Have you asked your SO for any particular espresso items for the holidays? Alternately, what espresso related items are your planning to purchase for yourself?
I am pretty well set for espresso hardware at this time so I have asked for beans, beans, and more beans - both roasted and green.
Chas LM GS/3 & LaSpaziale Dream v 1.25 (US 120V) Mazzer Kony E, Customized Rocky Hottop P/B
GDK wrote:I have been debating shelling $200 for the Vivaldi timer. I can afford it but price is just ridiculous for what it does.
It depends on how you look at it! How are worth 45 minutes a day of additional sleep time?
Or: Is a price increase of 8% too much to get a timer option on your Vivaldi?
Seriously, I'm glad I bought the timer. The machine is ready when I need it and I don't have to keep it on at all time to achieve this. The timer can also be programmed for three different on/off cycles per day, for each day of the week.
GDK wrote:I have been debating shelling $200 for the Vivaldi timer. I can afford it but price is just ridiculous for what it does.
It depends on how you look at it! How are worth 45 minutes a day of additional sleep time?
Or: Is a price increase of 8% too much to get a timer option on your Vivaldi?
Seriously, I'm glad I bought the timer. The machine is ready when I need it and I don't have to keep it on at all time to achieve this. The timer can also be programmed for three different on/off cycles per day, for each day of the week.
I too held off for a long time, but I must say, the timer is just great. It kinda completes the whole double boiler / convenience thing.
As far as presents go, my wife gave up on me a long time ago. So I just bought myself this nice new scale from Amazon (after my cheap $11 Chinese E-bay special start drifting wildly).
On my Mini, I let the timer turn on my brew boiler 1 hour before I get up (for temp stability). But I only turn on my steam boiler manually. Since the brew boiler always has priority in 15A mode, I just brew my 2 shots (one espresso for me and one for my wife's Latte), and by the time I'm finished the shots, the steam is ready for the Latte. I then turn the machine off manually right afterward.
By doing this, my steam boiler (which cannot be manually descaled on the Mini), sees only about 5 minutes "on time" each day. So it still looks pristine inside after 3 years of use.
I my opinion, the "steam only when needed" feature is one of the GREAT parts of the Mini, that you cannot find on any other machine.
I am doing the same as you, only turning the stem boiler 4-5 mins before I need it and then turn it off immediately after use. During these 5 mins I pull the shots, no limit there as I upgraded the circuit to 20A and thus brew boiler always tracks the temperature. Perhaps a 20A circuit breaker is a potential wish list entry ;) This thing ain't cheap...
I'm not taking chances this year, I told both my kids to forget the "surprises" & get me Gift Certificates for GoCoffeeGo. As for espresso related equipment my Strega should arrive by early Jan.
I'm hoping that it will become my home roasted S/O machine of choice if what Jim S. has said about it is true. Just pulled a half dozen different African DP greens out of my freezer for roasting tomorrow. Hopefully by the time they are ready for use I'll have some idea of how to properly use the Strega. Today's project is to find a 60mm hole saw & make a bottomless p/f so I can run some Scace temp tests & better dial in the grind. The other p/f will get the parts off my pressure gauge rig. I pulled 2 shots of Moka Kadir late yesterday. First was a gushing sink shot; second was better but still too fast & not even remotely close to what I get effortlessly from the Speedster everyday.
JohnB wrote:I'm hoping that it will become my home roasted S/O machine of choice if what Jim S. has said about it is true. Just pulled a half dozen different African DP greens out of my freezer for roasting tomorrow. Hopefully by the time they are ready for use I'll have some idea of how to properly use the Strega. Today's project is to find a 60mm hole saw & make a bottomless p/f so I can run some Scace temp tests & better dial in the grind. The other p/f will get the parts off my pressure gauge rig. I pulled 2 shots of Moka Kadir late yesterday. First was a gushing sink shot; second was better but still too fast & not even remotely close to what I get effortlessly from the Speedster everyday.
Uh oh, are you telling me you're part of a new trend to pair types of beans with specific espresso machines? And I thought this hobby was already expensive enough.
Chas LM GS/3 & LaSpaziale Dream v 1.25 (US 120V) Mazzer Kony E, Customized Rocky Hottop P/B
chas wrote:Uh oh, are you telling me you're part of a new trend to pair types of beans with specific espresso machines? And I thought this hobby was already expensive enough.
I must say, some blends taste much different on my lever than on my S1. Some of the SOs are fantastic when dosed low on the Cremina. Higher dosed chocolate blends are better on the S1. In fact, I was surprised how big a difference the lever machine made (though I'm sure some is temperature related). Much bigger than grinder influences IMO (which is contrary to popular belief).
My new 7-day timer is now up and running. Do you keep the timer on the side of the machine or did you invent some sort of a holder? Wire is not very long and limits options it seems.
I noticed a very weird thing. While doing time adjustments, up arrow decrement time while down arrow increments. Very counter intuitive I find
Yea. The timer is backwards in terms of arrows but no real problem. It is worth the money as far as im concerned,very easy to program and seamless integration. I just tuck the timer behind the machine,no need to look at it. Chris of CCS was kind enough to throw a timer in to my purchase.:) Whay a guy.:) Customs bent me over pretty bad though i must confess.