• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Coffee - do you and how do you consume it?

Yeah, I ground a few grooves inside the handle with my Dremel to mirror the grooves I filed in the portafilter handle (very soft casting so easy to do) so they would key together along with an isopropyl wash out before I epoxy'ed the hell out of it.

I'm quite brutal with my knock out of pucks and the handle is perfectly fine 5years later.

It is a poor design to start with though.

Sage sent me a new portafilter!.... for a Bambino, and it doesn't fit on the Barista Pro (the top of the handle collides with the group head). They are sending out another one today.

In mean time, I have repaired the old portafilter. I roughed up the tang on the filter holder with a centre punch; I was going to drill some holes through it, but I don't have any bits that are suitable for stainless steel. I also roughed up the inside of the thermoplastic handle with a dental probe and cleaned it all with isopropanol before applying liberal amounts of food grade silicone. I used elastic bands to hold everything together and let the silicone cure for 24 hours. The portafilter feels as good as new :)
 
Last edited:
But my AI-dar is tingling.
Yes, it appears to be from the same people who bought us giant shark showers and tank recliners (and who wouldn't want a tank recliner! :))

1736974615414.png
1736974672047.png
 
Damn. Stepping in that shark shower would almost certainly be creepy. Fun creepy, but a little disturbing nonetheless. Who dreams these things up?
 
I had posted my plans to upgrade the Gaggiuino to the newest version with a large screen, infinite recipes, massive storage of GRAPHS, water sensors, better steam wands, etc. One of the designers begged me to undo a series of fire hazards I had left in my previous iteration. Here is the current "beauty" shot of my wiring. Every time I redo this it is shocking to see it start at all. On the other hand, the shots I've been pulling with different preinfusion profiles have been incredible.

IMG_2575.JPEG
 
I assume your machine is not plumbed in to the water supply so there's little pressure in the silicone line to the pump? I'd put a zip tie on the barb fitting but I'm probably just being paranoid.
 
I'll throw in a recommendation for a Flair58...pushing hot water through coffee grounds shouldn't be that complicated
 
I'm done with the Flair. I'd rather put in the effort once and make everything a button press. Too much cleaning, too inconsistent with temperatures and I'm 100% over the ritual aspect of coffee brewing. I am not here for my coffee, my coffee is here for me.
I'm probably just being paranoid.
It's very optional. There's a 2L tank below the plate. No pressure is being applied to the pump inlet. When I do the Gen 3 upgrade I'll rewire the whole setup with proper cable management and make it as bomb-proof as possible. The thing I keep fussing over is the placement of the T-Valve to the pressure sensor. It can go anywhere, but for some reason I find that unhelpful.
 
No pressure is being applied to the pump inlet.
Yeah, with a tank the inlet pressure is actually negative. My espresso machine is plumbed in and I actually had a supply line breakage which sprayed water everywhere inside the unit. Fortunately no shorting occurred anywhere so I got lucky. Hence my paranoia.
 
A profile based on my favorite flair shot:
Preinfusion =20 seconds, 2g/s or until 1.5 Bar, or until 1g in the cup
Soak holds 1.5 bar for 20s, or until 2g in the cup
Soak-->Infusion profile raises to 2g/s flow or 8.5 bar max pressure, eases to 6 over 7 seconds
Infusion profile declines from 1.8-1.2g/s with a 6 bar limit.
 
A profile based on my favorite flair shot:
Preinfusion =20 seconds, 2g/s or until 1.5 Bar, or until 1g in the cup
Soak holds 1.5 bar for 20s, or until 2g in the cup
Soak-->Infusion profile raises to 2g/s flow or 8.5 bar max pressure, eases to 6 over 7 seconds
Infusion profile declines from 1.8-1.2g/s with a 6 bar limit.

Is that the sound of the coffee machine, or is someone working on a moped outside. :)
 
Is that the sound of the coffee machine, or is someone working on a moped outside. :)
Haha, that’s the vibration pump regulated by the chip. It normally runs full blast— 60hz. The chip interrupts this based on pressure data from a transducer the kit adds. You add the T splitter, the heat rated tubing, the transducer and hook it up to the chip. The pump also has a set volume of water that it moves in each cycle, so it should be able to predict the flow accurately. There’s a lot of math I didn’t have to do which makes this fairly accurate, especially when the first drop into the cup is marked by the user on the touch screen. (The “reset” icon in the corner)

I will be adding hardware scales in the future to make the unit more accurate and more automatic.
 
the response to the Flair is confusing...there is no maintenance, it's an open tube that the basket mounts to...with regard to temp consistency, it has a PID to control the wall temp of the chamber...overall it's the simplest thing out there....I bought it because I cracked open the dual boiler I had to fix a leak and found it bother absurdly complex and with too much plastic in contact with the water....

1738109388021.png
 
On the milk foaming front I can totally recommend this... you'll need a tall glass because it really swirls things up... [zero biz interest]

 
The nespresso foamer is one of my favorite and most underrated cheap coffee product. It just works.
 
I have a Hostess HM250A Milk Frother which I don't use for coffee, but it does make the most excellent hot chocolate.

The jug and contents are heated by induction, there's a magnetically driven agitator in the bottom of the jug to whisk the contents and the jug can go in a dishwasher (it's PTFE coated inside and out). It was also safe for the kids to use when they were younger, as the milk goes in cold and nothing gets boiling.

1738160730429.png
 
After 8 years squeezing my daily dose out of a Linea Mini, I'm seriously considering dumping it for a Lelit Bianca v3. Any thoughts? Whatever I get won't be plumbed and cabinet overhang clearance limits my vertical choices to < 412mm. Forget anything with a rear fill reservoir. A GS3 MP would fit in my space, but it's a lot more money and a lot more machine than I need. I'm not considering the Micra, the Mini's mini-me.

So why dump the Mini? It's gotten to that age where things start going bad, even on over-engineered gear, and the price of replacement parts is eye watering, provided your dealer can get them. (The last vacuum breaker I replaced was for a GS3. Only a minor kludge was necessary to make it work, but it was still a kludge.)
 
A Lelit is one of my dream machines. No practical experience, but in theory it should be able to make every recipe imaginable. The only counterpoint would be that a used Decent is $3000, so it depends on your location and retailer. A Lelit Bianca has always seemed much more desirable than a Linea anyways because of it's needle valve. The E61 may only be valuable from a repairability standpoint anymore, but it is still extremely relevant. Hard to imagine where espresso would be without it's dominance and influence on other 58mm machines.
 
After 8 years squeezing my daily dose out of a Linea Mini, I'm seriously considering dumping it for a Lelit Bianca v3. Any thoughts? Whatever I get won't be plumbed and cabinet overhang clearance limits my vertical choices to < 412mm. Forget anything with a rear fill reservoir. A GS3 MP would fit in my space, but it's a lot more money and a lot more machine than I need. I'm not considering the Micra, the Mini's mini-me.

So why dump the Mini? It's gotten to that age where things start going bad, even on over-engineered gear, and the price of replacement parts is eye watering, provided your dealer can get them. (The last vacuum breaker I replaced was for a GS3. Only a minor kludge was necessary to make it work, but it was still a kludge.)
I've got a Lelit Elizabeth which has been solid and fantastic value I think. Heats up fairly quickly which is great. My next machine would be a Bianca or a Decent. Not upgrading for many years if I can avoid it but the Bianca would be great if you're ok with the long heat-up time (not sure how long the Decent takes).
 
Back
Top Bottom