Will do. Might take me a while to get the time though, im pretty swamped

So got the Bellman. Haven't really had time to play around with it, but here are first impressions.

I'm sure the steam wand could be cut and tapped. No need though, as the hole in it is pretty perfect. Well under 1 mil, and I can really spin milk with it - if anything almost too much force. So I'm not going to mess with it, but I was wondering if you got a dud hole yakster? Fantes carries the replacement steam wand, that might be the easiest.

For purposes of comparison, I used my stove, small gas burner, water right under steam wand nut, let it heat up for a while.

I had another idea while doing that. The bellman frother is basically the CX 25 coffee and frother without the coffee mechanism. I ordered the coffee making parts from Fantes, think they will get here today. Idea is to use it not for coffee, but as a hot water dispenser into the mypressi, and then steam - 2 in one for the compactness in the travel kit. There seems to be more than enough water in the Bellman - in my test the amount of water needed for steaming 8 oz of milk was pretty neglible. Steam pressure after stove was off was surprisingly good - around 2 minutes worth.

All in, on first impression the bellman has more steaming power than my Vivaldi, which is known for its steaming boiler.

I'll try to do a better review in a bit after working out bugs and getting some time.

I tried the Hario Slim today with my Mypressi Twist to answer a question from another thread. I got it dialed in and figure that it will work fine with the Twist for espresso at work if I didn't have the Kyocera. This wasn't extensive testing or anything, but just a quick sanity check.

I donated the Bellman and a Press Pot yesterday to a thrift store along with a lot of other household items. I'm using the Gaggia Factory for texturing milk and was never able to do a very good job with the Bellman I had. It was missing the coffee basket parts anyway and I have plenty of other coffee toys to play with.

No such thing as too many coffee toys!

So I've been too busy to post, but a brief note on bellman. Steam output is dependent on heat in (I know, a shock... ). Practically speaking, it means that I got good steam on my gas burner, weak steam on a plug in electric burner. Still experimenting, I want something I can run off an inverter to make lattes by the side of the road. Or at least at a rest stop..

I'm not really sure I can tell the difference between my Kyrocera CM45 and my Vario, Ill have to do more of a direct comparison, Vario is easier to adjust settings, quicker and easier to use (less man power involved) I suppose. But considering the price difference, if you want a little workout in the morning, CM45 is pretty good

I can tell the difference between my Kyocera CM-45 and my Vario... every time I changeover from espresso to pour-over grind and grind 50 grams of beans for an 800 ml batch in the Chemex. It's not that easy to change from espresso and pour-over grind with the Kyocera (which is why I have the Kyocera dialed in for espresso at work and the Hario Slim for pour-over) and I'm not about to grind 50 grams with the Kyocera.

But for the actual grind at espresso, I agree that the Kyocera CM-45 CF does a good job.

yakster wrote:I can tell the difference between my Kyocera CM-45 and my Vario... every time I changeover from espresso to pour-over grind and grind 50 grams of beans for an 800 ml batch in the Chemex. It's not that easy to change from espresso and pour-over grind with the Kyocera (which is why I have the Kyocera dialed in for espresso at work and the Hario Slim for pour-over) and I'm not about to grind 50 grams with the Kyocera.

But for the actual grind at espresso, I agree that the Kyocera CM-45 CF does a good job.

Ok good points for grinding larger amounts and adjusting the grind size easier, but I'm kind of curious as you might be more experienced with both your grinders than me, if you can tell much of a difference between them for making espresso?