It’s a thing of beauty. I was a little nervous at what my wife’s reaction would be when pulling it out of the box - despite already having her seal of approval from pics. It is a lot bigger than the Sage Bambino Plus that it has replaced in terms of overall footprint, but fits in the same space really nicely and neatly. It does indeed match really well with the look of the Solo too. My argument for the Minima was assisted by stating that it was the smallest dual boiler I could get. Not sure if this is true or not, but it’s here now so who cares? lol

Alexvs, it’s a stunning machine in the flesh, or so to speak - the pic doesn’t do it justice in my opinion. One concern that I did have, and have now realised is that whilst it sits nicely up against the unit, in practice this is not the best place for it when in use, essentially you can’t get the portafilter into the group as the handle hits the unit on the side. There’s a very simple and easy fix - slide the Minima forwards a bit or to the side a bit, which is very easy to do on the felt pads that I have stuck to the feet. Same goes for filling the water tank. I can pivot the machine by 90 degrees and access the water tank very easily.

My first shot wasn’t great (a decaf), but this is down to 2 things. Firstly I think the grind needs to be tightened on the Minima against the Bambino, so this is a question of dialing in my beans again - easily done. The other, and more tricky issue is the tamper. As a bit of a schoolboy error, I don’t have a 58mm tamper although I have a Nomcore V4 58.5mm tamper on order and due by 4th February. The plastic tamper that came with the Minima is pretty bad so I’ve just bit the bullet and ordered a 58mm tamper from Amazon for £12.99 which will come tomorrow and can serve as a reserve when the Nomcore arrives. Nevertheless, the 2nd shot was a lot better than the first and I could really taste a difference with the coffee from the Bambino. Once I have a proper tamp to work with I think it will improve things significantly.

I must say David at Black Cat Coffee was an absolute legend to deal with - he’s set up the machine at 9 bar pressure and flushed it for me when bench testing, so it was ready to be used as soon as I got it on the counter and water into it.

Very much looking forward to what tomorrow brings with it!

    Quick question DavecUK the Minima manual mentions 2 tubes that go into the tank, but I have 3. One of which looks like this. I prsume this isn’t hanging off and it is supposed to look like this?

        dutchy101 Yeah that all normal, left tube is the water pickup, right tube is the low water detection…the tube is there to protect the wires and hold it in place at the right level, so it doesn’t float. The third tube comes from the safety valve (if you have a 3rd tube.

        Contact me

            This is my current (and first 😃 ) espresso setup - mainly thanks to @Dumnorix

            I also have a fair selection of manual brew equipment - there’s the obligatory Aeropress and Moka pot lurking in there somewhere as well.

              Legend - thanks Dave. I assumed it was all ok but thought I’d check since it differed from the manual

              DavecUK

              Legend - thanks Dave. I assumed it would have all been fine but thought I’d mention it as I’ve just looked at the manual and saw it mentioned 2 tubes

                Baldrick

                I used these, which are apparently 3D printer nozzle cleaners (🤷🏻‍♂️) but work perfectly once you cut the end off.

                KeeYees 3D Printer Nozzle Cleaning Kit, 10pcs 0.4mm Needles with Tweezers, Stainless Steel Extruder Nozzle Cleaner, Alternative of Drill Bits for 3D Printer

                I did spend about 10mins debating with myself over the merits of using 5 needles v 8 or all 10 but then gave myself a mental slap and got on with my life (while using 5 needles!)

                    pbg Made in Sweeden and comes in any colour but green, I believe it powers down every 5 minutes to prevent climate change, and scolds you when you switch it back on. 😉

                    Contact me

                        So the tamper has arrived and wow, what a difference. Had my first shot using a proper tamper this morning and it was brilliant - a joy to watch through the bottomless portafilter. Starting to wonder whether the Nomcore tamper I have on order is overkill. I’ll see how much I like it when it arrives but this seemed to do a great job and at £12.99 it’s pretty cheap:

                        Wondering if I’ll bother with a dosing ring for WDT now. The one I did in the grinds cup seemed to work pretty well as it was with the tamper.

                          dutchy101 So the tamper has arrived and wow, what a difference. Had my first shot using a proper tamper this morning and it was brilliant

                          I got my Reg Barber 58mm US curve, as a present almost 18 years ago, and I really like it…just makes the whole job of tamping quick, easy and precise. Never felt the need for another tamper!

                          Contact me

                            dutchy101 what beans are you using at the moment? Seems like you’re in the honeymoon phase at the moment 😄

                              Haha - I have just opened some beans that David from Black Cat threw in for me. Twilight Blend. I’ve never tried these before and really enjoyed my first cup earlier. I’ve got some Bom Jesus from Coffee By the Casuals lined up for this afternoon

                                DavecUK are you suggesting my equipment is a power hungry climate destroyer? They’re LED lights I’ll have you know