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

Uncletits

I take milk and rarely just espresso so probably best for me not to comment - one other area is cleaning and calibration which is simple on a Niche

pasgal

Here I am, I’m signing up because I want to follow DaveC’s advice and I think this is his personal forum. This morning I was about to buy Lelit Mara X but they sent me into a crisis, suggestions not to do it. So here I am.

DavecUK

pasgal welcome to the forum.

pasgal

DavecUK thanks Davec, about 30 minutes ago I purchased the Lelit MaraX, in the end I decided because the seller confirmed to me that it is still built in Italy, I was scared because I had read about the sale of the company to Breville. Thanks for the welcome.

mjswooper

Once upon a time an Aussie moved to Berlin. Later he realised he really missed sitting in the sun, sipping a very coffee that made everything good…

My coffee journey started with about 9 years as a barista. Later I would go back to basics with a french press, then a shitty Breville/SAGE, Gaggia Classic pro + Sette 30 and now… Mignon Specialita with ACs Minima.

I landed on the Minima because @DavecUK work on it and general internet comments on good double boilers. Thought behind it, simplicity, ability to repair and price point; just ticked all my boxes. The Gaggia could barely make two milk coffees, now I’m sipping sunshine.

DCJ

I have been a coffee fan for quite a while, since my aeropress gave up the ghost I have bought a Mokka pot and a Greek coffee pot.

My Graef grinder and espresso machine are now both well past there sell by date and I have started to look on line at replacing them, the advancement in equipment since I bought my old espresso kit is amazing. I also have a Rok set up which I am slowly getting the hang of, any tips would be welcomed:-)

It looks as if I will have to save up for a long time to get up to date. High tec machines like the Decent, the MaRa and pressure profiling on the Lelit Bianca all look very interesting while the grinder market is growing so fast it is hard to keep track of.

DavecUK

DCJ Welcome to the forum. There are so many interesting machines/grinders on the market nowadays, it can be confusing and hard to choose. The only way to get the "right machine, is to think about your unique use situation and needs. Also be very honest about how interested you are in the “process” and "experimentation of making coffee. Super complex or nice and simple, especially with regard to maintenance (cleaning, servicing etc,,).

That path should lead you to the right machine.

P.S. Usually the more complex a machine, the more sensitive it is to bad water, so don’t forget that aspect.

Systemic

@DCJ welcome to the forum.

DCJ

Thanks Dave, I use Volvic water in the espresso machine, hopefully that will keep it going for a long time.

At the moment I tend to use the machine less as it wastes energy heating up for 30 minutes, which is why I am interested in something that has a short start up, the MaRa looks like an interesting machine so hopefully more affordable ones will follow, or I will have to save up much longer to get one.

MediumRoastSteam

DCJ the MaRa looks like an interesting machine

Welcome to the forum. I’m just a little confused so want to clarify something. I noticed you’ve been consistently using the casing/spelling/name “MaRa” for a coffee machine. Is this a new machine I might not be aware of or are you referring to the Lelit MaraX? If you are referring to the Lelit MaraX, I’m then curious why you use such casing. 😊👍

Gagaryn

MediumRoastSteam I’m then curious why you use such casing

I’m curious why you used the word “casing” rather than capitalisation. ;-)

MediumRoastSteam

Gagaryn I’m curious why you used the word “casing” rather than capitalisation. ;-)

🤪😊 - most likely because in computer programming it’s called uppercase and lowercase :) - something I’m daily exposed to. 👍

HarveyMushman

Camel case

Gagaryn

MediumRoastSteam 🤪😊 - most likely because in computer programming it’s called uppercase and lowercase :) - something I’m daily exposed to. 👍

Impressive. 🤣

DCJ

MaRo is named after the two young chaps who developed it, Max and Robert, the warm up time is 3 minutes, which is what interests me, but it will cost over 4,000 Euro!

https://maro.coffee/

MediumRoastSteam

DCJ oh cool! I wasn’t aware of this one. Will read up! Thanks!

ValentinoAzzurro

Dublin, Ireland based long-term food and drink scribe. Now retired.
Been roasting coffee 24 years. Started with a big black iron skillet, a gas stove, a Black and Decker paint stripping gun and the wife’s hairdryer. Thence to a manual and the programmable Hot Top, the first of which pegged out while under guarantee. Then discovered the saintly Mr.Li and purchased an early Huky which I’ve enjoyed for the past 13 years.

I own almost every coffee making device known to mankind. Percolator (the manmmy’s); Kona; Turkish ibrik; French Press; Aeropress; Clever Dripper; Bialetti; cute little handmade single espresso gadget made by ancient artisan halfway up a Sicilian hillside and, of course, my treasured ECM Synchronika, teamed with a Rocket Espresso doser grinder.

Love,love,love Central American coffees - El Salvador,Panama,Nicaragua,Guatemala.

DavecUK

ValentinoAzzurro Welcome to the forum…

MetalDave

I’m new to the forum, been a home espresso fan for the past 4-5 years or so, had a Gaggia Classic Pro and recently grabbed an ECM Puristika. I absolutely love learning about this stuff and am psyched to be here.

DavecUK

MetalDave Welcome to the forum

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