The General ACS Minima Thread

clamage My one regret is I didn’t realise that flow control was now offered as a factory option, so I’m saving up again for the Lelit kit.

I fitted the ecm flow control to my synchronika. Had it fitted approx 1 maybe 2 months. Realised I’d read too many comments and watched too many videos.

Returned the machine to stock and sold it 😎

Some machines just work. i suspect the minima is one of them

I added the coffee sensor flow kit but it needed too much movement to affect the shot.

Adrianmsmith Interesting - I’m definitely guilty of getting sucked in by the same kinds of comments/vids.
Did it just not do what you were hoping/expecting or did it not work / make it worse?
I have the Robot and love the control it gives, but I do struggle with light roasts (and I do like these). My hope was that the temperature control/stability of the Minima plus flow control might give me what I’ve after. But a big part is also that I loke to tinker…

clamage Yes, I have a Robot as well, and really appreciate the feel it gives. The manual flow may give you what you are looking for on the Minima, but the results from backing off on flow (e.g. manual flow valves or flow controlled machines) versus backing off on pressure (levers, pressure profilers like the Vesuvius, etc.) may be different.

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I find light roast can be a pain in the rear because they are light - not because of the machine. At the end of the day it might be the bean and the roast, with limited options on what you can really do with it.

One idea you could try on your Minima is to do a salami shot, and discern the tastes through the different phases of the shot. If the tailing 6-10 seconds of the shots yields some unpleasant tones from the lighter roast using its flat 9b of pressure, then perhaps some restricted flow (or just cutting the shot off short) might help.

clamage Did it just not do what you were hoping/expecting or did it not work

Yes it did work, ie control the flow in to the group but for all the messing i could not appreciate it made anything better than the original.

I think you will find the minima has a special profile all of its own.

When we initially switched to the evo 1 leva we both agreed there was something different and better about the shots, still do.

Obviously for all its convenience the evo 2 doesn’t produce better shots than the original just does it a lot more conveniently!!

I can’t explain why pushing eater through the puck with a piston being driven by a spring producing 11 bars down to 7 bars back pressure makes better coffee.

All i can say is, it just does!!

The synchronika made good coffee. The flow control kit was interesting while it lasted and i guess you may try it and maybe say im wrong ☕ but, for me, it didnt make repeatedly better coffee.

clamage . My hope was that the temperature control/stability of the Minima plus flow control might give me what I’ve after. But a big part is also that I loke to tinker…

In that case you’ll enjoy using it, it’s not as good or as intuitive as using something like the Cafelat Robot but it’s definitely something you can experiment with. Lets you do turbos and other profiles which can get the most out of lighter roasts.

I use it mostly to save shots where I’ve not properly dialled them in, so if it’s too fine and is extracting slowly during preinfusion I’ll increase flow to saturate the puck more.

I love my Minima. It’s just a brilliant bit of kit and improving all the time with small tweaks.

There’s only two things I wish were different.

• Harder case bolts as they are a little bit too soft, but can be replaced easily before the holes get rounded. But also this might not be the case since mine was built in late 2022.
• A silicone gasket, but easy to replace ordering other coffee related items.

But this is me being pedantic about the machine. I wouldn’t change it for anything else as it’s my endgame.

DavecUK I’m going to have another look when I next do some maintenance with a Bosch hex set a friend got hold of for me. The set I was using is pretty horrible quality so hopefully it’s down to fitting.

Buy some Wera Hex Plus allen keys, they’re not too expensive but are top quality