As to the topic of an external tank: I know safety and things were suggested for making a custom adapter, however instead of reinventing the wheel I've been looking for something like this: http://www.goldduo.com/paintball-c-1650...t-p-649342

Looks like a bit of modification to the handle and it could be done. To me this is a much more ideal solution, although if mypressi made available something like this that could be bought separately it would be the best obviously.

slowhand wrote:I'm considering getting a Twist, but have a Baratza Virtuoso. Can I get a sufficiently fine grind for the Twist?
Glenn K.

I am currently testing out a Virtuoso for a cafe in Austin that is considering carrying them for sale to the public. I've been running it through the courses, French Press, Syphon, Moka Pots, and an Espresso Machine. Whilst it is no Vario, it has done considerably well, even managing to choke my espresso machine, and still grinds coarse enough for a French Press. I go for it.

To aid those searching for mypressi TWIST-specific information, I may split off new topics from this thread and update this post accordingly. Mypressi TWIST with ESE pods is the first.

I'm having an issue that I haven't seen anyone else mention. The rate of flow from my unit often decreases dramatically over the course of a 25-second extraction. If it's about right at the beginning, it's barely dripping at the end and, conversely, sometimes I get a relative rush at the start which settles down to steady [your-choice-of-rodent-here]-tails after three or four seconds.

I'm using 14g of beans and grinding them on a Kyocera at roughly a quarter turn open from tight. I fluff the grounds with a toothpick before tamping, hoping that counts as application of the WDT.

Obviously it's likely I'd be getting better results if I could get a steady rate of flow. Any
suggestions?

Split follow-on discussion to Mypressi TWIST vs. Handpresso Wild Domepod in Buying Advice forum.

Just picked up one that has not seen use from Craigslist. Time for some experimenting tomorrow. Better not take my grinder to work or I'll doing shots all day.

Mark

I finally bit, ordered one from OE, and it arrived today. I was going to wait till I had a lot of time to ding with it. But... I decided to wash all the parts so I would be able to start right off "when I had the extra time." As long as I was washing the parts, I stuck the tea kettle onto the the stove burner so I would have everything really well rinsed out "when I had the time to use the machine." Then, as long as everything was hot, my grinder was on the counter nearby. So I filled the basket with freshly ground coffee, the same grind as my lever espresso machine. Since I had the basket filled I thought I might place the N2O cartridge into the handle grip. Well, that led to the machine being ready to pour a shot so I placed a well warmed cup under the machine and pulled my first shot. no spouts, no gusher!, no sprites!!
I am satisfied!! About 8 more grams of coffee [my BVario was set for my Cremina] and I would have no problem sharing a straight espresso shot with anyone. I would agree that a dark roast lends itself well to these machines. I still have a nice finish even after a half hour! My travel kit is now to be considerably smaller!!
Many Happy Pulls!
-Richard

Some more goodies for the travel kit.
After a couple weeks with the Twist, and a road trip I am even more satisfied.
I found this new in box electric Maxim Cappuccino Crazy steamer/frother at a Goodwill store and it is from the 90's but...it can steam heat the water in the Mypressi tank and then froth milk aplenty; plenty of steam for a couple lattes. Do not use the frothing sleeve!!.

For the rest who don't find one after looking, There are always some cheap steam toys available if you want electric steam. A hack with a saw would make sense to make it smaller.
There are many stove top steamers of a similar size and the best is probably the Bellman type.
frothers here
The advantage to these is that you can steam the Twist tank and water to whatever temp you want and have everything hot. Takes less than a minute to heat..
Combine with a temp probe thermometer or a non-contact infra red temperature sensor:
here
Enjoy your the travel kit.
~Richard

To ressurect this thread, anyone been using this over time?

I've got this as a main espresso machine at home (I work as a barista, and mainly drink drip/aeropressed coffee at home) paired with a Hario Skerton grinder. There has been some hell to dial in the grind but I think I got it now, and the machine delivers very good espresso with the combination. I'm still not in a good workflow-routine so most of my espressos got a little of that too-cold sourness undernotes, but I know you can properly pre-heat it so I'll carry on.

Most importantly, it's hell of a lot of fun playing with this thing. Not that into milk drinks but I've made an awesome espresso-shaked-with-ice-and-rum

My experience with the new version is rather mixed. I have in fact two new units but none of them works like it should...

I had bought the Mypressi (first model) in June here in Germany. I really liked it because if the excellent espresso that it produced. The Quickmill that I had used before soon turned into a milk frother - the Mypressi was able to brings out flavors so much better.

But then I had some problems with it. The spout had fallen off, and it was impossible to get it back on - not really nice when you mostly do doubles. Then it seemed to have a slow leak issue, and just a little later it developed hairline cracks in the water bowl.

Unfortunately the local supplier had gone out of business by then, so I contacted Mypressi directly. They offered to send me a replacement, for which I had to pay 40 USD for international shipping.

They sent a completely new unit, apparently the improved version because the water bowl had a shot counter.

But this second unit was much worse. When screwing on the end cap, at about 1 or 1,5 turns from the final position, the gas suddenly leaked out massively. It made a loud hissing sound which diminished somewhat when I continued to screw it on. The last turn towards the final position gave a lot of resistance - very hard to turn to the end. But even in the final position it kept leaking (could still hear it). Only if done quickly, a shot or two could be pulled, but then the cartridge was empty.

Since they had sent me a faulty unit I contacted them again. They apologized and offered to send me another unit, but again I had to pay 40 USD for international shipping. I accepted reluctantly - hoping this time the problem would be solved.

No. 3 arrived, but again it had a leakage problem. This one seemed to work normally at first, but it could not hold the gas until the next day. When I pulled a double or two, the next day no gas was left.

On No. 3, I noticed that when I pressed the gas button while it was empty, the hissing sound was quite different from the other models - it was not a continuous hiss (like one long "ffffffffffffft"), but ,many short hisses in a row - like "ft-ft-ft-ft".

After that I did not contact Mypressi again - paying another 40 USD not knowing if I would really get a functioning unit was out of question.

Instead, I started some tests to figure out where the problem might be. I interchanged various parts, used different gas cartridges, and always took a note of the results.

I interchanged parts between the different units to see if I could find a combination that would work properly. So I used unit #1 with its proper end cap and also with the end caps from unit#2 and unit #3. I did similar test with units #2 and #3, using gas capsules from three different manufacturers each time.

Unit #1 - original mypressi, first model.
Surprisingly, all end caps to worked okay on this unit. I could pull at least 4 doubles with each combination. The Mosa cartridges seemed to give slightly better results, followed by Liss while Isi was worst.

I was quite surprised because in the beginning cartridges had on average not yielded more than 3 doubles. I realized that this was probably because I had ground too fine and/or tamped too hard then - in the beginning shots had taken 30-40 seconds, so the shots took more gas and thus fewer shots were possible.

So now I finally have a unit that works (plus lots of spare parts) - but quite pricey as I do not live in the states where shipping is free.

Unit #2 - new, improved model with shot counter
All end caps failed - with all of them, gas leaked massively before the end cap was screwed on completely (see above).

Unit #3 - new, improved model with shot counter and a silver mark on the water bowl
All end caps failed - in all test scenarios, the gas cartridges did not last until the next day.

The "it's not the end cap issue"
From that experience I think this is not an "end cap issue" but related to the main handle. All my end caps worked well on one main handle, but they failed on the other two. So there must be something is wrong with the units themselves.

Maybe some other Mypressi users have an hints as to what the real cause of the problem might be? I am wondering if they are really messed up, or if it might be something that can be fixed (gaskets?)? I still find it hard to believe that they have sent me two faulty units in a row....

Another pain (for me) is the spout. This metal spout is attached to the lower plastic half by two small bolts. It has fallen off on two my units - the first went off when the unit had toppled over and rolled over the table. The second unit had fallen off the table (basically my fault, luckily nothing else was damaged). The real problem is that a loose spout cannot be be pushed back on - I tried real hard.

The Mypressi can topple over easily due to it's high center of gravity. A slight push or a clumsy movement can make it fall to the side, and then it will roll away because of its spherical shape. The spout will take a sideway blow and usually fall off.

So one should pay good attention when handling it - be careful when you put it down, make sure you do not hit it accidentally etc. It would be good if Mypressi would change the design here to allow to put the spout back on, i.e. something that is a bit more forgiving.

Please do not get me wrong - I do not mean to give a negative impression on the Mypressi. The Mypressi makes excellent espresso, much better than many entry-level machines in my opinion, I am just trying to figure out some of the initial problems of that fairly new product. Customer service is normally great and very responsive, but if you do not have local dealer it can be costly.