The General ACS Minima Thread

dutchy101 Agreed. I’ve now tried this a couple of times and whilst it feels a bit awkward at the moment, I think it’s the best compromise.

Also think I need to toughen up my fingers! Steaming the milk by touch I’ve been told a couple of times it isn’t hot enough.

PortafilterProcrastinator Also think I need to toughen up my fingers! Steaming the milk by touch I’ve been told a couple of times it isn’t hot enough.

This is what stopped me from ditching the thermometer for so long. Now I hold the jug in such a way that I only gauge the temperature of the pitcher with one maybe two fingers with my right hand (I’m a lefty). As long as you have the steam wand in the spout you can keep the pitcher stable. Eventually you get used to that sharp rise in temp before closing the steam valve.

I’m not sure if you preheat your coffee cups but that’s another way to lose a lot of heat quickly, especially if they are thick ceramic ones like the loveramics ones I use.

PortafilterProcrastinator Also think I need to toughen up my fingers! Steaming the milk by touch I’ve been told a couple of times it isn’t hot enough.

I guess you need to train yourself….

DavecUK I guess you need to train yourself

Glaassshopa! 😎 Where the heck do you get all these wonderful gifs ?

Grif I made that one from a bit of downloaded YT video… I use this site. https://ezgif.com/ So if it’s not a gif in the GIF button below, I can make it and drag and drop it from my PC into my post.

I was looking for a video from a martial arts film or series that was someone plunging their hands and scooping hot coals…but I couldn’t find it.

Grif I use an app called GIPHY

Minima & Niche grind setting questions:

Well a week ago I received my Niche, really got it dialled in for my Moka pot while I was waiting for my Minima to arrive from Italy, it arrived yesterday. Let joy be unconfined. Almost.

I’m using a Santos Double Roast bean and the double basket that came with the Minima. The Santos is a dark roast oily bean. I find I can’t get 18g in it without a lot of spillage but 7g and care works OK. I had bought a 20g VST basket but it was too tall for the Minima naked PF, I’m going to see if I can exchange it for an 18g one.

I thought I’d start with setting the Niche in the middle of the espresso range on the dial, about 15. After 30 seconds I had a teaspoon full of coffer - a bit too fine then. After a number of spoiled cups I ended up on 25 which, with 17g of coffee in gave me 34g out in about 35 seconds. If I dialled it even 24 on the Niche it took 50 seconds to get the same 34g out.

It takes about 5 seconds before coffee appears, and it slowly ramps to 9 to 9.5 bar; temperature is set at 93ºC

So, my questions are:

Any comments on the 17g only in the Minima basket - I guess it depends on the bean?

I’m sure I read on this thread that other people were finding 15 on the Niche was working for them, the Niche came calibrated so I didn’t alter it, is anyone else finding they’re in the 25 range for their espresso?

A change on the Niche from 25 to 24 increased the shot time by 15 seconds, that seems a lot, not really the fine control I was expecting, is that normal?

Thanks in advance for you thoughts and suggestions.

Java_avaJ - depending on coffee, for me, I have coffees at setting 7, and some at setting 18. It depends on the coffee, your dose, he level of roasting, your basket shape and hole area.

As per 15 sec per mark… it depends. It can be 10, it can be 6, it can be 15… depending on how coarse or how fine you are grinding your coffee.

So… enjoy the Niche. In my opinion, nothing wrong.

As for the dose in the basket… try 18, see if it works. Try 17, try 18.5 or 19g… see what works for the coffee/roast you have.

Java_avaJ Don’t worry about the number, it is perfectly normal for it to be higher than “normal”, especially at first.

At the beginning there are more fines, so you have to grind coarser to compensate. As the burrs bed in, the level of fines decreases and so you make the general grind finer to get the same resistance. I suspect the higher level of fines at first is why the impact of a small change is so dramatic.

When I first got my niche I was in the low twenties. Over time this reduced to the low teens. Now that I can play around with pre-infusion and use a vst basket I tend to be in the 6-10 range. It does depend on bean, dose and basket though.

The numbers are really useful for allowing you to quickly and easily change bean or brew method. I would completely ignore them for comparing against other peoples setups.

I’ve just unboxed my Niche and so glad I did as my Sage BE grinder I’m hoping is the reason for my poor quality shots. I only ever get weak coffee and the wife has now also started complaining, something she rarely did when using the full BE machine. Bring on good coffee! I can then also justify all the expenses on the Minima, Niche and Osmio once that arrives haha.

Alexvs let us know how it goes

MediumRoastSteam The reason I was using 17g was simply because I was finding it very difficult to get more than that in the double basket that came with the Minima, at 18g a lot spilled out, because normally, as you suggest, I’d be trying lots of different weights.

I finally, with a lot of care, and still some spillage, managed to get closer to 18g into the basket, but had to make the grind yet courser, to 26.5 to get a better time for the shot. That gave me my 36g out at close to 40 seconds.

This morning, without changing grind settings I bought some French Roast, still quite a dark oily bean but less so that the Santos Double Roast. Still difficult to get 18g in the basket without spillage but this time I got my 36g out at around 35 seconds and it was very tasty. The puck was drier too - so things are heading in the right direction; just slightly strange that the Niche at 26.5 is a little outside the espresso range according to their dial, but @hornbyben mentioned that at first it’s normal for the grind setting to be higher until things have bedded in.

dutchy101 I do have one but rarely use it as the wife and I aren’t quite up to doubles each haha. I’ll use it in the morning and just split the drink evenly after, as currently pouring into 2 espresso cups (only cups I own that fit on the scale together and under the PF) and then into larger cups for cappuccinos. It could be that I’m never going to get the full flavour because I’m splitting into 2. Maybe I need to grow some and just drink doubles haha.

As an aside, I’ve never liked using the single basket as never worked for me with a normal tamp and prep, which I read is common due to their design. Is there such a thing as a flat bottom 9/10g single basket?

Alexvs mainly because there was a clear difference between how much was in each cup

Maybe the machine isn’t level or your tamp is uneven?

Alexvs does this indicate I need a higher dose?

I haven’t found the need to dose above 18g but there is no harm in trying.

Alexvs The pressure shot up to 10 bar - Did I go too fine and need to start higher while it beds in?

What pressure does the gauge show when backflushing? Are you brewing to a specific ratio (by weight) and timing your shots?

When I backflush the gauge shows around 9.5bar and when brewing espresso it probably starts around 9.25 or lower, depending on the bean and grind.