VII Temperature Measurements Posted

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 12:03 am

I spent several hours this afternoon taking detailed temperature measurements on my VII. The measurements and my analysis are posted on:

http://www.rimpo.org/s1v2/temptest.html

Post by **Niko** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:14 am

Chas,
Am I reading this right or does it seem that your VII isn't hitting the temperature as well as your S1/VI?
I was (quickly) glancing at the numbers earlier this evening trying to compare the 2 and noticed that the older unit was averaging a tigher range of the actual programmed temperature. Not that it matters, it probably varies from machine to machine anyways.

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 10:26 am

I wasn't quite sure what to make of that. My technique may not have been as good this time, who knows. The thing I did notice is that the readings I took where much closer to the target temp and relative to shot-to-shot temp when I removed the PF between shots. So in a more real-world situation the temperature stability looks great.

Post by **spaz2** » Wed May 23, 2007 3:59 pm

S1& SII Quandry:

I'm not as experienced as many of you members and I'm stuck in a balancing question. As you know the SII differs from the SI in their lowest temperature available. SI starts @85c and SII@91c (185 F and 195.8 F) A popular espresso blend here on the west (left) coast has a recommended brew temperature of 184 degrees F. So can the SII be tweaked to around 184 F? Also is 184 degrees unusually low for an Espresso brew temperature?

Post by **Niko** » Wed May 23, 2007 4:09 pm

Which blend is that?
I'm on the West Coast and I've never used my S1 below 92C and my VII below 93C...for any beans.
Now I'm curious.

S1 can be dropped down to 82C and the VII only goes down to 88C.

I think it is an unusually low temp that you mentioned.

The VII can be altered in the offset to get you that really low temp if needed but you'll need to drop it at least 3+ degrees to get it down to 84.4C

Post by **spaz2** » Wed May 23, 2007 6:46 pm

Hello Niko,

The espresso with the suggested brew temp of 184 is Roman Espresso from Blue Bottle.

Post by **Niko** » Wed May 23, 2007 7:51 pm

Never had it, mostly because I home roast.
You've sparked my interest to go get some and fire up the Spaz's on it.

So you're in the "bay area" also...whereabouts?
I used to work in SF for several years but I'm in the burbs just below now.

Post by **spaz2** » Wed May 23, 2007 8:52 pm

Yep, I'm in the City. Just a 20 minute walk away from Ritual Coffee on Valencia. In case you haven't been there you should check it out.

Post by **Niko** » Wed May 23, 2007 9:04 pm

Been to Ritual many times...I worked about a 25 minute walk from them.
Ritual is OK, kind of over rated if you ask me, they do have some really good baristas but like any other cafe - it's hit or miss for a really nice shot. That's why I bought the Spaz and started roasting my own, that inconsistency that most cafes have. I exclude Starbucks, they're the most consistent out there at least you get the same (really) bad coffee all the time but it's the same, exactly. Even when they were using Marzoccos it was the same "bad".

Are you thinking about getting a Spaz?

There's a member of this forum who has one that lives in the City, he hasn't posted in quite a while though. Other than that, there's a handful of us in the Bay Area that have a Vivaldi.

Post by **spaz2** » Wed May 23, 2007 11:26 pm

Yes it appears to be a reasonable choice in the price range for a double boiler with minimal temp surfing. Not overly excited with the looks of it but it's all the money I want to spend on a machine at this point in the hobby.

You are right on about Ritual and the bean roasting seems to vary too. However compared to most everywhere else around here, they are a bright spot for sure. Definately a different clientele from most places too.

If you haven't been to the Blue Bottle kiosk on Linden street or at the Saturday Ferry Plaza farmers market you might want to check it out the next time in the city. There is always a fairly long line but if it's only beans you want go to the front of the line, it's their policy to do it that way.(actually their are 2 kiosks at the Ferry Plaza, go to the one outside on the south end of the building)

Post by **Niko** » Thu May 24, 2007 12:04 am

spaz2 wrote: If you haven't been to the Blue Bottle kiosk on Linden street or at the Saturday Ferry Plaza farmers market you might want to check it out the next time in the city. There is always a fairly long line but if it's only beans you want go to the front of the line, it's their policy to do it that way.(actually their are 2 kiosks at the Ferry Plaza, go to the one outside on the south end of the building)

Thanks! I know exactly where you're talking about.

spaz2 wrote:Yes it appears to be a reasonable choice in the price range for a double boiler with minimal temp surfing. Not overly excited with the looks of it but it's all the money I want to spend on a machine at this point in the hobby.

I thought exactly the same thing you mention here about the looks. Let me explain something you can't get from all the pictures you see...the machine is a whole different animal in person. I mean, it's REALLY WELL MADE and pictures don't do it justice. Another thing, most people shove their S1 into a corner or cram it under a cabinet and so on...you don't get the full effect unless you see this wee beasty in full on 3D. It has curves, it has clean lines and sweeping angles not found on your overly shiny VERY BOXY E61 machine (I have one of those too). Espresso machines are generally ugly, shiny, metal/plastic and extremely boxy devices that take up real estate in one's kitchen. Not so with the S1 if displayed properly, it has a nice Italian sports car look to it when you get a nice 3/4 view. It's a look that grew on me because I also thought my boxy Quick Mill was sexy until the second Vivaldi arrived, then it hit me, wow, these two other machines look nicer and they mean business.

Oh, and they steam milk too...

spaz2 wrote: You are right on about Ritual and the bean roasting seems to vary too.

Forgot to mention, this is also another reason I stopped going there; they started to roast their own beans. They used to use Stumptown Roasts, those were the days I'd drink their coffee and buy the beans...Hairbender baby!!

Post by **spaz2** » Thu May 24, 2007 10:59 am

thanks for the reminder about Stumptown and Hairbender. I have to try that one.

Post by **Niko** » Thu May 24, 2007 12:10 pm

Hairbender reminds me how a great coffee blend can be underrated when compared to a so overrated Black Cat. Hairbender stomps the living daylights out of that other stuff, I still can't drink Black Cat for some odd reason. Personal taste once again comes into play, my Black Cat pours look like textbook godshots almost everytime but I can't finish drinking the shots.

Post by **woodchuck** » Thu May 24, 2007 4:51 pm

I used to really like Black Cat but lately it has had a bit of a funky front end. These days I am drinking Forte and Toscano from CCC. I mix a few beans of Yirg or Harrar in with the Toscano to add a bit of berry on top of the chocolate.

Cheers

Ian