factory and the new.

I pulled a shot of Foundry’s Costa Rica setting at 3 on the Duo (before zeroing). Given their roast degree, it is more likely a medium light. The Costa Ricans coffee typically require a finer grind. This gave me 12-13s shot for 1:2.5. The coffee was ok to drink.

Re-zeroing did not change the shot time at 3 Mark on the Duo. I had then set to 0.5 on the Duo and pulled a shot. It did not choke the machine. The shot lasted for 25s for 1:2.5.

Of the 4 bags, 3 of them gave shot times between 20 and 31s for 1:2.5. I can’t believe Cartwheel and Foundry coffee were stale. All the 3 are freshly roasted, rested for 2 weeks, vac-ed and stored before opening. The Foundry coffee this morning was very nice.

So, I can’t help think something is not right here. It does concern me for sure. I have not heard from Niche yet since the 22nd. This is unlike them as they are extremely good in their response. I am sure they will come back with their observations / advise.

https://foundrycoffeeroasters.com/collections/coffee-beans/products/el-perezoso-costa-rica?variant=47391249531161

Edit:

I would vac store Foundry to compare the 0.5 grind size with Dave’s Duo.

MediumRoastSteam

LMSC - Something is definitely not right with your grinder. I think this is obvious.

For you to have an idea, I’m pulling the El Perezoso at 5.5. 18.5g in, 45g on in approx 40s. This includes a 2 bar pre-infusion for 10 seconds. If I change to 4, it would most likely choke the machine.

For you to have an idea, the latest Rocko Mountain - same parameters, is set to 8 on my Duo. I’m drinking a decaf from Django, and it’s on setting 3 on the Duo.

Edit: Now that I said all of that… I’m questioning how great the Duo’s alignment is. I can certainly hear burr touching - I wouldn’t say chirping - around the 1 or zero mark. I need to move WAY PAST the zero mark to start noticing a meaningful change in sound.

If I were you… I’d just aim for 18g in, 36g out in 30 seconds. Forget how close to zero it is.

Edit 2: two videos trying to capture noise from burrs:

First from 10 to zero:

second from 0 to minus whatever:

LMSC

MediumRoastSteam Now that I said all of that… I’m questioning how great the Duo’s alignment is. I can certainly hear burr touching - I wouldn’t say chirping - around the 1 or zero mark. I need to move WAY PAST the zero mark to start noticing a meaningful change in sound.

Very similar. It is faint sound for sure the way past -1 mark on the espresso. Perhaps, a marker test.

The machine is different as the Evo does give a faster shot compared to other machines. But, with 3 of the 4 bags can’t even give 30s 1:2 shot, let alone choke the machine, my hope of coffee specific is vanishing into thin air. 😁

I will drop my today’s observation to Niche and see. Not sure, what to expect. 😊

Edit: I have contacted Niche with an update of my current observations. Will wait for their response.

LMSC

MediumRoastSteam two videos trying to capture noise from burrs

Chirpping is very clear from about 5. Mine is barely audible. Will try to post a video later. Thx! It is very helpful. 🙏🏽

MWJB

LMSC I wouldn’t be surprised if a Costa Rican ran faster than some other origins.

MediumRoastSteam

LMSC Mine is barely audible.

So maybe there’s nothing wrong with your grinder?

LMSC

MediumRoastSteam It’s all up in the air at the moment. That’s why I want to grind a dozen bags and see how they fare. We know it does not take away anything from Niche. I will come back as I test.

Thx for the thoughts and recommendation. Appreciate it. 🙏🏽

LMSC

MWJB I have always seen this running faster than others. The other two that ran faster at 0.5 on the Duo were Thailand and Myanmar. The Smith Street Colombian Gesha was ok.

dfk41

LMSC Is there no one near to you with a Duo matey who can visit and you can compare?

DavecUK

dfk41 Is there no one near to you with a Duo matey who can visit and you can compare?

He will be at my place on Saturday with the same coffee, we will see how it goes.

dfk41

DavecUK Excellent……going to open a book on whats wrong?

LMSC

DavecUK Wish I had all the 3! The other 2 didn’t last long.

@dfk41 - Thanks! Visiting Dave will be perfect with the Evo and Duo combo.

LMSC

dfk41 going to open a book on whats wrong?

Sounds like an interesting project mate! Hope the forum members will get a discount, if you intend publishing it. Hahaha 😁

LMSC

Zeroed the Duo for espresso again this morning. Nothing has come loose inside. The parameters for all the coffee are the same, which are 17.5g, 1:2.5, 93C/99C and 0.5 grind size on the Duo.

Crankhouse is one of my favourites. This is a part of testing the lighter roasts with the Evo. Opened their Costa Rica De Fuego; and, the shot lasted 29s. Such an excellent coffee. The notes like Cherry, Rum and Cinnamon were spot on. This should make an excellent filter.

The test readings so far are:

Light / medium light:

Cartwheel Thailand Sirinya Farm - 20s
Cartwheel Myanmar The Lady - 31s
Foundry Costa Rica El Perezoso - 25s
Crankhouse Costa Rica De Fuego - 29s
Smith Street Colombia El Refugio Gesha 1:2.5 93/99 54s

The below are more like >= Medium

Crankhouse Kenya Chepsangor Washed - 45s.
Blackcat Timor - 45s

The intent of these posts is not to be seen complaining or airing the view that the Duo is not chocking closer to 0. It is more like a concern that I am losing the flexibility to grind finer, the grind size generally moving to the left of the grinder steadily, my preference is clearly the lighter stuffs and do not enjoy anything >= medium.

Perhaps, it is the large flat, lighter roasts, coffee origin, and Evo combo. May be, something is not ok with my Duo that I can’t explain. The coffee is not stale.

Another bizzare thing is the Blackcat Timor. The medium / medium dark bags normally grind well for 30-35s shot between 4 and 5. It did 1:2.5 at 24-25s at the 2 Mark on the Duo.

I will take a few coffee to Dave later today and see. I hope Dave’s Duo-Evo combo produce similar results. :-)

I am not sure if there is any value in taking the Duo as it has been meticulously cleaned and configured for the 5th time today and it held the same best starting position for the top burr every time and two of the above coffee gave me 25s-29s shot like previous time. :-)

Niche is aware, they responded and know I will be seeing Dave today. Will revert to them with our findings.

Cuprajake

Try the stock basket, perhaps different to the ims

LMSC

Many thanks to @DavecUK for his hospitality, help with the coffee and the Duo.

The problem is identified as potentially the screw becoming looser (the centre one holding the lower burr carrier). It was loose when we opened it. This could be the reason IMHO as a steady shifting of the grind size was gradual in the last few months and not after zeroing. The re-zeroing was a measure to see if the problem goes away. I had to re-zero a few times, which did not address the problem; and, it looks like the loosening screw is the culprit

Dave helped me with re-zeroing and tightened the screw very well. This shifted the burrs touching 3-4 points below zero and the issue stands resolved.

As a way forward, Dave recommended either a Fibre washer or a glue to keep the threads from slipping. I would also keep an eye on the screw.

Many thanks every one for chipping in. I will let Niche know.

The Evo 2 looks great. Hope Jake can fix his’ in the next few days.

🙏🏽

LMSC

The Evo2 is damn beautiful. Upgrade is tempting. I told Dave my wife will throw me out. Otherwise, I risk inviting my daughter’s wrath. 😂

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