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

HarveyMushman

Chriss29

They’re really pricey for greens but I got a load of store credit when I bought the Ikawa so bought a couple of kg of it.

https://ikawahome.com/collections/coffee/products/natural-yirgacheffe-g1-banko-gotiti-ethiopia-500g

Chriss29

HarveyMushman Thanks! Yes they are pricey but looks like they are fully traceable and a recent harvest which is what you want and appears some green bean sellers don’t state these details.

Cuprajake

Once in a blue moon milk drink

La marzocco leva x mimic

Giphy - Karma Chameleon Bug GIF by joanramone

Cuprajake

So a month into decent ownership and I’m really happy with the machine

I’ve settled into a rhythm now with the machine,

I’ve got a profile saved for the Mrs, which she can pick, then I’m hoping around 4 -5 profiles usually

Few observations

The machine of this cost should really come with two portafilters, I’ve had to buy another which was £50 and also I’d like a water tank cover

The machine heats up really quickly, and I’ve had no issues to report of yet. The whole experience of buying shipping and unboxing was great,

The user base is massive, and while invite only -which can often mean sensorship I’ve had nothing but good experiences with it. There’s 3 platforms for this too.

So overall I’m really happy with it

HarveyMushman

Cuprajake

So great to hear! Very cool that you can save different profiles for different users to just select their preferred one when they’re using the machine.

MediumRoastSteam

Cuprajake The machine of this cost should really come with two portafilters, I’ve had to buy another which was £50

Are the PF proprietary or are they standard E61? £50 for a good portafilter, hopefully OEM, is not THAT bad. A lelit bottomless portafilter will set you back £54 at Bella Barista. A Profitec one £49.

Good to hear you are enjoying the machine Jake!

Cuprajake

No the decent pf works out around £100 they are slightly different so I had to buy this

https://bellabarista.co.uk/products/lelit-coffee-slide-porta-filter-double-vip-line?_pos=2&_psq=lelit+porta&_ss=e&_v=1.0

MediumRoastSteam

Cuprajake - ha! the one that comes with the Elizabeth. I’m not a fan of that handle, I have to say! 🙂

Cuprajake

MediumRoastSteam

No me either but it comes with 3 ims basket so it saved me another £20 in buying one of those

That’s how it locks in. It’s perfect for the Mrs and her drinks.

Myself I’ve been mainly on the Pullman 876 with bottom paper and top screen

I sold the SSP MP to coffee jack off YouTube.

Cuprajake

Teaboy

Cuprajake I don’t know about the sound, not sure if the video amplifies, it sounds like an idling diesel 😂

Cuprajake

Amplifies a bit but there not quiet machines, but the pros far out weigh any concerns over noise

This is probably the best machine I’ve had, and that’s really saying something because my Evo 1 held that crown, and by a high margin to the others I had owned