The S1 Cafe - Helping Your Espresso Dreams Become Reality

Spaz MiniV II / Eva Solo CafeSolo / Mahlkönig K30 Vario /
Ceado Drink Mixer / Espro Tamper / Bumper Stand
Motta & Espro Toroid Pitchers / Grindenstein Knock Box / Pallo Tool
ACF Cups

Woah - that is a nice set-up. It must be great to have that much counter space to play on!

Oton, you beast! That's lovely.

How do you keep that white countertop so clean?

Thanks.

Usually the countertop it's not clean. There are coffee powder everywhere.

Oton,
Nice......very nice. I have never seen that grinder before, what is it? I looked up a K3 touch, and the ones I see don't look anything like that.
You keep your Mini II nice and shinny, I think I need to go wipe mine down. Which pitcher do you prefer, and why? What do you use the drink mixer for?
Thanks for sharing the photos, it is a great set up.

David23 wrote:I have never seen that grinder before, what is it?

The grinder is a Mahlkoenig K30 Vario.

Thanks, I missed that it said right on the post. Big style points, how does it compare to other grinders in it's class?

David23 wrote: Which pitcher do you prefer, and why? What do you use the drink mixer for?
Thanks for sharing the photos, it is a great set up.

Thanks for your comments David. I only use the Motta pitcher for steaming. The Espro Toroid have a great look but I don't like it to steam milk, the spout is to flat for me and the construction quality is not at the same level as Motta. IMO this pitcher not worth the price.

I use the drink mixer mainly for making cold microfoam. It's very hot hot here now (summer) and drink a hot cappuccino is not very appetizing, so I usually make some Cappuccini Freddo. The quality of the microfoam that the Ceado Mixer makes is, IMO, outstanding. You can expect a very thick, dense, creamy microfoam, and with whole milk (better if is ecological) you had a nice buttery mouthfeel. I do too Espresso Shakerati and ice cream drinks (with coffee or not)

Well Oton, it is a really elegant set up. I looked up information on your grinder and it sounds amazing (although I haven't seen one as beautifully polished as yours). I have serious envy, but I don't think I can swing it right now. I'm looking at a nice refurb Mazzer Major to replace my Maz Mini. Hopefully that will work well for me while I try to control my lust for a K30 like yours.

You use 20 oz. pitchers? For single capps also? I have been using that size (generic pitcher) and want to try a 12 oz. for single cups in order to reduce the waste.

The cold microfoam sounds great. I drink cold espresso drinks all the time, (wife likes regular capps), and while in Italy recently enjoyed the Shakeratos very much.

Again, congrats on a lovely setup.

¡Oton! This is beautiful! So much light...is it really that bright?

Very inviting. Thanks for posting those shots!

Thanks Bob

It was on full summer and my apartment was in the top floor, so there was a lot of light but not as much as in the pic. I used some color correction on photoshop to correct the poor lighting and color of my camera and give a nicer look.

Your setup is awesome Oton. It' gotta be my favourite.

I feel like posting it on H-B every time one of the E-61 HX Harley goofballs says the Vivaldi is ugly (if only I wasn't banned for life).

Endo wrote: (if only I wasn't banned for life).

Bad boy, bad boy.

Unfortunatly I've moved to other house, so no big countertop anymore.

Thanks mate.

Endo wrote:(if only I wasn't banned for life).

Coming late to this…whatever did you do?

BobUSN wrote:Coming late to this…whatever did you do?

He committed the ultimate sacrilege of telling a poster that he thought the guys new grinder was "BUTT UGLY".

Dodger1 wrote:He committed the ultimate sacrilege of telling a poster that he thought the guys new grinder was "BUTT UGLY".

You've got to be kidding me!!!!

There are guys very directly insulting each other ... There must have been something else? And I said I was sorry....

By curiosity what was the grinder?

Dodger was kidding. If indeed Endo was "banned for life" it was well earned on multiple occasions. You had to be there.

Sounds like he needs to create a new user I.D. and change IP adress

...I can change IP's on the fly

Wasn't well earned at all. I wrote nothing there that I haven't written here.

My favorite was when they were discussing the Dalla Corte Mini and one reviewer (let's call him Jim) posted a picture of his carbon fibre pen that matched the Dalla Corte head. So I posted a picture of this carbon fibre toilet. This was the beginning of the end for me.
The readers only know half the story since they didn't see the moderator's personal e-mails sent to me. On the positive side many readers also sent me e-mails and were actually encouraging, liked my off-color sense of humor, and even started asking me for opinions since I seemed to "tell it like it is".

Seems to me the "clique" of moderators like to "protect" their sponsors from criticism and like to fuel upgraditus to keep the sponsors happy. The actual thing that got me banned was saying in the so called "impartial" review of the Olympia Maximatic that the machine was too expensive compared to the Salvatore considering they offered a 6 year warranty. (Guess which machine is sponsored).

The fact that I can post freely here (and even in China if I like) tells you something. You can call it what you like, I call it censorship.

Niko wrote:Sounds like he needs to create a new user I.D. and change IP adress

...I can change IP's on the fly

Tried that once. Made a new name called "SonofEndo". Took them a few weeks to figure it out , but then they deleted my posts and banned me again.

Anyway. Why should I waste my time generating content where it's not appreciated? There are hundreds of other coffee forums that are less censored.

I think that carbon fiber toilet looks better than the Dalle Corte
It also processes coffee (one way or another)

Niko wrote:I think that carbon fiber toilet looks better than the Dalle Corte

I was thinking the same thing! Plus that toilet might actually really be carbon fiber unlike the DC plastic cover.

Hey, my S1 got a new pal! Questy!



They are happy together!

Very nice......

Have you roasted anything with it yet?

Are you still looking at the K10 Fresh?

Yes, but not good roasts. I'm learning yet. Anyway I need to do something with the smoke; this roaster is a dragon.

I'm looking at the K10 Fresh; also I'm looking for a Versalab... but I just read that it takes 20 seconds to grind 15gr, so... mmm, I think I don't like it.
About the K10F I've read not very good things about it - retention (don't know how much), clumping, slow to show the grind adjustment changes and it runs hot (but not an issue on a home environment I think)

I've talked with Compak and they told me that the new K10F it's a new design (not an adaptation) and it minimizes the ground retention; however the person with whom I spoke was a commercial, so...

I wish there was more info out on the new K10 fresh. There should be some reviews coming up pretty soon.

Compak is refining the timed dosing system to get more repeatability. However I think I pass of this grinder... 1680€ is too much. I don't fully understand why the huge price difference between a K10 dosered.

Oh, and retention is like K10d. At least the burr chamber retention.

Mirror added. Hey, now is a little like a Slayer, isn't it?

Hey! That looks better than my little mirror I stuck on!

One think to be careful of for those considering the mirror, it's not compatible with the LED lights (I found out the hard way).

Endo wrote:Hey! That looks better than my little mirror I stuck on!

One think to be careful of for those considering the mirror, it's not compatible with the LED lights (I found out the hard way).

Actually for mine it is not too bad. What I use for a mirror is some stuff I had left over from the auto parts store. It is a plastic / glue on side mirror repair kit. It is thin plastic with a mirror like surface. I used scissors and cut a section about 2" X 4" and folded it up. I set that on my drip tray in the far right corner. The mirror surface is just large enough to show me the bottom of the PF, and I do not see any of my lights. I can see where a full mirror like that would be a problem.

oton wrote:Compak is refining the timed dosing system to get more repeatability. However I think I pass of this grinder... 1680€ is too much. I don't fully understand why the huge price difference between a K10 dosered.

Oh, and retention is like K10d. At least the burr chamber retention.

Incredibly I can't buy this grinder because the distributor of my local seller warns him about sell this grinder due to potential problems (as I said Compak is adjusting/fixing things yet) Great.

The New Compak Fresh is due to arrive at the end of April according to Chris's Coffee. I would like one but want to wait to see what the feedback is on the first release.

Oton, what is your opinion on the M3 Quest roaster? I've been seriously looking at it lately.

I'm worried about the charge size though. What's the most you have done so far? Lot's of people say it does 125g well. But that seems WAY too little for me (although I heard it works well on back to back roasts).

I also noticed you have two thermometers. Did it come that way? Have you tried adding a digital bean temp probe yet?

How much did you pay including shipping (from CoffeeShrubs aka Sweet Marias I assume). It says $1200 but I heard someone say they were quoted $920 to Canada with $120 shipping.

Can't give you a complete answer. I'm starting to do my first roasts now -I spent a lot of time tasting about 20 SO, to finally choose 6 that I really like and now I end up with 30 Kg of beans in the kitchen -god bless my girl - so I'm trying to get a good to profile for the beans.

Anyway; Best roaster I owned so far (and far more expensive too ) I owned a Behmor and a Gene. Anyway I have to say that I hate the behmor. I know that you and a lot of people love the behmor, but it's not for me. I don't understand the weird profiles and I do not want; get used to a Gene where you have totally free temp control, I feel the behmor very restrictive.

Lot of people are doing 125g But there are some people doing 225g and 300g batches -some people use a heat gun attached to the Quest for extra heat power- I'm doing now 150g roasts; I'll try with +200 when I get a good roast with the 150g batch. I know that 125 or 150g batches it's too little but main reason why I bought the Quest was for the back to back roast ability. With 150g you can roast 3 batches in the first hour and 4 batches (don't need the preheat) on a second hour. A good sunday roasting session

About thermomethers, the second one is optional ($20). But is better to buy a pair of K thermocouples and go in the digital way. I have some beatifully made TCs (by Quest, $15) and a 4 channel data logger now. I plan to use the Artisian software, but I'm waiting for a new version because the current version don't work on my old laptop.

My Quest isn't from Coffeeshrubs. Lately buy things from US to Spain is very expensive due to expensive customs and taxes. I bought it directly from Taiwan. $965 + $135 shipping.

I don't like that 150g on the Quest, but if I can do roasts back-to-back, it might not be too bad. I'm going to consider it.

I'm attracted by all the customizing I could do and that "steam-punk" look. (The Behmor is butt ugly).

Right now I got the Behmor pretty dialed in. I just ignore the profiles and always use P1 and 1 lb. I adjust the roast temp simply by opening the door at different times (usually to extend 2C). I can remove the drum, dump the beans and restart the cool cycle in about 10 seconds, so no cooling issues at all.

I admit it's kinda like using a digital SLR camera in manual mode, but so far the results have been great.

Madness, I know. The devil made me do it.

Very nice set up!! I'm quite familiar with that devil you speak of.

It looks like your Vario will entirely fit into the hopper of the big monster

JohnB wrote:Very nice set up!! I'm quite familiar with that devil you speak of.

Yes! The coffee devil. This hobby is insane, really, completely insane.

GDK wrote:It looks like your Vario will entirely fit into the hopper of the big monster

Haha, yeah. Better I should grab the home hopper.


As usual with the Italian stuff (grrr!) I have the first problems. The steam wand throws a ton of water! I'm talking to purge about 200ml!

Similar issues: http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-ma ... 19625.html Lowering the water level probe sounds like a possible fix.

Thanks. I know. Viernes it's me. I changed my nick.

By the way, the tank water system is absolutely crappy. Terrible. The La Spaz tank is light years ahead. I'm going to plumb this thing ASAP.