whinmoor85 Agree with all of this. If you’re not in the right ball park with the equipment you’ve got, I’d look at changing the coffee and then work on your technique.
Thank @whinmoor85. I do appreciate your advice.
Unfortunately I’ve had to drink decaf coffee, which (depending upon the bean) gives me a mediocre or even semi decent straight shot, and (depending upon the bean) a good milk drink. I challenge anyone to pour a “god shot” from a decaf bean. I will however try drinking half cafe in the AM and see how the taste improves. With luck, I can tolerate half calf again.
I do however question why I should not reasonably upgrade my machine and eventually realize the benefits. I realized significant taste and convenience/workflow benefits when I moved from a Breville Duopro to a Lelit E and expect that the flow/pressure profiling features of a Lelit Bianca or a lever machine will, if not instantly but in due course, help me get the straight shot taste I want. I might as well start that journey now. By the previously voiced logic, I should have never bought the Lelit Elizabeth until I was pouring perfect shots from the Breville. 😁
My parallel is skiing. My family and I have grown to become expert skiers and snowboarders. I learned by chasing my level 2 instructor/former provincial ski racer wife down the ski hill, and by taking ski instruction classes that were one level beyond me, skiing on last year’s model of the best ski racing gear. I couldn’t initially handle the gear, but was forced to learn to or fall. I now ski Stokli SL race skis that cost me as much as my LE.
My now grown son and daughter are former provincial-level racers and level 2 instructors. They now ski Whistler chutes as if they were bunny hills! We always ensured that they had the right gear, to allow them to progress to the next level; we never hindered them with second rate gear. They were soon riding and winning on world cup level race SL and GS skiis/boards.
I intend to do the same in my coffee journey, by ensuring that I have the right equipment to move forward to the next level; and not hinder me from doing so. And have fun doing it.
So, my next decision is whether to buy a flow profiling machine like a Lelit Bianca or a lever machine like an Olympia Cremina XL. I am leaning towards the Olympia, as I suspect that it might (with practice and time) be more likely to give me the straight shot taste I seek. I welcome any feedback on the pros and cons of these two routes.
As for buying another grinder, and keep the LE, is the Niche Zero not good enough? Do I really need a Duo?
PS I’m turn turning 70 in the fall, so this is a unique opportunity to gain my wife’s blessing of an upgrade. 😉
