I have a cousin who loves espresso very much and I always wanted to buy her a simple and a portable setup, yet I don't imagine her using a semi-automatic machine which is how I came to consider the handpresso wild Domepod for sometime (along with a hand grinder). I surely recognize the differences in the build quality between the two (I was shocked to see that the handpresso had a basket made of plastic) but my question is whether the coffee resulting from both is comparable or not, and by how much. I like the handpresso because it does not need cartridges and because it is half the price, yet I want my gift to be durable and to find heavy use. I also need something robust because I don't imagine her paying much attention to gaskets or the like (rather than getting anything replaced or fixed or whatever). I would like users of both machines to consider the case of my cousin and give me balanced advice (balanced between an aficionado's irrational desire for quality and considerations of usability from the perspective of an uninvolved amateur). She will most probably be using a hand grinder along with either machine. She is currently using a vibe-pump pod machine called Senseo, so whatever I will buy to her should be closer to a real espresso than the drink this Senseo thing can produce. Her reference for perfection are the shots a La Pavoni lever could produce. We both tolerate lower-temperature extractions (first shot on a La Pavoni).

orwa wrote: I would like users of both machines to consider the case of my cousin and give me balanced advice

I've only used the Twist, but for what it's worth, average consumers of espresso have said things like, "it's pretty good compared to whatever else I could get out in the middle of nowhere" or something like that about the Handpresso. OTOH, xBC competitors and third wave shop owners have said things like, "This thing makes almost as good a cuppa as my (fill in their multi-thousand dollar xBC quality espresso machine here) does!" about the Mypressi Twist.
If she's willing to get decent beans and learn how to load a basket, get her the Twist. If she's not, get her a two hundred dollar Starbucks card.

I have mypressi and HX machine. I find mypressi shots are comparable in quality to hx shots. A little different, but not at all worst. Just different. Good grinder is a key however.

She is going to need a good grinder either way. Start there.

Then I feel there is one way to make sure that the twist is used. Gift a bundle of cart's with it.

And if you are really wanting to get her hooked get her on a coffee of the week program with any of the good roasters.

That and warn her about the wandering o-ring.

-Cecil

Oh did I forget to talk about the Domopod? Oops. NOT.

Oh did I forget to talk about the Domopod? Oops. NOT.

Haha

I think it is indeed the right thing to start with the grinder, and then move to the extraction device. I have been trying to locate a good used manual grinder on eBay. I was surprised that clean, used PeDe grinders can easily sell for as much as 40 dollars, which I thought was too much. Note that these are the grinders with clean burrs, cause there is no way that I am going to buy a manual grinder without looking into its burrs. Few sellers seemingly were confident enough to show the state of the burrs... Others either emphasized the antique value of the grinder or declared that the "mechanism was somewhat worn".

klemenv wrote:I have mypressi and HX machine. I find mypressi shots are comparable in quality to hx shots. A little different, but not at all worst. Just different. Good grinder is a key however.

What you say on the grinder is totally correct yet you scare the sh** out of me when you keep the kitchen aid in your list of equipment, cause this either means that you are simply patriotic or that, ehm, that you can tolerate the intolerable. Yet the Doge Conico is an intriguing choice. When I dream about a future upgrade for myself I usually end up thinking about this grinder (instead of the Compak K-10, for reasons of build quality and price) but sort of feels uneasy because of the comments on the astringency in the tests conducted against the Robur in this website and the comments on the clumping.

I think the kitchen aid grinder should be given a distinct category of its own. It is not blade, it is not burr, it is something in between. I know too much on the topic because I have invested too much time and effort to make it work well but I failed. This grinder crushes most of the bean using parts other than the burrs (i.e. mainly the auger) which results in extreme inconsistency (dependency of the resulting fineness on the fullness of the auger tunnel) and a significant powdery constituent that is responsible of the horrible bitterness someone finds in extractions with this grinder. Surprisingly, the low precision of the adjustment system makes it impossible to achieve espresso-fine settings without this crushing, which is why I think it is generally incomparable to any other burr grinder (that it belongs to a category of its own).

orwa wrote:I think the kitchen aid grinder should be given a distinct category of its own.

I agree. And that category should be called "rubbish". At the risk of going off topic I too struggled with this grinder and was only liberated from my espresso woes when I finally gave it away.

Back on topic. I am fan of the Twist in that it is an impressive attempt to recreate authentic espresso in a truly portable device. Some people have reported that it tastes a little "gassy". There is an element of truth in this, but not to an unpleasant point. Far from it.

But I would recommend waiting for a bit until the 2nd generation Twist comes out. There are a few kinks in the first generation - one of which is a slow leaking of the gas canister which means effectively one shot per canister which makes it a pain. I have this issue which effectively has put it out of use. I know they are working hard on this however.

There is a constant leakage that is sufficient to deplete the canister when left unused?

orwa wrote:There is a constant leakage that is sufficient to deplete the canister when left unused?

Correct. Quite a common issue.

Not to discount Gino's experience (and apparently others' experience also) with leaking cartridges, but I have not had this problem. I only prepare espresso on weekends, and I often use a cartridge that was started the previous weekend. The difference may be in the cartridges used - the cartridge has to be slightly longer than than an ISI soda cartridge. If you want to use a different cartridge a small folded piece of paper, foam tape, etc. can help with the difference in size. As Gino stated, I believe this is something Mypressi plans on addressing with the new model (allowance for variance in cartridge size).

As far as quality, again, I have only used the Mypressi, but it does make good espresso. It's pretty simple to use if you have hot water handy.

Enjoy your experience, James