So there's a lot of people buying Minimas on here at the moment and a few experienced users so I thought a thread dedicated to the Minima with questions / information on the machine would be useful to myself and the others who have recently purchased and are about to take the plunge (and to prevent myself from hijacking other people's threads). One question I have to kick us off is about the brew boiler and PID. For some reason my Minima does not seem to like bring set at 93 degrees. Despite me having it set at 93, the display shows it settling at 94. I'm not sure if this is indicative of an issue or standard behaviour. It occasionally will drop to 93 but then goes up to 94 again

Edit…I've just found the PID Values Explained section at the back of the manual where it explains this is normal.

Mine does the same and I confirmed with other Minima users when I bought the machine.

> @"dutchy101"#p6482 Edit…I’ve just found the PID Values Explained section atvthe back of the manual where it explains this is normal. Very good manual that one…, online version available as well. https://sway.office.com/xofz72xFBgYyiWqi?ref=Link

@"dutchy101"#56 @"HVL87"#57 How have you found the stock filter baskets? I'm already thinking of upgrading, but won't do unecessarily quickly - although that is also partly tamper dependent.

@"PortafilterProcrastinator"#p6679 they are fine. Easier to pull a nice looking bottomless shot - in my opinion that doesn’t mean much. I moved on to a 18g VST to optimise my shots as much as possible.

It's been a bit of a transition for me this week as I've changed from Sage 54mm baskets and didn't have a 58mm tamper until a few days after the machine arrived. I got a new distributor yesterday which has also helped so still finding my feet a bit with the stock baskets, but pretty happy with them so far

Thanks both, if they're a similar ID then I can get a tamper (thinking bravo ATM) first and upgrade the basket later when looking for refinement, rather than just trying to make something palatable!

Yeah - I've got a Nomcore 58.5mm tamper on order and coming this week so will get a better handle on things once that has arrived

@"dutchy101"#p6686 I'd be really interested and grateful to hear how you get on. How are you finding the Minima overall?

Absolutely loving it - so glad I went with it I'm really enjoying using it. How about you? Made my wife a tea using water from the service boiler to drain some water this morning and she commented how much better it looked and tasted (using the zero and remineralised water I've been making up).

The General ACS Minima Thread

Cuprajake

simonc what and break out into a rendition of genie in a bottle half way through @lancehedrick

simonc

Raziel I actually moved from a 2 hole at 110c that I was struggling with to 4 hole at 125c and is so much easier. I also use a small jug and prob do 200ml for a flat white.

With the power there is no opportunity for not stretching enough as it’s done in under 5 seconds (a problem I think I did when it needed to take longer with the 2 hole) and also as it’s so quick I weirdly less often over stretch too.

Alexvs

Just caught up on recent posts as been off for a bit so thought would share my 2 cents. I’m right handed and steam off to the side as per the image below, while holding the jug straight on and tilted to help get a swirl going. This is effective for me and means I have access to the steam knob with my left.

I got some new 200ml loveramics cups for Xmas and actually getting a lot better results in these than my normal taller cups. I ended up loving them so much I bought a pair of 300ml ones also for the morning cappuccino. The image below shows this afternoon’s effort but they were sat a bit before I got my camera out so lost a bit of definition. Left is full fat milk, while right is skimmed for the wife. Definitely my best attempt with skimmed as normally a blob! I use a 2 hole tip currently.

Raziel

Alexvs I’m right handed and steam off to the side as per the image below,

I’ve also started doing this now, thanks!

Have played around with both original basket and VST 18. Can dial them both in and make good coffee, but interestingly with a standard recipe of 18g/36g/30s they bring out very different notes from the coffee.

A shame that my favourite blend comes out more to my taste from the original basket as I just strongly prefer a ridgeless for both tamping and cleaning!

SurreyAlan

This is a thank you for the advice to steam in the middle of the jug when using a 4 hole tip. For 5 months I was disappointed despite watching countless videos and trying all the different positions they recommended, instant massive improvement even if my art is awful but at least now it looks like something even if the something is more triffids than tulip.

Rob666

SurreyAlan I do quite a few Triffids! ;)

Jack123

Hi guys. I jumped on the Minima bandwagon a couple weeks ago. It came with a simple accessories kit, so I’m looking for a bottomless portafilter. I’ve read mentions about an “ACS upgrade kit” (containing a naked portafilter, three-hole steam tip, real blind filter and a few other gimmicks), but can’t find it anywhere online.

I’ve measured one of the stock portafilters that came with the machine, and I believe that this one resembles the most (looks and dimensions) the original ACS ones: https://www.bluestarcoffee.eu/expobar-crem-bottomless-portafilter-old-7174-p.asp

Here comes the confusion though. There’s a lot of similar portafilters posted on their page, and some of them have slightly different dimensions, for example this one: https://www.bluestarcoffee.eu/ecm-naked-portafilter-18967-p.asp
So I’m wondering: is it due to measuring errors on their side (0.2-0.3mm difference in the diameter and fins size), or do E61 groups differ slightly between manufacturers? In such case, which one should I pick?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

MediumRoastSteam

Jack123 - they are all pretty much the same. I’m sure Dave said a few times he uses the same bottomless PF across many different machines.

The only thing you need to bear in mind, for E61 compatible ones, is the thickness of the lugs. I once came across one which was too think - I think Quickmill uses thick ones, but so am not sure. I’m pretty sure Rocket, Lelit, Expobar, ECM would all fit.

Alexvs

Jack123 I bought my machine 2nd hand which came with a Rocket naked PF so can vouch for it as fits great. After using naked for ages, I ended up actually moving back to the single or double spout anyway as the naked interest wore off. It’s great to learn to get your set up right and ensure even flow etc but my shots are dialled in and I’ve settled for one coffee type so nothing changes anymore.

Of all accessories, a proper blind filter, decent basket from IMS/VST at your required size (e.g. 18g), proper tamp (e.g. Motta 58.4mm) and dosing ring (one that sits on the outside of the PF is better than inside for easier distribution) are worth the investment. I also got a WDT which has helped with consistency but that’s a personal thing as some don’t find any benefit. Initially had a spinning distribution tool and that was useless other than flattening the top.

dutchy101

Where are you based? If in the UK, you can get a bottomless from Black Cat Coffee:

https://www.blackcatcoffee.co.uk/collections/espresso-accessories/products/acs-bottomless-portafilter

Cuprajake

I got an ecm one for my minima from Bella barista, ooozes class, really good quality.

SurreyAlan

I purchased an ECM bottomless for my Profitec and though it looks the same there must be some slight dimensional difference because initially it didn’t pull across as far as the one supplied with the machine, it does now so guess the gasket has compressed a little, of course the original pf slides across a little further to the right now. My profitec came with a 8.5mm gasket, some adverts suggest ECM are 8mm. You wouldn’t think a manufacturer would run 2 sizes instead of one but maybe covid supply lines meant they fitted what they could obtain?

Jack123

Thanks a lot for your replies.

@dutchy101 @Cuprajake I live across the ocean and then some (Chile), seems that Black Cat sends only to the UK locations.

@MediumRoastSteam Given their “trapezoidal” shape, I wasn’t sure which part of the lugs should be measured. On the stock portafilter, they are 5.6 - 6.5mm thick, depending on the measured part (not taking the steeper entry point into account). So I’m guessing a portafilter with 5.7mm fins would slide a bit further into the socket, compared to the 6mm one.

MediumRoastSteam

Jack123 - I remember measuring one at one point and it was 7.2mm (from memory) and I that simply would not rotate onto the Elizabeth’s group.

Verion

After using my Minima from late last year, I’ve been thinking about getting an 18g IMS standard material basket from https://www.shadesofcoffee.co.uk/ims-baristapro-precision-filter-basket-58mm.

Have any Minima users had good luck with these or have you just kept to using the supplied baskets?

Alexvs

Verion I’m using the competition basket that Jake has linked to and it’s much better than the standard for consistency. You’ll find you have to grind finer but once dialled in, it’s all good.

Cuprajake

https://bellabarista.co.uk/products/competition-e61-ridgeless-double-filter-basket-by-ims-28-5h-18-22-gram?_pos=2&_sid=5eccdfd90&_ss=r

cheaper options

Verion

Alexvs You’re using the ridged or the ridgeless version?

Alexvs

Verion Ridgeless, I never liked ridged and in my head I feel there’s more even flow across the bed without ridges but probably making that up lol.

dutchy101

I bought the 18-22g IMS basket but couldn’t get to grips with it. I purchased it at the same time as a ridgeless 18g VST basket. Trying to use two of them at the same time to see which one I preferred was too much of a faff and I seemed to have better luck with the VST (probably due to it being the right size for my 18g dose and there being too much headspace with the IMS). I decided to just go with the VST and stick with it.

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