(GPGT)Espresso machine hoot

[purpleberry]

Sorry to keep coming back to this topic, but what is everyone's go to coffee bean for espresso?

The price ranges these days seems to be very different, are there any bang for buck ranges that everyone buys?

Bang for buck is Paksong for me. Freshly roasted locally but some batches are slightly superior than others. Overall is great value. For "textbook" beans, you can try Le Piantagioni at FCC.

 

[Knight_Rider]

Anybody tried their coffee?

https://www.pyroast.com/

 

[purpleberry]

Anybody tried their coffee?

https://www.pyroast.com/

Tiong Hoe's son? Should be above average at least.

 

[Knight_Rider]

Tiong Hoe's son? Should be above average at least.

No lah the father is doing Nanyang coffee

https://www.facebook.com/tlefoodsg/photos/?ref=page_internal

 

[linusz]

Bright coffee company

 

[wahjohreno]

thank you, that is sensible advice. I love how the Niche Zero just works, however, is it just me or an odd feeling that right now the price of the Niche Zero is definitely more than the Gaggia Classic. It almost feels like, the grinder takes top priority among the team here?

Don’t worry about the Zero taking priority. Believe me, if you end up going deeper into it, you will definitely want to change out the Gaggia. But even if you have something like a LM GS3, you’d still be hard pressed to to find anything meaningfully better that takes up the same footprint as the Zero.

If you have the counter space now to accommodate an EK43, you wouldn’t be looking at the Gaggia anyway.

So there’s no losing in spending your money on a good grinder.

The Zero is compelling because you can’t find anything “better” if you value:
1) single dosing
2) small footprint that doesn’t eat up counter space and will fit under anything
3) close to zero retention (hence the name)

A friend of mine “upgraded” his Zero to an EK43. His comment is, hardly any difference in taste, but grinds much faster than the Zero, but now he needs to built a new coffee counter cos his pour over setup cannot fit any more. He has a big house and money, so no problem.

 

[patryn33]

EK43? If have room great. Read EG-1 and EK43 no diff not EG-1 cost more.
Zero just as good is a bargain.

 

[wahjohreno]

EK43? If have room great. Read EG-1 and EK43 no diff not EG-1 cost more.
Zero just as good is a bargain.

Which is my point, which I believe you and Drfitking share: the Niche Zero will not be a mistake, unless money and counter space are no objects, and you like the looks.

If I can make space for an EK43, I still won't want a big chunk of metal in my home ruining my home decor, even if it's in the chic white.

So there's really no competition given the parameters: price, function, footprint, looks.

Closest thing is the Ode Brew Grinder, but that has mostly bad reviews (noisy humming when machine is on but not grinding). And people say it cannot even grind fine enough for espresso, so it's not applicable for espressos. It also requires double the depth of a Niche Zero in terms of counter space.

 

[purpleberry]

If they come up with an upgraded Zero, what are the features you think should be included?

 

[wahjohreno]

If they come up with an upgraded Zero, what are the features you think should be included?

I’d be excited to see a flat burr set version for around the same money. But it’s unlikely that it can retain the same footprint.

Features wise, there’s really nothing else I’d want, except maybe a cleaner grounds catch design. It’s very clean now, but I think that can be improved to near nothing.

 

[VinaFair]

Looking to get MrShades PID for my gaggia classic to fight the sour shots I'm getting. Should I?

Sent from Google PIXEL 4A using GAGT

 

[SNAG]

Looking to get MrShades PID for my gaggia classic to fight the sour shots I'm getting. Should I?

Sent from Google PIXEL 4A using GAGT

Have you isolated the issue down to temperature inconsistency, or are there other reasons behind your sour shots?

 

[VinaFair]

Have you isolated the issue down to temperature inconsistency, or are there other reasons behind your sour shots?

Thanks. I think I'm pulling espresso off very recently roasted beans < 3 days old which may cause the coffee to be sour. Will try fix that first. &#55357;&#55356;

Sent from Google PIXEL 4A using GAGT

 

[pvdwerff1971@gmail.com]

I’d be excited to see a flat burr set version for around the same money. But it’s unlikely that it can retain the same footprint.

Features wise, there’s really nothing else I’d want, except maybe a cleaner grounds catch design. It’s very clean now, but I think that can be improved to near nothing.

For those looking for a Niche Zero, I noticed a few are available again at Indiegogo. Just ordered mine, says expected shipment date is March

 

[wahjohreno]

For those looking for a Niche Zero, I noticed a few are available again at Indiegogo. Just ordered mine, says expected shipment date is March

Welcome to the Zero club.

 

[DriftKing]

I personally find that with so many roasters/cafes out there, we are spoilt for choice. There's no need to pay so much for good espresso. Some of the 'branded cafes' aren't even that great for the price *cough PPP cough*

My favourites are SixFour Coffee's Apache blend ($12/250g, free delivery), and Highlander Coffee's Supremo and Quattro blends (also $12 each).

Ordered Six Four Apache. Came damn fast, received today (1 Jan) with roast date 31 Dec ?!

Should have let the bean to breath a few more days, but ran out of bean so made a cup immediately. Quite a nice blend for its price, will become my go to staple most likely.

Ordered a few different bags from Paksong as they had a year end sale. Hope they are great as its insane for its price ($5.90 ish for 250g Laos Paksong's own farm).

 

[chanvh]

I also just ordered a Niche, after becoming quite impressed with the Lelit grinders, the Eureka Mignon series and their price point, I almost went for it. But the moment I saw that there was an available for Indiegogo I placed 1 unit.

I'm doing this also based on the advise of the members here to park my large budget in the grinder alone, the unfortunate thing is that it only comes in March so I have to hold all my beans purchases until then - live with my current Nespresso.

It is also a notable thing to state, that I went different in this style of purchase, I placed a purchase first on the grinder - without an espresso machine. Was in Taka today, fell in love with the Gaggia, then I saw the Lelit Bianca, and I felt that its such a beauty, then again, I likely won't have the luxury of time to learn and do barista for the family, when the office opens up.

So, espresso machines I'm leaving an open decision until mid February comes around. That being the case what was your first mid-range prosumer machine?

 

[purpleberry]

I also just ordered a Niche, after becoming quite impressed with the Lelit grinders, the Eureka Mignon series and their price point, I almost went for it. But the moment I saw that there was an available for Indiegogo I placed 1 unit.

I'm doing this also based on the advise of the members here to park my large budget in the grinder alone, the unfortunate thing is that it only comes in March so I have to hold all my beans purchases until then - live with my current Nespresso.

It is also a notable thing to state, that I went different in this style of purchase, I placed a purchase first on the grinder - without an espresso machine. Was in Taka today, fell in love with the Gaggia, then I saw the Lelit Bianca, and I felt that its such a beauty, then again, I likely won't have the luxury of time to learn and do barista for the family, when the office opens up.

So, espresso machines I'm leaving an open decision until mid February comes around. That being the case what was your first mid-range prosumer machine?

My first one was Delonghi Dedica but I dont recommend it. I'd rather go for an entry level Bezzera, Lelit or Rocket. Together with the Zero, this should be sufficient enough until you level up.

 

[wahjohreno]

I also just ordered a Niche, after becoming quite impressed with the Lelit grinders, the Eureka Mignon series and their price point, I almost went for it. But the moment I saw that there was an available for Indiegogo I placed 1 unit.

I'm doing this also based on the advise of the members here to park my large budget in the grinder alone, the unfortunate thing is that it only comes in March so I have to hold all my beans purchases until then - live with my current Nespresso.

It is also a notable thing to state, that I went different in this style of purchase, I placed a purchase first on the grinder - without an espresso machine. Was in Taka today, fell in love with the Gaggia, then I saw the Lelit Bianca, and I felt that its such a beauty, then again, I likely won't have the luxury of time to learn and do barista for the family, when the office opens up.

So, espresso machines I'm leaving an open decision until mid February comes around. That being the case what was your first mid-range prosumer machine?

I had a Mignon. Believe me, the Niche is a different class of grinder. It looks great, but besides that, nothing about it beats the Niche.

In the $2k+ range, I’d pick the Rocket Appartmento for the most style.

 

[DriftKing]

Look for any single boiler E61/Bezerra proprietaries for the budget.

If you could go one up and use it all for the next 5-10 years... the Rocket is a good choice (or any HX E61s in the market). They are all about 2-3k range locally. All could be well paired with the Niche.

Actually nthing much to learn 'baristaing', buy fresh beans, grind fine enough for 1:2 brew ratio between 20 sec - 35sec brew time and thats it for the masses. Milk frothing is just practice..