Any suggestions welcome

IIIMETATRONIII

Hello everyone

I stumbled across this forum whilst hunting for beans and found the bean supplier and review incredibly useful. I bought some excellent beans from tilted coffee

I have a sage barista express and I am sick of it’s inconsistency from temperature, to grind, to everything to be honest. I make 2 cappuccinos and 2 Americanos a day and the machine will not produce similar results. Ive done the 18g in 36g out tried all sorts of things and I can pull a delicious sweet shot in isolation but the settings will not reproduce. I feel im ready for a change having had this machine for about 4 years now

Could anyone suggest what the next step up could be?

Bambino and df54?

Lelit mara x and df54?

Lelit bianca? Gaggia classic?

I just need some advice and having read through other people’s posts and the general response about lubing E61 and OPV mods my brain can’t cope.

If you wanted a consistent pull making 4 espresso style coffees a day and didn’t want to break the banks what would you buy?

DavecUK

IIIMETATRONIII I just need some advice and having read through other people’s posts and the general response about lubing E61 and OPV mods my brain can’t cope.

If you don’t want more maintenance than your brain can handle, although the E61 stuff is easy enough…you can stil enjoy the E61 experience with a solenoid operated E61 group, which is pretty much maintenance free apart from cleaning behind the shower screen, a 2 minute job using dish soap, and a couple of spoons..

Cuprajake

Lelit Elizabeth and a niche zero will see you trouble free for years

dfk41

Cuprajake @IIIMETATRONIII I agree! I went down to an Elizabeth from a much more expensive machine and look forwards to using it every single day. I have had a Zero since they were launched and will always own one, even though I am using other grinders for my daily driver now

IIIMETATRONIII

Where do you buy your gear from? Any forum recommended retailers?

Any opinion on the lagom casa 65

dfk41

IIIMETATRONIII You can buy the Elizabeth from Bella Barista

https://bellabarista.co.uk/collections/dual-boiler/products/lelit-elizabeth-pl92t-v3?_pos=2&_fid=e97766d86&_ss=c

Niche sell their product direct

https://www.nichecoffee.co.uk/products/niche-zero?srsltid=AfmBOooIWmzyb4jz7Y61ixWQdKB4GdZbIec0ILdsAcA6r_CrZQ42HGAX

The only choice you need to make is black or white. They do come up on here from time to time as used and because of the excellent back up, a safe bet second hand

Adrianmsmith

dfk41 The only choice you need to make is black or white.

Black is always best, just like the left twix ☕

Cuprajake

Dont know anyone who has used one so no comment

Whats your actual budget?

What coffee do you drink

IIIMETATRONIII

Around 1500 all in. My wife drinks black americano and I drink espresso and cappuccinos.

Cuprajake

Presume med and darker then

Minimum i would be looking for is a dual boiler.

Will give the consistency you need without having to mess with heat management of jumping to steam temps when making milk

Ideally staying away from e61 as these can swing wildly

At that budget there isnt much

Only one i can really recommend is the Elizabeth

Cuprajake

https://bellabarista.co.uk/products/lelit-elizabeth-pl92t-v3?_pos=4&_psq=Elizabeth&_ss=e&_v=1.0

Trusted uk seller

Cuprajake

Then save an extra month to buy a decent grinder

Cuprajake

Alot of the Chinese cheaper grinders are pants though, so be warned.

The varia vs3 is junk so stay well away

IIIMETATRONIII

Hi thanks for your thorough responses. I could up the budget if it really would mean I end up with the one. At what point do you enter the realm of diminishing returns give my circumstance? I think in terms of roast it’s more medium to light… not really a fan of “chocolatey” i like the look and usability of the elizabeth so I just need to settle on a grinder.

dfk41

IIIMETATRONIII Grinders…..I am not trying to sound like a fan boy, but are you aware of the history or story behind the Niche Zero? Are you aware of who our host @DavecUK is within the coffee industry?

Niche made contact with @DavecUK when they were at the testing stage. They thought that the grinder was ready to go. Martin, the owner met Dave and another year or so was spent making minor tweaks here and there. Only when it ws production ready did it go to Indiegogo for launch. The idea was not to raise funds to develop the grinder but to pay for the tooling required. The result is that since launch in 2017, the only change to the grinder was the introduction of the bolt on anti pop corn device. It has sold in bucket loads. It has many many haters due to its success yet there are very few documented examples of problems. The grinder is like a Meccano set. It can be dismantled in seconds and every part is readily available. The Niche Zero single handedly set the grinder world on fire and turned it upside down. It has seen one price increase in 9 years. It has caused others (especially the Chinese influenced ones) to come into the market.

I hope that helps! If you state the area in which you live then I am sure there will be a forum member not too far from you who would gladly demonstrate.

There is a Niche Duo for sale that comes with both filter and espresso burrs. It is an 83mm flat grinder. Slightly more lightly used than a brand new Zero, but you are basically getting 2 grinders

https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/d/3471-white-niche-duo-for-sale-with-filter-and-espresso-burrs

Adrianmsmith

dfk41 Grinders…..I am not trying to sound like a fan boy,

@IIIMETATRONIII

As per David’s response, you could go far worse than choosing a niche zero.

I sold mine many moons ago but that is just because I am obsessed with equipment. There is no reason why the niche zero could not still be in use today in our house.

I would say the build quality is much better than some of the cheap Chinese branded grinders such as the DF range, although they are obviously flat, not conical.

IIIMETATRONIII

thanks for the detail around this grinder. I am based in north london N19 to be exact. will check the duo for sale in the meantime

one thing i have noticed on this forum is that every post with images shows this to me: Content not viewable in this region

DavecUK

IIIMETATRONIII one thing i have noticed on this forum is that every post with images shows this to me: Content not viewable in this region

https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/d/3509-images-important

BrendaninBrooklyn

Nobody tops Niche in bang for buck electric grinders. The Lelit Elizabeth suggestion offered above is very sensible too.

However, if you want to spend less, have less maintenance, smaller footprint, quieter setup, and I would argue also learn more about espresso while obtaining results every bit as good, then buy a Cafelet Robot and a Kinu M47 hand grinder.

Good luck with your journey.

Adrianmsmith

BrendaninBrooklyn

Or a Rok and a kinu 🤔