I thought I'd make a quick thread of the fun I've had over the years with coffee. It's not been massively interesting, but Nether the less… It started in 2010 when I purchased a stock 2006 Classic and MDF grinder on ebay. The machines served me well for well over 12 years through 2 house moves and it even came with me for a 2 year over seas assignment to Ascension Island! Over the times the usual maintenance was undertaken but also upgrades to baskets, steam wand, thermostats, screen, OPV and brass dispersion plate (which in reality wasn't an upgrade until I drilled further holes and tapered the holes to stop water jetting). I was happy for most of the 10 years until I stumbled upon the UK coffee forums 🤣, where I learnt about temperature stability, temp surfing, weighing, etc etc. Needless to say I had an itch that needed scratching. I had thoughts of upgrading to machines like the Sage Oracle but through research I moved in a different direction. I think I mastered the gaggia and wondered about PID vs upgrade. Would the classic be my "forever machine". I didn't think so and so didn't go down that route. In the 10 years, I got half decent with late art: [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/ITiIS6J.jpeg] And so the first upgrade was to move on from the MDF to the NZ. A great upgrade and haven't looked back since. However, I was getting with the inconsistencies resulting from poor temp control. Fast forward another year and I was fortunate enough to have received a bonus from work which opened up the possibility of upgrades. I was drawn to the ACS leva and was ever so close to saying yes to the machine that @"Cuprajake"#144 purchased a month or so back. So that door had closed and I was slightly short in funds to purchase new from Paolo. Needless to say, Jake had his Bianca to move on from his upgrade and that presented me with a slightly different opportunity which I couldn't pass on! So now here I am: [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/uxt2fHF.jpeg] It has been a small learning curve with the e61 group and have done my first maintenance and lube session which I know will become second nature over time. My focus now is Puck prep (which is average with the use of a pointed bamboo skewer to WDT in the niche cup and again the the basket, tap on the counter before tamping) but am getting some decent results. I have been playing the flow profiling and apologies for the length of the video prior to anything happening, the first few examples have been low flow to 2 bar before ramping up to either 6 or 9 bar before a tail down. The two below are my current decaf https://youtu.be/k37bQeLYYow https://youtu.be/2Shg-ZGOLaQ I have since loosened the grind ever so slightly which has opened out more flavours (from watching an old barista hussle video on dialing in) Note, the cups are 4oz and 6oz cups, the angle of the vids make them look like absolute bowls! Anyways that's enough for now… I'm sure there is more to come!

@"DavecUK"#p16093 no he didn't (I don't think) @"Cuprajake"#144 could you share or @"DavecUK"#1 could you send on to me?

@"Gav86"#p16097 I can't it's not mine to share….

My coffee experience

Cuprajake

Brilliant, the Bianca is a fabulous machine. You have a great setup now

DavecUK

Gav86 Just a tip, if the coffee is very fine, you can hit 2 bar with almost no flow at all…it then takes ages to come through….just might be worth backing off the grind a little.

Gav86

DavecUK yes I think I came to that realisation and backed the grind off by one. I may experiment and back off again to see the impact on taste. At a ow flow start it can take 15s to reach 2 bar and will have first drip around 20s finishing around 45s for a ratio of 1:2

I’ve been experimenting with full flow and then shutting off at 2 bar to quickly saturate the Puck rather than slowly infuse, then crack up after first drips. This does bring the shot back down to around the 30s mark.

The paddle does open up a world of opportunity and endless “fun”.

DavecUK

Gav86 it does, did Jake pass the user guide I wrote on as it links to some handy technique videos that are unlisted on my site.

Gav86

DavecUK no he didn’t (I don’t think) @Cuprajake could you share or @DavecUK could you send on to me?

DavecUK

Gav86 I can’t it’s not mine to share….

Cuprajake

was the paper work not in the box?

Gav86

Cuprajake I’ve just had another look in the box and taken the inner box out of the outer. All I can see is the user manual, the elec test cert and 2 instruction regarding plumbing and relocating the water unit.

Any chance you could take a quick look at your place?

Gav86

DavecUK no probs, is it BBs? I wonder if Jake can’t find the copy if they’d be able to share?

Cuprajake

I think we’re talking about different things there should be a YouTube link to vids some of the vids I sent you.

I will look for a manual but I don’t recall it.

Gav86

Cuprajake ahhh my miss interpretation/understanding.

@DavecUK could I check you were referring to 8 or so user guide videos?

Tia

DavecUK

Gav86 Yes, oldies, but helpful. Unlisted videos with links only in the user guide.

Gav86

DavecUK perfect. Thanks

Gav86

Here are a few bags delivered in the week fro. Smith St

@LMSC - I’ve literally just opened the Gisanga Rwanda which is an anaerobic natural, notes of juniper, choc orange, damson and honeycomb. I’ll let you know what it like once I’ve pulled a couple shots and dialled in. (posted here to not hijack the leva thread)

Gav86

First attempt with the Gisanga 15g, ground at 13 on the NZ at 94(104) gave me 30g espresso in 35s

Produced quite a sweet fruity espresso, may open the grind slightly next time to see what getting closer to 30s does for me before playing with the paddle with a few of my go to profiles