New Members Introduce Yourself
hi all, i’ve been signed up here for a while but after browsing a bit got caught up with other things before posting anything. i’ve been on the other forums on and off the last few years, and mainly drink espresso brewed on a humble old, but scrupulously cleaned, classic and a eureka mignon.
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eurgh, posted twice in error.
shaun__ Welcome!
Hi everyone….New to this forum, was on previous. (I think my forum claim to fame (in my mind) was being one of the first to discover the bad magnet issue on the Vesuvius). Still with Vesuvius and a drawer full of spares.
Hi! Just noticed the introductions thread. Some time ago I didn’t drink coffee at all, and I felt fine. Over time, things have changed, and I noticed that I drink coffee every day, and even several times a day! In this regard, I am just discovering the coffee world, and I came here so that more experienced guys would help me on this journey. All coffee!
Morning All! I’m Lee from Foundry Coffee. I used to be fairly active on the other forum, around 2014-ish for a few years. As the business demanded more and more from me, it became a bit difficult to sustain. The forum changed hands at some point and the new owners wanted to more than triple our advertising cost, so the whole thing was no longer viable for us.
There are plenty of people that we still have contact with from those days, and I’m sure some of you are in here! I’ve really missed the community and was pretty excited yesterday to find this place, which seems like it wants to recreate the best elements of what went before.
I’m not here to sell stuff, so it’s nice to see the non-commercial element. I’m here to share what I know if anyone is interested and to learn from you all too. Looking forward to getting reacquainted with old friends and meeting new ones.
LeefromFoundryCR Weclum (Still Game)Lee……..you will find the most vibrant, busy forum in the UK here. We have a real wealth of knowledge within the membership with quite a few overseas active and knowledgeable members!
LeefromFoundryCR Welcome to the forum Lee. We are glad to see you here! I did post the details of our forum to you when we were chatting about your coffee. I enjoyed some of your coffee in recent times!
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LMSC ah, ok - thanks for that. I completely had no idea about how the whole forum scene has changed, it’s barely recognisable. I suspect I missed the nuance in what you were saying. Glad to have found you all now though! The design of this site seems a lot better too, so hopefully a bit easier to use and find my way around.
I wondered where everyone had gone from the other place and why it had been moved from the flat Xenforo to a commercial flavour!
Currently using a Sage DTP and Mingon, but looking to upgrade soon…
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Raziel Currently using a Sage DTP and Mingon, but looking to upgrade soon…
Please tell us more - what’s the issues are with the current set up?; what do you drink?; how many cups a day; water; budget for machine, grinder, and water (if required); and, please don’t forget accessories.
Btw, welcome to our forum!
Cheers for the welcome!
I’m fairly happy with the setup, the espresso machine less so.
I normally have milk based drinks, ~150ml sized so probably in the “cortado” range I guess. I use Waitrose or Tesco bottled water. 4-6 drinks (double shots) a day in the household typically.
The main issue is that the machine takes godamn ages to get to temp for steam and to do the milk. So if I have 5 people around who all want a latte it is beyond tedious!
Shout out to my local roastery Roasting Party who I am using at the moment for beans.
Budget is going to have to stretch as prices for all things have gone silly in the last four years. Can easily stretch to ~1.5k
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There is a compact and a quiet Liz dual-boiler available here for sale priced at £900 with warranty here ! This will save you some cash to get a Niche priced at £500.
You said 5 people want latte. Assuming, they are going to be back to back shots, @MediumRoastSteam, who has one, can advise if it will serve your purpose. I can’t judge as I haven’t used that machine.
The ACS minima is a very good machine and will serve you very well. It is a bit noisier than Liz, packs with tons of features, you can add a paddle later and I think it will cost you about £1400 direct from ACS; and, they will advise you the actual cost to you before VAT and duties. If you are going to write to ACS, please ask them the cost of ACS Vesuvius. It might not be significantly different from Bianca.
If you are happy to stretch another £400, Bianca would be a great choice.
These costs do not include the costs of a grinder or water.
Edit :
I won’t put bottled water on a new machine, as I won’t feel comfortable. The mineralised (bicarb) Zero Water would be the bare minimum for me.