pcrussell50 wrote:
Yes, I know... 220v, plumbed, out boarded pump, might as well go with a proper commercial single group. Still... How plausible is it with the Mini?

-Peter

I kind of think you'd be happier with a GS/3. I love my LMLM, but having used a GS/3, I think it is a bit more "workflow" oriented and better suited to making a lot of drinks. The downside of the G/S being that it takes a bit more space and longer to reach operating temp, especially on 110v operation.

I would have zero reservations using a LMLM in a small commercial setting.

Wanted to ask other Mini owners their experience with the stock baskets & lighter roast coffees. I'm getting some mixed results from the stock 17g LM "advanced precision" basket pulling lighter roast SO & Blends, and after reading Chris Tacy's review & OEM basket feedback the i'm wondering if its worth upgrading to a 17g Strada basket (or an 18g VST).

My experience has been that I can dial in one of my favorite light roast espresso blends (sightglass owls howl) pretty well on the 17g stock basket, and get it about 90% as good as they are serving in their cafe, but i've found myself plowing through bag after bag just experimenting with subtle grid/dose/temp adjustments and still cant seem to nail that wonderful sweetness from their cafe shots which I love so much.

Have also been considering the smaller .6mm gicleur mod since I think lower pressure extraction could well suit my preference for light roast espresso.

Thinking the Strada 17g might be a reasonable move considering the overall investment i've made in this machine. I know the manufacturing difference between the strada basket and "advanced precision" baskets (came with the machine) comes down to the "optically scanned" quality control, has anyone here noticed a real difference using the Strada or VST baskets?

FYI my grinder is an HG-1, am using a 58.4mm tamp, LM bottomless PF & my extractions seem to be pretty good.

thecatch83 wrote:I would have zero reservations using a LMLM in a small commercial setting.

It's not the small commercial environment that interests me. It's more the final stages of "polish", or aesthetics if you will, in a home machine. I already have a machine that is commercial-class temperature stability and control, and makes espresso as well as I can hope for. But it's a vibe pump and not plumbed. For me, 220v, like "the big boys", quiet (outboarded) rotary, plumbed. Basically aesthetic stuff that won't improve the espresso per se, but will polish the _experience_. I have pretty high hopes that someone will hack out a proper digital interface for the PID, like on the Cyncra, to replace the idiotic wheel.

Or just get a machine that has all that stuff like a single group Cyncra. But that's also triple the cost of the Mini.

-Peter

The Mini is a rotary pump not vibe & yes on board rather than outboard but I doubt it is louder

Plumb is possible with kit

As to the 110/220 I do not really think in the Mini's case with its extremely tiny brew boiler...more like a flash boiler it matters
For steam as we have read the Min equals commercial so............???

But if your really after all those things + the digi PID maybe the Mini is not the best choice?

danp212 wrote:Wanted to ask other Mini owners their experience with the stock baskets & lighter roast coffees. I'm getting some mixed results from the stock 17g LM "advanced precision" basket pulling lighter roast SO & Blends, and after reading Chris Tacy's review & OEM basket feedback the i'm wondering if its worth upgrading to a 17g Strada basket (or an 18g VST).

My experience has been that I can dial in one of my favorite light roast espresso blends (sightglass owls howl) pretty well on the 17g stock basket, and get it about 90% as good as they are serving in their cafe, but i've found myself plowing through bag after bag just experimenting with subtle grid/dose/temp adjustments and still cant seem to nail that wonderful sweetness from their cafe shots which I love so much.

Have also been considering the smaller .6mm gicleur mod since I think lower pressure extraction could well suit my preference for light roast espresso.

Thinking the Strada 17g might be a reasonable move considering the overall investment i've made in this machine. I know the manufacturing difference between the strada basket and "advanced precision" baskets (came with the machine) comes down to the "optically scanned" quality control, has anyone here noticed a real difference using the Strada or VST baskets?

FYI my grinder is an HG-1, am using a 58.4mm tamp, LM bottomless PF & my extractions seem to be pretty good.

I swapped to the 0.6mm restrictor on my LMLM and have been using it for some time. I lowered the pump pressure a bit to hit less than 300ml/30s water flow. In my opinion, consistency improved and I'm getting less channeling in the puck. This seemed to improve my results with lighter roasts which I favor. It also results in longer, slower extractions.

On the other side, without a SCACE device I'm shooting in the dark a bit with regard to pressure and temperature. I'm considering buying a SCACE in order to take some accurate measurements for reference.

The "advanced precision" baskets are basically VST style. (if not made by them?) As some others have noted, leveling the dose in concave manner before tamping seems to help even extractions there too.

I've had good results from Owl's Howl, and even lighter roasts. I tend to favor Ritual's single-origin espressos (sweet tooth).

pcrussell50 wrote:It's not the small commercial environment that interests me. It's more the final stages of "polish", or aesthetics if you will, in a home machine. I already have a machine that is commercial-class temperature stability and control, and makes espresso as well as I can hope for. But it's a vibe pump and not plumbed. For me, 220v, like "the big boys", quiet (outboarded) rotary, plumbed. Basically aesthetic stuff that won't improve the espresso per se, but will polish the _experience_. I have pretty high hopes that someone will hack out a proper digital interface for the PID, like on the Cyncra, to replace the idiotic wheel.

Or just get a machine that has all that stuff like a single group Cyncra. But that's also triple the cost of the Mini.

-Peter

You really need to do more homework on the LMLM, as you are wrong on several talking points. The temp stability with the "idiotic" wheel and steam performance are outstanding, and by far best in its class...rivaling machines that cost significantly more.

nuketopia wrote:I swapped to the 0.6mm restrictor on my LMLM and have been using it for some time. I lowered the pump pressure a bit to hit less than 300ml/30s water flow. In my opinion, consistency improved and I'm getting less channeling in the puck. This seemed to improve my results with lighter roasts which I favor. It also results in longer, slower extractions.

On the other side, without a SCACE device I'm shooting in the dark a bit with regard to pressure and temperature. I'm considering buying a SCACE in order to take some accurate measurements for reference.

The "advanced precision" baskets are basically VST style. (if not made by them?) As some others have noted, leveling the dose in concave manner before tamping seems to help even extractions there too.

I've had good results from Owl's Howl, and even lighter roasts. I tend to favor Ritual's single-origin espressos (sweet tooth).

Why are you shooting in the dark in regards to temp stability? Dan has already established the phenomenal accuracy of the temp wheel....basically, what you have set on the wheel, is what you are getting at the GH within .7 degrees on average based on his SCACE readings.

I didn't mean to imply the LMLM is not temp stable. I merely have the same opinion that an analog wheel is an idiotic way to set a digital temperature controller, as at least one other LMLM owner who brought it up in this thread with a very frank and useful account of his ownership to date.. I didn't even say it's a deal breaker. Just an irritant.

-Peter

pcrussell50 wrote:an analog wheel is an idiotic way to set a digital temperature controller

You may be misinterpreting the terms analog and digital. Analog simply means a continuous representation of a continuously variable physical phenomenon, and digital refers to a discrete representation of any physical phenomenon (i.e. whether continuously or discretely variable - there's no way to continuously control or represent a discretely variable phenomenon). Voltage, which is a continuous variable, can be controlled continuously (e.g. with a continuously variable resistor) and displayed continuously (e.g. with an electromagnetic needle gauge). But voltage can also be controlled in discrete steps (e.g. with a multi-pole switch that inserts a series of discrete resistors of progressively higher values) and displayed with discrete digits in what is called a digital display. Simply treating voltage (or temperature) as a discrete variable doesn't make it one, and doing so makes it impossible to achieve or display values between those of the discrete resistors and display digits.

The temp wheel on a Linea Mini is a simple potentiometer (continuously variable resistor) that sets temperature by changing the voltage in the heating element. They could have used (at far higher cost and requiring a lot more space) a solid state control system with touch control or a stepped rotary control with a series of discrete resistors so you'd feel the clicks as you turned the wheel. But all that would accomplish besides raising the price is reducing the number of alternative voltages so you'd have less fine control over temp. And the sensitivity of a "digital display" is limited by the number of decimal places displayed - it simply rounds off all fractional voltages between steps at the last decimal place to the next available digit in the display.

Using a simple pot to control temp makes perfect sense - it's cost effective, and (at least in theory) it offers finer control than what you're calling (but is not really) a "digital" control. There's simply no potential gain from a more complex and expensive way to control brew temperature, which BTW is also a continuous variable most accurately controlled and represented by analog devices.