silversurfer6

By the way great thread. Lots of common hobbies even though miles away on a different continent.

silversurfer6

I also prefee grind by time or weight vs single dose. i.e grinder with a hopper

For an espresso grinder you have 2 options: flat or conical. Good to invest on this, it is as important as the machine.

For grinder **** you have to go german as below - that said the original design is american

Butzi

Holy crap! That's amazing.
I'm new to the espresso world, but what's so different between measuring beans and grinding in a single vs hopper?
Right now I do 25g beans to 400g water pour over. Of course I drink out of a Porsche pepita mug (keeping it p-car related).

rk-d

Yeah it's nice because I can just hit the button and while that's working, I can get my steam wand purged, fill up my pitcher, etc. You can just bang out a latte in no time flat, it's pretty nice.

silversurfer6

Let’s say 18g of beans. This is a double espresso dose.

1) Single Dose. You have to weight 18g of beans and then you add them to the top of the grinder. Usually what people do is they prepare small canisters for the next days with the beans so everything is ready. It is not hard but for me I find it easier to use a hopper.

2) Hopper Based grinder. You add a portion e.g 200g of the beans to in the hopper. If the grinder is time based then you have it setup - i.e the exact seconds - to bring out 18g of grounds into the portafilter. The better the grinder the most consistent it is but retention will always be there and time is affected by the amount/weight of beans in the hopper and temperature.

Grinding by weight like the one posted before is the new evolution of the espresso time based grinder. The grinder automatically doses 18g of ground using the internal scale.

It is good you invested in a Micra. It should be similar to a Mini or GS3 and the thermal stability is good enough to help you produce excellent espresso. And being an LM the steam will be powerful enough for milk based drinks.

Espresso is quite hard to master - but if you use top end gear somehow it becomes easier. Additionally once you learn the parameters and you develop a worlflow it becomes really easy and you can prepare a drink in the morning in a matter of minutes. You just need to have patience and develop a workflow the fitst 6 months.

silversurfer6

I have not followed recently but I hope we will get home i.e prosumer machines using shot by weight. What is happening on that front?

Was really hoping that LM will do this on the GS3 - I am aware of the Mini modification using Acaia - but something complete would be great. I am not even sure though if LM is doing shot by weight already on Stradas or they are going in a different direction.

Butzi

I had a Breville espresso machine a few years ago, but once it started to give me fits, and needed maintenance, I gave up given the cost vs machine value. So I'm not a total novice, and have years of kitchen experience as well which gives me the palate & patience to get things done right. I'm excited finally get a "real" machine, especially LM. I'll get a quality grinder to start and see where this journey takes me.

Gh0st0

Niche zero would be a good grinder to start out with, unless you go full kafatek

rk-d

Strada X1 has integrated scales for mass based profiling for the low price of $20,000. Mass based would be preferred, but I'm happy with volumetric for 1/3 the cost.

silversurfer6

Nice find. This discussion prompted me to check and it seems my Mini can be upgraded to use the LM scale. I will call on Monday to proceed with this.

It seems now it is a matter of time to get a GS3 with the scales add on.

rk-d

I suspect the next gen GS3 will have integrated scales. It's pretty trick the way they do it. Only thing is I believe the scales are designed for plumbed in drip trays. I used to have my Linea mini plumbed in, but I switched to using the reservoir only on the GS3 so I could optimize the water (I use Crystal Geyser from the South Carolina source which is what Chris at La Marzocco suggested, along with the California source)

wru

By integrated scale, are you all talking about the drip tray that's molded to accept the Acaia scale? If so, I opted not to go that way for two reasons - first, i move the dang thing around a lot. weigh beans, move it to the drip tray to pull shot. It's just what i've gotten used to. Two, i don't like the idea of running water on it - how to flush without pouring water all over the thing? If i've got to pull it out to flush, that defeats the efficiency no?

I had a plumbed Slayer single group for 6 years or so - convenient, yes. Not so convenient when the main solenoid fails and you find out there is not a fail-safe... it fails open, which means plumbed water continually dumps... and no catch pan to catch it. After the second failure, i sold it and replaced with a reservoir based GS3. Plenty convenient for my use.

@rk-d you are doing the 3rd wave recommendation from Chris? 1/2 packet per gal? I am and have been happy with it.

@Butzi Kafatek is endgame grinder, full stop. Conical for darker, Titan for med/dark bias but light capability, Flat Max for the gamut with specific capabilities around single origin light roasts that makes it the superior choice if you're at this end of the roast spectrum. Buy once, cry once... Simplest description is the art happens at the machine, and the precision happens at the grinder. Denis has mastered this for single-dosing.

rk-d

Chris recommended 3rd wave or Crystal Geyser. I bought the 3rd wave packets, but my local Publix sells South Carolina sourced Crystal Geyser which is super cheap and meets La Marzocco's water spec so I haven't gotten around to using the packets. .

I used to use an in-line water filter for my Linea Mini but it was not good enough at the end of the day.

Butzi

Those Kafatek are pricey, but look the part.

There's an informal competition going on: Rennlisters vs my wife. Who can spend my $$ faster? At least I use the items suggested here.

mooty

^ JUST GET KAFATEK thank me later.
I have 5. that tells you something.

it was WRU's fault when he told me I had a POS grinder, it was a mazzer of sorts.