Happiness Delayed :(

[JeffPersson]

I was ecstatic when I checked the UPS Web site today from work today to see my Mini was arriving a day early. I rushed home after work, got it opened, paused to enjoy its beauty and then proceeded to get it set up.

Alas, the 15amp converter cord is in the second box which arrives on schedule tomorrow.

Here she is though...

[slo]

Congratulation! Looks good with it black neighbour.
You did not install the cup holder plastic border?

[JeffPersson]

Oddly enough it wasn't in this box, so HOPEFULLY it is in the box with the other stuff I bought. I'll have to contact CCS if it's not in today's delivery.

[Abnuceals]

Congrats for the Mini !
Oh what a nice remembrance of the day I openend the giant box and discovered my new Italian baby.
BTW, I tought the new Vivaldis didn't include the plastic cup border anymore and included some changes to the upper grid. You don't miss anything because it is the most fragile part of the Vivaldi and you can live happy without that.

[jbb]

..all good things come to those who wait.....

congrats on the new machine and welcome to the club.

[GDK]

Same thing happened to me. The dealer told me there will be a conversion cord included in the box but it was not there when I received the package. I had to wait a few days before I could give it a try. Congratulations!

BTW, I have the same Bodum double wall glasses.

[teddyb]

Yes, I can confirm no plastic cup border as I took delivery a couple weeks ago. I purchased my Mini from Chris' Coffee also, yet it looks a bit different than your machine. Mine has no stripe across the front as well as the S1 and La Spaz stamped on the front of the unit. Why the difference?

[Endo]

It seems CCS has some of the older stock left, along with the newest models. I guess it's a toss-up in terms of which one you get.

Here is my list of changes introduced on the Mini in order of when they were introduced:

• 2009 - Steam boiler drain plug added
  2009 - Removable steel magnetic float cover in reservoir
  2010 - PF with no rubber on the end
  2010 - Slightly longer stock steam arm
  2011 - No plastic cup guard on top, but rather a top cover with metal sides to cover exposed holes in the side panels
  2011 - Cooling fan removed (SSR?)
  2011 - Copper colored boilers (no nickel plating)
  2011 - No pin striping
  2011 - Stamped S1 and LaSpaziale logos

Let me know if I missed anything.

The logos are minor details, but I'd insist they gave me the new top cover, since this is an expsensive part to replace and is nice improvement over the old fragile plastic guard rail.

[JeffPersson]

Everything else arrived today and she's heating up as we speak.

Good eye on those that noticed it was the older version of the Mini II. I bought it from Chris Coffee Services "Buyers Remorse" offerings. Someone had bought it and returned it for one reason or another. Their techs give everything the once over again, verify the temp offsets and do a full test out of the unit before shipping it out. It was $1700 instead of the $1995 for NIB unit, so decided I could live with the cup rail to save $295, which paid for the pre-infusion chamber, naked PF, Cafelat Royal Tamper and still had almost $100 left over.

The $795 savings over the Duetto I was also looking at is what tipped the scales to my lil Mini. (that and how it matches the grinder )

[JeffPersson]

Ok, six or seven double shots later and I think I have her dialed in. So I made my wife and I a couple lattes and she's in heaven. The milk turned out better on hers but I had to stop short on mine before it overflowed. 6.5oz in a 12oz pitcher fills fast. So next time I'll try to start with 5oz, but I may need to get a bigger pitcher in the end.

BTW, just to check I'm getting a 2oz pull over 35sec with 16g of coffee. Does that sound right?

The shot had the Guinness effect, but not very thick crema. I assume that may be due to the coffee. It's the pound CCS sent with the machine. Don't know when it was roasted.

[slo]

Congrats again!
1.5-2 oz in 35 seconds (not including the pre-infusion) is pretty much my standard. I have found that I like the shots better with a longer extraction. The possibility that the Vivaldi may produce better shots with longer extraction time is something that was discussed here but never explained or justified. The usual suspect is the smaller basket diameter, which would make sense.
Enjoy!