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

LMSC

Cuprajake If you don’t mind, who is the roaster and what decaf is that please ? Thx

Cuprajake

Erm

@Gav86

Gav86

Cuprajake it’s Neighbourhoods columbian decaf. It is our go to decaf at the moment.

On the bianca I pull at 101deg, I find a tighter grind and pulled slightly longer ratio if not with milk

Cuprajake

Wow so i was a mile off with my temp settings lol

Thats why ive always stayed away from decaf stuff.

Gav86

Cuprajake have you pulled another today?

On the classic I had to temp surf by having steam on for a good 10s before pulling. The bianca certainly makes it a lot easier and am enjoying a slayer style profile currently

Cuprajake

Not tried since, got scared 😂

Gav86

😂 go on….. give it another go! ramp your temp up and grind a little tighter than last time!

Cuprajake

So i thought now im getting used to the machine i would try the ims baskets,

These are smaller than stock so i decided to try 16g vs 18g stock

I left the grind the same, now in the stock basket(mrs) it gave a nice wetting of the basket bottom, the ims much quicker extraction. I believe i can go a full notch finer, ive still not sent the bottom of the normcore tamper to be machined down, so using a 54mm tamper in a 55mm hole

Heres a vid of the ims basket.

DavecUK

Cuprajake I agree a little finer and it will be spot on.

Cuprajake

Im still not sold on the ims baskets for the leva,

@LMSC that basket you linked to is the same size as the ims in height so its not a like for like of the oem.

DavecUK

There is a whole basket thing for all machines that does merit more discussion really. I think people go for different baskets and makes, but the actual considerations of different baskets…to my mind, have not really been explored.

Can we taste the difference
do you have to change grind, if so what’e the implication of that
does depth of puck matter, is more holes better over a larger area better
do all portafilter sizes react the same way to the above
should we have less holes over a larger area (there are pucks I call large singles, I used to like them, held about 12g, but had the hole area of a single.

I don’t know about any of it, but I am sure it all matters.

dfk41

DavecUK As someone who as of last week has switched from the stock Evo basket to an IMS, I have the following observations:
Less headroom so the puck drains slightly faster
Visually the basket at 18 gms is ⅔ rds full which looks better than the ½ full with stock
The shot seems to pull slightly slower and for some reason is a different colour and more prone to accidental tiger striping
Definite difference in taste
I will definitely be sticking with the IMS as it really is the first time I have noticed such a difference. That said, I have always used VST in the past

LMSC

DavecUK As I posted many times, we have been using the IMS 26 for the last 6 months or so for reasons of headspace.

The taste difference, IMO, is grinder specific. At least, I don’t see a difference between the stock and the IMS.

@Cuprajake Sorry, the link wasn’t a stock. I think, the only source is Paolo of ACS. If I find it elsewhere, I will share the link.

Cuprajake

Yeah i didn’t notice till i saw the height, in the spec list

Who would of thought it so hard to find baskets for a 60yr old group😂

I really need to sort my tamper out, as the plan was to have two ims baskets, in 2 portafilter then as one shots finishing, i can prep the other.

LMSC

Cuprajake I hope you didn’t buy it mate!

Please check these out if they are actually stock and let me know. You may have to ask them . The second link is probably correct.

https://www.espressounderground.co.uk/SAN-MARCO-DOUBLE-FILTER-BASKET-PN-SM0909-p/sm0909.htm

https://www.espressounderground.co.uk/SAN-MARCO-FILTER-BASKET-21-GRM-PN-SM7249-p/sm7249.htm

Good you could machine the tampers. We spent a fortune on Torr and Bravo tampers. Don’t regret the purchases though!

LMSC

Another one

https://www.bluestarcoffee.eu/san-marco-21g-filter-basket-h32-10318-p.asp

Cuprajake

Thats the one.

Thank you

LMSC

Cuprajake The 21g?

Cuprajake

LMSC thanks for the link, I’ve ordered from blue Star, there Ireland, I’ve had londinium seals from them in the past.

I e decided to stick with the stock baskets, going to sell the IMS baskets, not sure if I’ll keep the stock shower screen, or the IMS. IMS is currently in the leva

Cuprajake

Yeah same as the stock dimensions

Cuprajake

Does look well

End game for me now

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