Decided to start a little thread, documenting my journey and the vertical learning curve i seam to have been on. Like most, i got furloughed when covid kicked off and got bored so decided to get more into coffee. One thing after another with lots of reading on various forums, YouTube tutorials and what not,i bought a gaggia classic. [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/ATQnfMS.jpeg] Along with that i decided to get a 1zpresso for my grinding as i have a wilfa svart for all my pour overs etc. Well after wasting a good 500g of beans on the gaggia, i decided it wasn't for me, and promptly sold it. Decided on the sage duo temp pro which i was initially going to buy in the first place,quick look and £249 later john lewis delivered my shiney new machine [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/TWUem7I.jpeg] Now as much as i loved the 1zpresso, my shoulder didin't so, that got sold in favour of an eureka mignon from [@Black Cat Coffee](https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/members/16888/) Next up the upgraditus got a hold of me as i wanted a fancy looking machine, and i got a bit of a dark horse off ebay A la macatec elba one, e61 grouphead. [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/Pg6PmPa.jpeg] I had long lusted over a dual boiler, mainly the lelit Elizabeth, with its pre infusion, quick heat up times it really is a fantastic machine, but id also noted the acs minima, another machine along the more traditional looks, and the looks along with the bigger boilers swayed it for me. [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/uxgb5uM.jpeg] So in the never ending revolving door of grinders with me, after having a eureak zenith 65, a niche and another mignon i saw a lightly used 2019 mazzer major on ebay, i added a Daniel wong doserless kit at the time, since gone to a funnel, even added ssp redspeed burrs [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/4P2ynGd.jpeg] I was going to used bottled water, either ashbeck or longhill, but then i spoke to a few in the know and did a bit of digging and settled on using ro water, remineralised with potassium bicarbonate, this will never scale the machine and makes for a tastey espresso to. After only having the minima for a short while a lever machine caught my eye, a 2014 londinium l1 - that was it i was in love, i sold the minima to fund the l1 and that was me set, the londinium moved home with me. [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/NF46adN.jpeg] i had a stunning set of handles turned by nick, they really sent the machine to another level, and i was happy in my own little coffee world, id been toying with med/lighter stuff but always found then too bright, to acidic to my taste, then one day the pressure relief valve blew on the l1, scared me to death, and that set about a refurb of the machine, but id lost all confidence, and decided now we had a bit of equity, that i would buy my first propper new machine, i lusted over the top spec londiniums but at £3500 ish they were just too much. the next machine came from bella barista, a crem one profiler, very capable machine, but arrived faulty, so had to go back, i have an amazing wife who said just get the machine you want, so i did, an lr24 stunner it was too, but sadly again came with issues and i returned the machine, :( after a little search i settled upon the lelit bianca- id always fancied a vesuvius profilong machine, but they too were expensive, so the lelit was the machine of choice, (2months later the ves dropped in price!!) [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/xOGfGUS.jpeg] and there a sat, happy as a pig in mud, the lelit a fabulos machine, quiet rotary pump, flow control, great heat stability, tbh it was almost boring as it just did its job, i still longed for another lever machine, once there in your blood they stick, they just look amazing. and what should pop up but an acs leva…a machine id been quite skeptical about, any lever seems to be quite polarising, just seems to be that way. id heard rumors read stuff saying how the machine was a miss match of parts, no good etc. but they still looked amazing, id followed the machine for a while and at the price it came up, prompted by a life even i thought stuff it! we're here once, get it! and that leads me to now. [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/ErMqxfw.jpeg] its been an up and down journey, ive jumped on fads bought stuff that i totally didnt need, learnt less is definately more, when it comes to coffee, ive noticed that each step ive taken up the ladder, ive inproved my coffee, each machine has been better than the last, starting would i imagined id of spent so much for a coffee - hell no, am i glad i did - yes jake

@"Cuprajake"#p12617 That’s quite a quite a journey Jake! It’s amazing how much you persevered. A classic example for some one to learn and understand what it takes to keep the passion for coffee alive. The best part is your wife firmly supporting so that you get what you desire. Enjoy making coffee with Evo. She offers plenty of possibilities to keep you busy. Hope she stays with you for ever!

Unlike Jake, we mostly stayed pour overs - mainly the Indian filter for a good part of our life with occasional £100-£150 machines. When the last machine died on us in late 2020, we kept moving the goal post from Gaggia to Minima to Evo. The 150 quids to £2500 is indeed a massive upgrade. Sure, she is our end game machine.

Jake’s corner was great reading during the pandemic

Fabulous post @"Cuprajake"#144 most interesting. It's terrific to have that pictorial guide to your journey. Thanks for taking the time to share.

@"Cuprajake"#p12617 Great post, shows the journey for many of us. Some go there in one big jump, others take the longer road, which is probably more fun..

id of saved a small fortune going big first, but i dont think id of learnt or appreciated the subtle changes. ive had some fabulous products half not pictured haha

So with a great machine comes great responsibility 🤣 i mean gadgets and we all love new stuff True to form ive ordered a funnel, doesn't fit, ive ordered a ims basket, and a normcore 58.5mm push tamper, with a plan to machine it down to fit the basket, for a mrs safe tamp🤣 Few internal pic [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/8Yb02jB.jpeg] Then an arty one [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/E2J62vo.jpeg]

Great journey to finally end up where you are today. Best way to learn what you do a don’t like regarding machines and your coffee.

Really enjoyed reading about the journey! That’s quite a few machines! Some very nice looking machines too! I love the turned handles on the first lever machine.

nick didnt, they were a very hard thing to make, had to design and make special mandrels due to the way the londinium handles are made,

My Coffee Journey

Cuprajake

Is that with all Beans she likes?

I think I have got to the bottom of some of my issues.

When I got the leva I had a mess with the pre infusion pressure, I’ve only just realised that it’s hitting 3bar, so I’ve dropped it down to 2bar, on the way I went the wrong turn and found 4bar😅🤦

Second issue is I cannot tamp, hence the use of level tampers like my old decent then the force tamper, I cannot wait for my modded base to come back

LMSC

Cuprajake that with all Beans she likes?

Yeah. She can’t take any fruity or an acidic content in long black. As long as they are absent or as little as possible, she is ok. So, I am experimenting with bags she may like. I may try the Brazilian from North Star next

Perhaps, she finds the Evo with IMS over extracting. I dose 15g for her. Perhaps, I will get a double basket (non IMS brand) to dose 14g and see. If it is milk-based, she is fine with roast type.

Cuprajake When I got the leva I had a mess with the pre infusion pressure, I’ve only just realised that it’s hitting 3bar, so I’ve dropped it down to 2bar,

Good to hear the progress you have made! How do you find the shots after reducing the PI to 2 bars?

Meldrew

Cuprajake which tamper do you prefer. Can I ask also ask what size tamper do you use for the vst basket. I have been looking around at the tampers like the force, decent and the eazytamp. The recommended size I believe is 58.4 for the vst. I have read different opinions when using which refers that you need 58.5 someone ever suggested 58.6. It’s getting more and more confusing the more you read. The eazytamp is made in Australia which is something I like the sound of as I try nowadays to look at alternative sources other than China. My reasoning is that we have become too reliant on China and should be becoming more self sufficient or sourcing goods elsewhere when we can.

Cuprajake

LMSC Northstar is one of the best Brazilian I’ve tried, knocks spots off the coffee casual Brazil I have, so much that I’ve ordered more north star while I still have some casuals left.

Only did one shot and was a tad too fine, but that was the ims basket and it didn’t taste over extracted. So moving in the right direction.

Meldrew I really liked my force tamper, it has various bases you can buy. Fit all my ims and vat 58.5mm not cheap but I can’t say enough about it.

I’ve got a normcore which is being turned down to 54.9mm for the ims basket

LMSC

Cuprajake Northstar is one of the best Brazilian I’ve tried, knocks spots off the coffee casual Brazil I have, so much that I’ve ordered more north star while I still have some casuals left.

Will definitely get a bag we finish the current stock! Thx

LMSC

Cuprajake Northstar is one of the best Brazilian I’ve tried,

Jake,

What’s your temperature setting on Evo for this beans please?

Thx

Cuprajake

90/96 ive been using

LMSC

Cuprajake Same here for the medium and medium dark. I actually prefer 90/98 for light and medium light. What about you ?

Cuprajake

haha same, been using 90/98 with these light honduras

Cuprajake

Another belter from north sta

Cuprajake

Had a little delivery today

LMSC

Cuprajake First impressions and comparisons please ! 😊

Cuprajake

So far not much in it.

Still finding my feet with it

From a first couple shots the mazzer seems sweeter.

DavecUK

Cuprajake What you will find after a few weeks, is why the YouTubers keep using it….a lot is about workflow.

Cuprajake

I’ll need to get used to it, the mazzer is fast haha

Cuprajake

little try with the niche and a south street bean

added some foam pads under the feet of the mazzer and my god what a difference in sound - should of done it ages ago.

after living with the niche for a while now here are a few of my thoughts.

its a well built, well designed grinder. it grinds nice and can easily choke the leva.

it makes a fine cup of coffee, one id be very happy with had i not owned the mazzer, compared to the mazzer it feels a little bit more muddled, i find it harder to pick out distinct flavours, but i put this down to more the flat vs conical profile than the grinder itself.

i will keep it for a while longer then probably move it on as i want have some space back on the counter

jake

Cuprajake

Quick vid of the mazzer Vs the niche just for giggles, there’s not much in the work flow that’s for sure.

CoyoteOldMan

The Niche looks larger than I expected: your Major is BIG, but the Niche doesn’t disappear against it - at least unless one puts a 1.6 kg hopper on the big ’un.

One thing I’m experimenting with is putting a book under the rear feet to tilt the grinder forward (on a Ceado E37S, so similar to the Major). It seems to work well if I have a small amount of beans in the chamber - they all get ground quickly (with a bit of chaff at the very end) and I get even better dose consistency. I may build a permanent wooden support.

CafeNoir

CoyoteOldMan Tried something similar with my Fiorenzato F6 by slotting a pair of short rubber door stops under rear feet….cheap and nearly invisible. Just couldn’t handle the looks and it really didn’t seem to make much of a change to performance, lol.

Cuprajake

Don’t forget mine has SSP so they drag beans in different. I get very little to non in terms of chaff.

I did add foam under the feat recently and that made a massive difference

CoyoteOldMan

Cuprajake But if I understand you correctly, the foam makes a ‘noise’ difference, rather than a retention/exchange difference, because you added it under all four feet, right? Or did you tilt the machine too?

CafeNoir

Cuprajake Thanks for the idea, my beastie doesn’t seem that loud but this I will try….wonder if felt pads would do same, help with moving it on counter?

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