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.

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.

    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.

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      8 days later

      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.

        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. 😊👍

            Camel case

            La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos

            Ikawa Roaster

            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. 👍

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

                Impressive. 🤣

                  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/

                    11 days later

                    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.

                      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.

                        New here, and I stumbled across this fine coffee forum in search for @DavecUK ’s Lelit Bianca temperature offset settings….still looking for it :)

                        I currently have no espresso machine but looking for the next one, in this process read and watched some 2087 reviews and narrowed my selection to 3 prospects: ECM Synchronika, Profitec Drive (I wish it came in black also!) and Lelit Bianca, Lelit Bianca being the reason I’m looking into the temperature offset settings. I have also thought about the La Marzzocco Micra…the price though, plus not sure I’m going to be able to get over the plastic spout.

                        I really wanted to like the Micra, but a lot of things added up to my looking elsewhere. But, those plastic parts help for a really fast warm up time.

                        Hi all,

                        I started on my manual espresso journey just over a year and a half ago when I got rid of my Melitta bean to cup machine and bought a Sage Bambino Plus and a Niche Zero.

                        I probably would have stopped at that for a while if the Bambino Plus hadn’t locked up with all lights flashing at the end of November.

                        I decided to take the opportunity to get something with more temperature and pressure control and after researching for a little while found the Gaggiuino. I spent a couple of days over the Christmas holidays modifying a Gaggia Classic Evo and thankfully it worked first time.

                        I’m now enjoying experimenting with lighter roasts and different pressure profiles (very early days) and found this forum when looking for some more balanced opinions on the Niche Duo after deciding to take the next step and also upgrade my grinder.

                        Looking forward now to my Niche Duo arriving and hoping that my taste buds are good enough to tell the difference.

                          Banjaxe Welcome to the forum…I am sure you will enjoy the Niche Duo, same great workflow as the Zero, but flat burr taste profiles. easy to dial in and consistent.

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