found the Timemore Slim on amazon for $75. Thanks!
Thanks @aclsf & @Joelrivera !
I currently have a Breville Barista Express and it’s what I’ve been using every day (sometimes more than once a day) for the last four years. It’s served it’s purpose, but I am ready to upgrade my setup. I’ll be most likely looking at something as you mentioned with a dual boiler with PID controller. I am also familiar with the brands you suggested; however, I noticed Rocket Espresso was not mentioned. Is there a reason why? Also, would you recommend any specific retailer? Thanks again for the help!
One of the espresso maestros needs to get one of the Decent Espresso Machines and report back on how good it actually is (or isn’t). It looks very cool, but is way beyond my skill or needs.
It really is good. Not very buggy (it is controlled by an Android tablet…). I have had one for close to 20 months, it replaced a double boiler rotary pump Expobar Brewtus. It warms up in less than 10 minutes, and remembers all your settings. I have it tweaked to exactly what I like (I roast my own coffee, stick with full city roast most of the time, Central and South American single origins are my preference). I do have it linked to a scale, so my shots are drawn gravimetrically. The flow profiling is amazing. It sounds weird, because it doesn’t work the same way a “normal” espresso machine works. It heats the water over temp, and mixes it down to the programmed temperature. The machine has control over temperature, flow rate (gravimetric or volumetric), and pressure (assuming the puck holds the pressure). Out of the box, it works as well without having to tweak as it has a ton of profiles already preset. The results will not lie, and if your puck preparation is bad, you will get blown shots. As many have said before, single dose quality grinders support these types of machines. My typical dose is 18.0g in a 18g portafilter basket, with an extraction at 60g.
I don’t use the steam function, my wife does, and she gets great latte art. The steam temperature is higher than any other 120v machine (in the US), holds much more energy, and steams very quickly. Even though it doesn’t have a double boiler, to switch back and forth takes no noticeable time, and the results are amazing. For power meter metric driven cyclists who like caffeine, this machine will suit them well. It isn’t cheap, but it is more reliable than high end Marzochis, Slayers, etc, AND IT WORKS BETTER at a fraction of the price.
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Is that 60g of water in or 60g of coffee out? If it’s coffee out then why such a long ratio?
Just curious as I’m just starting out with espresso (I got a Flair back in July) and have yet to venture past a 1:2.5 coffee in:out ratio.
Interesting dose. That’s seems to be on the over extracted side of things…
I thought the rule of thumb was of a max of about 2.5x and that’s for a lungo. This seems a bit over 3x
I do 20g with a 50ish extraction.
I don’t have personal experience with Rocket machines, but anecdotally the build quality isn’t up to par compared to other manufacturers such as ECM/Profitec. The internals on the ECM/Profitec models are also laid out to optimize serviceability. You won’t need to go in and service it very frequently, but just something to note. The Rocket machines generally have great aesthetics (e.g., inconspicuous shot timer blending into the polished front panel), but I personally don’t like how the PID controller is either hidden or controlled using a separate unit stuck onto the side of the machine (R58).
Talking about Breville, they also have a Dual Boiler model that IMO offers great value with features found on more expensive machines such as pre-infusion. In fact, there’s a relatively straightforward mod to mimic the pre-infusion found in the way more expensive Slayer machines.
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Decent espresso machines are really great machines if you are someone who appreciates consistency, data, experimentation, product tech/development, and community support. As mentioned, it can pull GREAT shots when you have proper puck prep but you will get punished when you don’t. You can experiment with your own recipes/profiles or leverage the ones created by the Decent community. The Decent can mimic shots pulled by a range of different machines such Slayer or lever machines (though I’ve heard the “mouth feel” isn’t quite the same, YMMV).
On top of these things, there’s also the quick warmup time as mentioned, relatively smaller footprint, and a cool touchscreen.
Despite all these advantages, I ultimately went with another machine for various personal reasons. While the live data/graphs are really cool, I didn’t want to see this first thing in the morning since I work with it all day in my day job. Also, maybe I’m old school, but I prefer to pull a lever, slide a paddle, or move some other mechanism to pull my shot compared to pressing something on a touchscreen. Lastly, I’m not sure if I could get used to the sound the Decent makes while pulling a shot. Again, these are very personal reasons, so YMMV.
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Still working on finishing the mods on my Gaggia Classic Pro. Adding pressure gauge, PWM on the pump for pre infusion, PID, and Hall effect sensor for brew time all connected via Arduino to a Nextion touch screen.
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this novelty lasts for about a week and then you go back to pulling shots tracking weight and time and you’re done. All of the screens that seem to be the rage right now are a serious fad.
If you want that type of stuff just buy an acai scale and do it through your phone with their brewmaster app. Far cheaper than upgrading an entire machine.
Espresso brew ratios are probably something to be experimented with. I tweak the settings based on the coffee. With the current beans I have, the flavor is the way I want it. More often than not, I add water to my coffee anyways, sometimes 50g, sometimes a 100g. Extractions in Denver (altitude at 5280ft/1600m) have challenges beyond simply temperature adjustment. By manipulating flow rates I have gotten much better espresso extractions than I could with my previous E60 Expobar. My beans are moderately roasted, and never more than 8 days old, they seem to perform with a consistent grind well, and produce a taste I like (grinder = Kafatek Monolith). For guidance on adjusting EBR, check out Scott Rao.
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Yup exactly why I went with a different machine and stuck with the more “traditional” approach.
My buddy who has a Decent fiddled around with all the data and different profiles at first, but has now stuck the same one for a while now.
That is some serious grinder you got!
I get it. I would like to fiddle s bit more with my set up. But I have way too many hobbies as it is do also take on espresso machine setup. I currently like the way my machine is set. It could be better tho
What is the best setup for pour over coffee these days? I’ve started with frenchpress a decade ago, tried clever dripper and then moved to aeropress and haven’t looked back. For coffee grinders I had a Hario Skerton and moved to Minimill (because it had a lid and was smaller when I traveled).
I would like to upgrade my grinder (thinking of 1zpresso JX) and perhaps try some new pour over method (tricolate, espro bloom). For the grinder I really need something faster and more consistent. Aeropress is perfect but if there is anything tasting even remotely that good I might try it.
What would you recommend?
I like Chemex myself for pour over, it’s not as portable as Hario or something similar but I also rarely feel like making one cup.
I like my Porlex hand grinder but I wouldn’t describe it as fast.
I am familiar with Porlex and would like to make a slightly bigger improvement from Minimill (but I would get a Porlex for camping trip for sure). I don’t have anything against Chemex but not tempted to have it at home.
@mikel55 Nice setup! Especially the kettle looks great. Encore is certainly fine, we (ab)use it at work extensively. But compared to basic hand grinders the consistency is not that much better (the speed and convenience is).
yeah I have the mini porlex for traveling and a bit lazy to do hand grinding (was thinking of getting the commandante though). If I was doing espresso then I would probably go with niche grinder as my next step up.
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Used to have commandante and it is great
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Yes, I didn’t think about the kettle, but I have that same model and I love it. Giving a couple as Christmas gifts this year in fact. It’s just so fast and love being able to dial in a temp and then have it hold it.
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