basket sizes

Post by **coffeeowl** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 2:08 pm

Hi!

I'm about to buy La Spaziale S2 VII. Now I have a Saeco small machine, which also has 53mm basket.
I'd like to know what is the size of the double basket, specificaly what is its height from bottom to top and from bottom to the dosing line.
I'm asking because my Saeco's basket appears to be a little too small and when I put 2 dosing spoons of coffee and level it and then tamp, the shower screen cuts the puck - so I'd rather know the size before I decide on buying.

Second, I have a 53mm tamper from David Schomer and I wonder if I will have to replace it with a 53.5mm one.

Thanks in advance
Pawel

Post by **Niko** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 2:52 pm

Hi Pawel,

Welcome to the S1 Cafe, glad to see you on our side of the pond :D .

Do you mean by the basket size, amount of grams of coffee you can fit in it or physical basket basket size?

The double basket is designed for 14 grams.
North Americans load 16 grams in it.
We overdo everything over here, look at our cars!
The Spaz works better with only 14 grams in the double basket but we'll find a way to defy the law of physics here

Post by **coffeeowl** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 3:38 pm

Actually I mean the physical dimensions from bottom of the basket to top and from bottom of it to the dosing line.
Also about the tamper - is the 53mm too small really?

As for your overdoing everything... I'm going to get VII pour over model in Poland - :-)

Post by **Niko** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 3:42 pm

The 53mm tamper is a little too small, very workable with the proper technique but for convenience a 53.3-53.5 would be a better fit. It's better to try and have a custom tamper fitted to your particular basket since these tend to vary a bit.
As for measuring the double, I don't have my millimeter ruler handy - I can do it tomorrow unless someone else measure theirs for you before that.

Is that the Mini Vivaldi pour over? I keep hearing about those....

Post by **coffeeowl** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 3:48 pm

I managed to find a vendour in Poland (after asking La Spaziale directly about it) and then I asked if the Vivaldi II is available in Europe. Happily it's agreed that I can get it and that it can be a pour-over. We haven't signed the contract yet :-) but probably I'll be happy owner in quite near future.

Post by **Richard** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 6:22 pm

Niko wrote:The 53mm tamper is a little too small, very workable with the proper technique but for convenience a 53.3-53.5 would be a better fit.

Hey, Niko, that depends. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If drinking lightly roasted coffees, e.g., Terroir's single-origins, and dosing in the 12-14g range, the 53mm tamper is marginally too large. Why? Those coffees are much denser and hence of lesser volume for a given weight than a darker roasted coffee. The result is a puck thin enough that its upper surface is below the point at which the standard double basket has begun to taper inward to a smaller diameter.

So for my typical use, a 53.3-53.5 mm tamper would be useless, with the 53 mm already marginally too large.

Post by **Niko** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 8:53 pm

I see your point...
The lower you tamp into the basket, the tighter the tamper will fit.
So it really does depend on your usage, at least that's how they fit into my baskets (tighter as the tamper goes further down).
It also seems that not all baskets are created equal, several other threads on this forum mention this too.

Post by **coffeeowl** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:22 pm

Thanks for the tamper info, how about the basket dimension?

Post by **Niko** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:38 pm

I will try and measure that for you today.

Post by **Weska** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:50 pm

I had the same experience, coffeeowl, with La Spaziale. They gave me leads to buy my S1 that I wasn't able to find on my own. The first was not forthcoming and reasonable, but the second one was a winner.

(My purchase was before the VII was unveiled, and I ended up with one of the last of the previous model. No great matter, and I would have been without any Vivaldi for over another year if I had waited for the VII.)

Enjoy your machine! Not that it's necessary to wish that. It would be hard not to.

Post by **Niko** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:38 pm

The basket is 28mm high, 65mm wide.
Inner dimensions are about 54.5 at the top and about 53.4 in the middle as it tapers to about 53mm at the bottom.

Post by **coffeeowl** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 2:42 pm

Wow! Thanks!
I'm happy to hear that because it's higher then the one that comes with Saeco.
I know the group is completely different and etc, but somehow I would be worried if they were the same size :-)
So well, now it's just a matter of getting my bucks all together and yes! I will have the place to master my skills :-) a very perfect place.
Wish me luck!

Post by **Niko** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 6:23 pm

Here's another measurement with my digital calipers.

28.24mm Height
65.11mm Width

53.78mm Opening @ the Top
53.61mm @ the Ridge
52.68mm @ the very bottom

53.18mm @ the top of a tamper piston (if resting in the basket).