Welcome to Coffeetime. Please introduce yourself and tell us about your coffee journey too.

I'm a long-term drinker of filter coffee that's relatively recently moved into expresso, or more accurately, espresso-based drinks, and this seemed like a good place to chat and learn.

Welcome to our fledgling forum. You will find a wealth of knowledge available here.

I'm a jaded user of another forum, that needed a change 😆

Up until recently I was only marginally aware that there were people on the internet who chatted about coffee stuff all the time. I'm now over two and a half grand down and it's all your fault. 😅

@"dfk41"#4 grabbed me by neck and brought me here! 😂 Thx guys! Feel at home!

I'm not saying I'm paranoid or anything, but a few weeks ago I walked into a coffee forum, pulled up a chair and sat down; everyone else seemed to get up and walk out! 😆 My coffee journey started over 40 years ago when my wife bought me a Gran Gaggia for Christmas. That was before the internet was invented, so there was no information freely available about the need for a grinder. I made a mess and a lot of terrible coffee. I got into stove top coffee makers through a Romanian student I befriended, we drank a lot of good coffee together before he moved on. My wife decided we should buy an induction hob, so that put an end to my stove top coffee making and I switched to french press. After breaking the glass of my favourite press I decided to try one of those gimmicky Aeropress thingies; that was a real eye-opener for me and started to buy speciality coffee beans and a Baratza Encore. A couple of years ago I retired and started volunteering in a charity shop where I saw a La Pavoni Europiccola. Nobody seemed to know what it was, so I got it at a very agreeable price. I invested in a Eureka Mignon Specialita to feed the LP and have become obsessed with the coffee making process.

@"LMSC"#p138 It is our home now….

On the other forum too(BadBoyR), don't participate much, just been busy reading posts/reviews on a new dual boiler machine. Currently have a bean to cup, but would like a more manual machine, mainly drinking milky coffees or a small shot if doing some cardio fasted. Looking at the sage dual boiler, lelit elizabeth and ACS minima.....so undecided, but want to future proof myself for being able to control flow later as gain better experience.

Got funny looks when I first got my aeropress, bringing it to work etc. decided to try make better coffee about a year ago, started the research. My girlfriend complained(?!) she didn’t see me for a few weeks as I was stuck online researching this thing. Stumbled across this gang (in their/your former space), which made it so much easier to confidently choose an espresso machine and then help when it arrived not working correctly!! Thanks to all again and Dave your stated principles of this forum are so great in these times, must be applauded, cheers for such dedication. It would have been a much much more difficult journey to getting it half right without the help of you guys

Was on “the other coffee forum”, but thought I’d hop over and join you all here. I’ve liked coffee for a long time, with a progression through french press, moka pot, aeropress and Nespresso. I’ve now settled on v60 for filter and since Dec last year I’ve started making real espresso with a Rancilio Silvia coupled with a Niche Zero. I enjoy tinkering, so I fitted a PID almost straight away, and for Christmas I’ve got an Ito board coming so that I can play with pressure profiling (a bit like a decent on the cheap). While a single boiler might not be for everyone, I’m the only person in the house who drinks coffee, so it’s perfect for one. Easy to maintain and less energy use as I’m only heating one small boiler. It’s a bit slow when we have guests, but I can live with that.

New Members Introduce Yourself

Dazgough

@Cuprajake thank you.

Should of mentioned, I’m going for the ‘mode’ version with flow control. Apparently that comes with the bottomless portafilter as standard :-)

I did notice the deal you referred to though for non mode machines and thought that was a nice touch 👍

DavecUK

Dazgough Welcome to the forum. A good choice of machine, great quality and well made. Don’t forget photos of your setup when you have it installed.

Dazgough

DavecUK thanks Dave. I certainly will! I already have a niche zero in black at home in it’s box ready to be setup with its ‘other half’ 😀

I’m not expecting my head to be turned whilst at BB as it’s quite a jump up in price from the synchronika after that it seems.

MattH

Dazgough Will look forward to your impressions once its all setup… I have not bought my first machine yet… I am still in the research phase 😂

Dazgough

MattH Hi Matt, I was in that phase myself for a while too 😂 To be honest, the Synchronika is at a price point I feel that makes it a tad easier to make a decision. It appears to be a great machine. There are of course good cheaper machines but to ‘step up’ I have found that it would require a significant increase in funds and I don’t believe I am good enough to warrant anything more. At least for the foreseeable future if ever.

Just got back home from BB with the sync and some goodies. Will probably set it up on the counter tonight and start pulling some shots tomorrow 👍

Will post pics soon and then follow up with some of my first impressions.

BB by the way are awesome. Can’t recommend them enough

Cuprajake

Congratulations, agree Bella barista are superb

Dazgough

Sync and niche in their new home

Dazgough

May move some bits around as I work out my best workflow. Just ordered a filling funnel too as won’t be plumbing in

DavecUK

Dazgough Lookng good and not cramped at all. 😁

Dazgough

Just added a couple of quick upgrades. VST basket (18g), IMS Nanotech competition shower screen and a cafelat silicone gasket

MattH

Dazgough I am most impressed how you managed to claim that much space 😂

Dazgough

MattH As was I! Especially as I had to move the wife’s food mixer elsewhere to accommodate it 😂😂

dutchy101

Dazgough Especially as I had to move the wife’s food mixer elsewhere to accommodate it

Brave move. Very brave

Dazgough

DavecUK thanks Dave. My wife is clearly very tolerant 😂

Cuprajake

If you get chance try the ims e&b super fine basket too

What water will you be using?

Dazgough

Cuprajake I will certainly give that a try. Thanks for the tip.

I plan on using ashbeck water. Also investigating the potential benefits/non benefits of passing the ashbeck through a brita filter. Purely because I already own one.

Dazgough

dutchy101 I know 😂 I’m still currently alive 😂

Hopefully when I’m making great coffee, all will be forgiven 😀

Dazgough

So I have now managed to dial in the niche and sync with my current coffeeworks beans. Delicious! It took about 6 shots before I was happy but am now consistently producing 36g shots from 18g coffee in about 29 seconds.

The coffee tastes great and it seems to be repeatable so far. Early days of course.

The pucks are quite wet but it does not seem to be impacting on the taste of the output. The espresso I would say is very rounded and balanced.

DavecUK

Dazgough Glad it’s all worked out well for you. The Niche does make things easy.

Dazgough

DavecUK thanks Dave, Yes I believe the single dosing Niche is really helping me here. given the coffee tastes great, do you think I should investigate the wet puck’s or leave it alone? I dont really want to complicate things if I don’t need too

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