(GPGT)Espresso machine hoot

[Vinified]

Hi Bros, please advise. I'm considering my first machine and grinder. Looking at the Gaggia Classic Pro + Eureka Mignon Specialita.

Any one used them before or have better alternatives?

 

[sseah12]

U did yr homework.. But if u like milk based drink, would rec a HX machine.. My first was bz10

 

[sickoflife]

Interersting, I've tried quite a few varieties listed here, but roasted by Lam Yeo instead.

Brazil Fazenda -> typical brazillian taste
Columbian Supremo -> very one sided columbian taste
Ethiopian Sidamo
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
Indian Monsoon Malabar -> This was surprisingly different and not bad
Indonesian Sumatra Mandheling -> can't seem to enjoy this.
Kenyan AA -> not memorable
Tanzanian AA

Can't remember if I liked anyone better, not very memorable (not sure if it is the roasting that makes me feels that way)

Six Four - Apache ->very fragrant, the smell you get to smell from cafes (thanks for the recommendation)

Paksong - F5 Mountain and forest blend -> Laos Catuai + Ethiopia Sidamo, never really liked Ethiopian beans either because they are weak in the cup , but this one is rather different. Very pleasant with milk surprisingly. Didnt have the long aftertaste as described, but its damn fine for its price ($5.90 for 250gm)

Nice reviews thanks! If u like full bodied, can try Guatemalan beans. Not very sophisticated in tasting notes but got standard and long lasting coffee aroma. Ya Ethiopian beans are semi bodied. Need to use a lot of beans to get their full flavor profile which is super wasteful

 

[Vinified]

U did yr homework.. But if u like milk based drink, would rec a HX machine.. My first was bz10

Bz10 is above my budget, looking at 2k for machine and grinder. Any other entry level HX machines to recommend ?

 

[Coffee4me]

Hi, can anyone advise where and how we can purchase a la pavoni here in SG? If importing, any overseas retailer to recommend? Anyone with experience importing a la pavoni?

 

[Dirk3Diggler]

Hi, can anyone advise where and how we can purchase a la pavoni here in SG? If importing, any overseas retailer to recommend? Anyone with experience importing a la pavoni?

There is a authorised dealer in malaysia. Search for La Pavoni Malaysia in fb. I havent dealt with them. But any issue, returns will be lot easier.

I got it from lamacchinadelcaffe. I found it to be the cheapest option to get it shipped from him.
Check the wait times. I think the factory has lot of backlog due to covid lockdown.

The new batch of machines tend to be a bit lacking in terms of qc. Not sure if it is really due to recent production issues, or if they are selling lot more machines than before.

Lot of reports of leaking, boiler being lose... nothing major if you can get spares/washers and fix it yourself. But something to keep in mind as spares are not available locally and always shipped from overseas

 

[DriftKing]

Lam Yeo Roast:
Brazil Fazenda -> typical brazillian taste
Columbian Supremo -> very one sided columbian taste
Ethiopian Sidamo
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
Indian Monsoon Malabar -> This was surprisingly different and not bad
Indonesian Sumatra Mandheling -> can't seem to enjoy this.
Kenyan AA -> not memorable
Tanzanian AA

Six Four - Apache ->very fragrant, the smell you get to smell from cafes (thanks for the recommendation)

Paksong - F5 Mountain and forest blend -> Laos Catuai + Ethiopia Sidamo, never really liked Ethiopian beans either because they are weak in the cup , but this one is rather different. Very pleasant with milk surprisingly. Didnt have the long aftertaste as described, but its damn fine for its price ($5.90 for 250gm)

Adding new beans:
Paksong - Ethiopia Geisha Washed -> I find the taste peaked opening the bag after 3 days. And the flavour starts to turn back to the Ethiopian way (and detioriate very quickly) I use the word detioriate could be a little harsh, the flavour changed from how I liked it during its peak, for those who like Ethiopian will like this still. Still prefer the F5 above.

 

[nubbyyy]

Bz10 is above my budget, looking at 2k for machine and grinder. Any other entry level HX machines to recommend ?

2k will be tough if you are looking for brand new HX and grinder, unless you are open to ordering from overseas. HX machines start from ~2k for Rocket Appartmento & Lelit Mara

You can watch this to get a comparison of single boilers which will be in your budget
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HIGdYy5of4

 

[purpleberry]

Adding new beans:
Paksong - Ethiopia Geisha Washed -> I find the taste peaked opening the bag after 3 days. And the flavour starts to turn back to the Ethiopian way (and detioriate very quickly) I use the word detioriate could be a little harsh, the flavour changed from how I liked it during its peak, for those who like Ethiopian will like this still. Still prefer the F5 above.

I bought Papa Palheta geisha beans last time and yes, they change their flavor profile quite fast. Maybe this is quite typical of their characteristics? Paksong's Laos blend is quite consistent after a couple of days.

 

[prozaizxc]

Hello, I figured I went with Bezzera since I rather start with something simple than having to deal profiling and so decided to focus mainly on understanding extraction / brewing times vs grind sizes. With a Niche ahead in March, I went ahead and ordered and received a Bezzera Magica with BB005. Yes, it was a long shot but I saw it live in action and figured that I'd not count the ground retention as a critical factor since my Niche will arrive to take its rightful place. I'd use the BB005 as a practice item and mainstay for my fav espressos through time.

The experience with FCC is as stated, super efficient, ordered on Friday, arrived first thing mid day of Monday. I am still impressed and got the start of the machine by doing a lot of flushes and then to pulling shots. I am trying out the single shot basket from here on.. as I think 7g to 9g would be more than enough to start my day.

1) anyone dialed-in single baskets before? if yes, was that on a 7g and how did you do the distribution seeing that the basket for single shots design is different than the straight walled double shots?

2) when you measure, do you measure from first drop and how did you do the seconds per the grams of grind coffee?

3) on darker roasts, do you judge your grind size / grams ratio based on a less accidic taste or a profile such as "balanced, clarity, sweet" or just "full bodied, chocolatey, slightly bitter"? how do you do the taste test when on your pulls?

Nice set up you have there, should go some way before you feel the perpetual need to upgrade again

1) I don't recommend pulling single shots as you rightfully mentioned that the basket design is different and hence extraction may be difficult to pull off. Would rather just go straight to the double shot baskets, it'll be better use of your time since you already invested so much in the machines. If you do still want to pull single shots, I did remember seeing a video of someone first dosing the narrower portion of the basket first and tamping it lightly (with a smaller tamper), then filling it with more grinds on the wider rim of the basket afterwards and tamping with a regular tamper. You would need a different smaller tamping tool for this to work though.

2) How you would measure is start off with a brewing ratio, that is how many grams of coffee (your input) to how many grams of liquid espresso (your output). Typically I like to start at 1:2 and adjust based on taste from there. If you are not doing a pre-infusion, you would start your timer the same time as when you start pulling the shot and typically you would want somewhere between 20-30 seconds from start to finish.

3) This question requires a deeper explanation and I recommend you to watch James Hoffman's "Understanding Espresso" series videos on them. You can find it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTFsBqhpLes. A very basic idea is that the more under extracted your espresso is when it will likely taste sour, you would want to go finer to increase the extraction time and vice versa if it is over extracted where it likely will taste bitter.

 

[ksapple]

anyone know what is current price for niche zero after brexit? i see the webby like lots of ppl kpkb on the tax.

I am looking for a grinder 1000 and below, other than NZ still gt any other?

 

[pvdwerff1971@gmail.com]

anyone know what is current price for niche zero after brexit? i see the webby like lots of ppl kpkb on the tax.

I am looking for a grinder 1000 and below, other than NZ still gt any other?

Price for us in Singapore does not change. Still 495GBP + 40GBP for shipping. On arrival in Singapore we need to pay VAT and probably import duty. So total will be bit above 1000SGD. Waiting for mine which is supposed to be shipped in March

 

[pvdwerff1971@gmail.com]

Bz10 is above my budget, looking at 2k for machine and grinder. Any other entry level HX machines to recommend ?

FCC has bundled deal for bz10 + bb005 grinder for little above 2k.
From what I see on reviews, bb005 has ok grind quality for espresso machine, but bit big retention.

 

[nubbyyy]

anyone know what is current price for niche zero after brexit? i see the webby like lots of ppl kpkb on the tax.

I am looking for a grinder 1000 and below, other than NZ still gt any other?

I ordered in Nov and it was delivered yesterday after paying GST.
Total was S$1073.25, I haven't had the time to set it up and try it but I hope it's worth the time + cost!!

- Indiegogo GBP544 - SGD985 (charged on my CC),
- S$63.25 Customs
- S$25 Permit fees (from courier)

 

[ponders]

I just busted my Welhome (WPM / Sunbeam) machine and don't feel like spending the time and money fixing it. I believe the problem is at the 3-way solenoid valve but the spacing is so crammed i am not confident on replacing it without damaging other parts of the machine.

Long story short, Welhome have last me 7-8 years and it was all along my intention to get a "proper" machine after this one got busted.

From looking through this forum it seems Bezerra and Lelit are the popular ones.


I think I will be narrowing down between the Lelit MaraX, Bezerra BZ13 and maybe the ECM Mechanika.

Why is it that there are not much ECM users here?

One of the feature I like about ECM is the very neat and tidy interior which will make repairs easier.

side note: the commonly spoilt components of a machine is generally either the pump and valve, both of which are commonly available items. so self-repair/sourcing is an option for me.

 

[DriftKing]

From looking through this forum it seems Bezerra and Lelit are the popular ones.

I think I will be narrowing down between the Lelit MaraX, Bezerra BZ13 and maybe the ECM Mechanika.

Why is it that there are not much ECM users here?

I think it is depending on who are bringing them in, 'Rocket' is well marketed globally, Lelit i think the forum peeps here reference it more as well. Bezerra is always the 'bang for buck' option as FCC brought them in many years back and have been priced very competitively.

ECM is pretty popular in Aussie AFAIK 10 years ago. Big brand, as long as you can source the parts and pray that the machine is not lemon.

Alot more brands out there we don't see often locally - Vibiemme, Izzo, La Spaziele, Profitec...

PS: I realised there are alot more quiet user using the Breville machines in SG after I spoke with couple of my friends.

 

[ponders]

I think it is depending on who are bringing them in, 'Rocket' is well marketed globally, Lelit i think the forum peeps here reference it more as well. Bezerra is always the 'bang for buck' option as FCC brought them in many years back and have been priced very competitively.

ECM is pretty popular in Aussie AFAIK 10 years ago. Big brand, as long as you can source the parts and pray that the machine is not lemon.

Alot more brands out there we don't see often locally - Vibiemme, Izzo, La Spaziele, Profitec...

PS: I realised there are alot more quiet user using the Breville machines in SG after I spoke with couple of my friends.

Think Breville is due to the recent marketing blitz and that they are priced very well for a grinder built-in machine.

Leaning towards ECM.... hmm.

 

[sseah12]

I just busted my Welhome (WPM / Sunbeam) machine and don't feel like spending the time and money fixing it. I believe the problem is at the 3-way solenoid valve but the spacing is so crammed i am not confident on replacing it without damaging other parts of the machine.

Long story short, Welhome have last me 7-8 years and it was all along my intention to get a "proper" machine after this one got busted.

From looking through this forum it seems Bezerra and Lelit are the popular ones.


I think I will be narrowing down between the Lelit MaraX, Bezerra BZ13 and maybe the ECM Mechanika.

Why is it that there are not much ECM users here?

One of the feature I like about ECM is the very neat and tidy interior which will make repairs easier.

side note: the commonly spoilt components of a machine is generally either the pump and valve, both of which are commonly available items. so self-repair/sourcing is an option for me.

ecm is related to profitec.. German brand if I m not wrong.. Quite tempting option.. Y not get a 2nd hand first..?

 

[testerjp]

I think it is depending on who are bringing them in, 'Rocket' is well marketed globally, Lelit i think the forum peeps here reference it more as well. Bezerra is always the 'bang for buck' option as FCC brought them in many years back and have been priced very competitively.

ECM is pretty popular in Aussie AFAIK 10 years ago. Big brand, as long as you can source the parts and pray that the machine is not lemon.

Alot more brands out there we don't see often locally - Vibiemme, Izzo, La Spaziele, Profitec...

PS: I realised there are alot more quiet user using the Breville machines in SG after I spoke with couple of my friends.

I think the main advantage for Bezzera is they have more options, make their own grouphead and had been around for over a hundred years.

Another good brand is La Marzocco but they are stronger in the commercial range.

 

[ponders]

ecm is related to profitec.. German brand if I m not wrong.. Quite tempting option.. Y not get a 2nd hand first..?

Would have considered but it is not easy to source in Singapore.

Missed a good deal for a BZ10 B005 pair (1 year old) owner selling for $1600.

The 2nd hand I see so far are higher end models (Strega, etc).


ECM is german but made in Italy. The thing I like about this brand is the simplicity and neatness of the interior. Future user-self repair will be much easier. So far reviews I read also mention their build quality is the best.