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

CoyoteOldMan

PortafilterProcrastinator We can agree to disagree, not least because that was the sense of my post: both are legitimate, “ruler” is more common - however picking a fight on definitions to then say “definitions shmefinitions”… is way beyond Goblin Mode. It’s full Troll Emulation. 😁

(and yes, I know what ‘Goblin Mode’ means, and it’s nothing to do with trolls)

Merry Christmas (or whatever else you celebrate). 🎅

Cuprajake

CoyoteOldMan

My hole is approx 130*295 so it may just fit

Once a month I like to treat the wood and lube the surfaces

I use these two products

Amberale

The Studmistress and one of our good friends used to “debate” long into the evening over which one was the Pedantic Semant and which one the Semantic Pedant.
🤔

Cuprajake

Crown and canvas order finally arrived

Just had to open the Ethiopian first, vanilla, blood orange and strawberries. Just had to

LMSC

Cuprajake Just had to open the Ethiopian first, vanilla, blood orange and strawberries.

and? 😊

Cuprajake

You get the orange, and a nice lingering sweetness long after it’s been drank. Nice I like it.

Cuprajake

Dropped the shower screen for the first time in like 5 weeks, I hate that clip 🤣 screen spotless well impressed.

Opened the other crown and canvas coffee today, really tasted the grapefruit

CoyoteOldMan

Cuprajake I hate that clip

If you are not using the single-spouted portafilter, the spring clip from that is a perfect replacement for the circlip.

Cuprajake

I have a light clip in there some times, I have just put the ims screen in for a try with that clip.

Cuprajake

It’s my 40th birthday today, so had a few presents to open, I don’t like a fuss

I’d asked for a new matching normcore funnel and the family got me a little cup as a surprise

But as per with my usual luck, the funnel doesn’t fit the 54mm baskets

And the cup has a crack in the bottom. To be looks like the seller knew as they have glazed over the hole 🤬

DavecUK

Cuprajake I would recommend never wasting money on the lottery.

Cuprajake

Thanks guys, it holds water but not really the point is it

DavecUK won £4 on my birthday scratch card I’ll have you know 😂😂 I mean it was £4 of scratch cards but that’s by the by😛

Amberale

That’s the latest thing.
You suck the coffee out of the bottom of the cup through the crack and it removes all bitterness and acidity.

It leaves you with the floral purity of the bean.
I’m sure I saw it on “I’m a barista expert, get me outa here”.

If you can’t cope with the flavours of 4th wave coffee they will probably replace it for you.
Maybe even for one that doesn’t look like it has been glazed with baby kaka.
😇

CoyoteOldMan

Happy birthday!

DavecUK

CoyoteOldMan Yup happy birthday.

Giphy - Birthday 40S GIF

Amberale

Yeh, sorry Bloke.
Happy Birthday.
Forty eh?
I used to get birthday sxe in my forties.
I mean I had to put on a short frock and lippy and go down the docks but still….

Cuprajake

well the seller of the cup responded with :

unfortuntely i cant replace as we dont have another in stock, it is in the nature of hand made ceramis to have small flaws, and i did test this one with boiling water before i sent it out,

im happy to send a fresh set out if you will cover the postage.

cheers.

kinda happy kinda annoyed, its nice they offer to replace, but annoying as it should never have gone out, had i have been in a shop and picked it up, id of put it back down,

now need to find a black 54mm funnel that fits

Dusk

You usually see that sort of flaw in a 2nds bin, it functions correctly but has a rather obvious cosmetic defect.

Cuprajake

so its not me £25 plus post

Cuprajake

So decided to give the group a quick clean,

4×10mm boltsz group slides out

Easy to service, quick clean and wipe down inside the bore, and then all put back together.

And this is the box of tricks that came with it

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