I've had the TWIST for a few weeks now and thought I'd share some experiences.

I'll post more detail about the TWIST itself later, but in brief I'll say that you can get a quality espresso pretty easily with it. With very fresh coffee (1-3 days after roasting) I'm getting just amazing crema and good mouthfeel and flavor in most shots. A few have been a little bitter but that could be the roast. I get a bit of gassiness with fresher roasts but that could just be the CO2 in the beans.

A few have been wondering about stovetop steamers and hand grinders. I use both with the TWIST, and the steamer in particular can help achieve the difficult feat of getting the water temp above 94C (201F) just before pulling your shot.

The best stovetop steamer and probably the only one you can find easily is the Bellman Stovetop Steamer. AFIAK Bellman makes 3 products you can use to steam milk:

1. The Bellman Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (with manometer)
2. The Bellman Espresso and Cappuccino Maker (without manometer)
3. The Bellman Stovetop Steamer

They are all stainless steel and virtually indestructible. They all look similar, but the first two allow you to brew coffee as well. I have #1 and #3 and don't bother with #1 anymore, since I'm really only interested in the milk steaming ability. The milk steamer (#3) does the best job steaming milk anyway, so that's the one I recommend. You can buy it in the US from Fantes and in Canada from Terracafe:

http://fantes.com/milk-frothers.html - scroll down a bit to see it

and in Canada:
http://www.terracaf.ca/en/produits/fiche.asp?IDprod=416&typ=3&pageactive=1&enr=1&IDsous=&famille=0&groupe=1

Here is a pic of mine:


The Bellman produces very good steam power (1.5 bar with ease). It has a single hole so you need the higher pressure. If you have a good heat source and fill it half way with water it should work fine, though don't expect commercial speed. I can comfortably steam up to 12 ounces of cold whole milk in a large pitcher in about 80 seconds. 6 ounces in 30 seconds. It produces a very very dry steam (much drier and better than a Gaggia Classic with Silvia wand) which makes excellent microfoam, with practice. It works best on gas stoves but ceramic/glass and coil are fine too. Haven't tried induction.

Mike, about the Kyocera mill, I have one of those too and it works just fine with the mypressi TWIST. It's easy to use and it grinds on par with my older Zassenhaus, though the Zass is a bit fluffier and holds its settings a bit better. I've had the best success so far by setting the Kyocera 3/4 of a turn from it's maximum fineness, using about 17g of coffee tamped at the standard 30 lbs. YMMV with different roast degrees.

Another use for the Bellman that may be of interest is using the steam wand to heat the water in the mypressi just before pulling the shot:



Do at your own risk, I suppose, but there doesn't appear to be any danger whatsoever, as the steam wand isn't hot enough to melt anything and it only ever comes into contact with the aluminum on the top edge of the opening. Even if you preheat the upper bowl it cools the water. "Steaming" the water after pouring it in gets the temp back up above 94C without much trouble, which is about all you could ever hope for. It's not necessary but if you are looking to get as close to the ideal as possible this is one easy way to do it.

Dom

coffeedom wrote:As mentioned above, another use for the Bellman that may be of interest is using the steam wand to heat the water in the mypressi just before pulling the shot:

Dom, my concept (and you're in a perfect position to bounce this off of) was to heat water in the steamer, pour it into the mypressi and let it pre-heat, and set the steamer back to boil. The top of the steamer would *not* be tightened down for this and water could just be poured off the top? Anyhoo, in the interim, prepare your puck, and dump the pre-heat water into your cup. Re-fill the mypressi reservoir for the shot, and seal the top of the steamer. Pull your shot, and by the time you're done with that, the steamer should be ready to froth. Think it'll work?*


It'll take a miracle...

Psyd wrote:Dom, my concept (and you're in a perfect position to bounce this off of) was to heat water in the steamer, pour it into the mypressi and let it pre-heat, and set the steamer back to boil. The top of the steamer would *not* be tightened down for this and water could just be poured off the top? Anyhoo, in the interim, prepare your puck, and dump the pre-heat water into your cup. Re-fill the mypressi reservoir for the shot, and seal the top of the steamer. Pull your shot, and by the time you're done with that, the steamer should be ready to froth.

Well, if I've understood you right, this would be difficult to impossible. If you are camping and just want one tool to boil your water and steam your milk, I can see why you would want to try this, but it wouldn't really work. With the top off you can't pour water easily. But really the main reason is that it takes about 4-5 minutes to get the Bellman up to full steam capacity once you seal it, even if the water is very hot. So your espresso shot will have to sit for 5 minutes while this happens. Better to use your frothing pitcher to boil your water while the Bellman is heating up.

Also, once the Bellman is scalding hot, you wouldn't want to try to put the screwtop lid on it, as you would have to hold it from the base while tightening the lid [edit: you can also hold the handle, it's just not as stable]. You could easily get burned even with mitts on.

At home, it's much easier to use a simple electric kettle to boil your water and the Bellman to increase the temperature in the TWIST's chamber once you pour your kettle's water in it. While you are boiling your water, preheating your cups and water chamber, and making your puck, you can get the stovetop steamer going. Once it's steaming you have plenty of steam to do the water chamber and then milk immediately after pulling your shot.

Hope this helps.

-Dom

Hi Dom

thanks for the heads up on the Kyocera.

Is it more robust than it looks? Whenever I see it I keep thinking about the little throwaway plastic grinders that spices come in.

Many thanks for the comments about grind quality vs. Zass and Pede, which helps me relate it to my Lehnartz.

The Kyocera isn't stepless, is it? But then I don't think the Porlex is either.... though the claim anti-static advantages for camping appeal.

Cheers

Mike

Hi Mike,

The Kyocera is basically stepless. It has plastic threads on the tightening knob which 'click' as you turn, but that's more to help you know your position in setting a grind. You can turn the knob as much or little as you like and it stays in place reasonably well. I re-adjust my settings before each grind.

The grinder is made of plastics which are very hard and difficult to break. It should survive the occasional drop.

But I wouldn't run over it with your motorcycle.

-Dom

Many thanks, Dom.

Very encouraging. With the price of bike tyres, you can be sure I'll try not to run it over!

Cheers

Mike

Coffeedom, thank you for the detailed post. I especially appreciate the comparison between the Bellman and the Gaggia Classic. I'll definitely have to pick one up.

I measured my basket at 53.9mm. ID and the included tamper at 53.25mm

I wanted to chime in on the side of the Twist since for some the benefits of this new device seem dubious at best. I have been using my Twist for the last month and as one of the rank and file amateurs I have to say that it is startlingly easy to use well. I am making espresso to rival my favorite local coffee shop and have been doing so since day four of ownership. Its easy to clean, cheap to operate, a breeze to set up and store, and best of all its really fun to use. Also, when I had a problem with mine I emailed Mypressi on a Saturday afternoon to explain the issue. They emailed me back within 30 minutes, thanking me for my concern and offering to send out a replacement Twist on Monday. Now that is hard to beat. As long as the technical issue I had is an anomaly I can't imagine a better device for my tiny home. The fact that you can take it and a skerton hand mill with you on the road is icing on the cake for me. This is my home machine and why not. I make two doubles every morning. It works quietly and quickly leaving me with minimal clean up. The cartridges can, and should, be bought in bulk. You can get 600 NO2 cartridges from http://www.creamright.com for $200. That amounts to 2400 doubles or 8 cents per double shot not including the beans. The cartridges are 100% recyclable too.

Just wanted to get involved in the thread. I've had a Twist for a couple of days now. To be honest I am more interested in using it for doing less traditional extractions (yes, I have brewed espresso with whisky instead of water. It is better if the whisky is hot though).

I did, however, manage to Scace out a few brews. I have a 53mm Scace 1 (I worked for La Spaziale UK), and it fit nicely. Have picked up a few tips for heating - though I doubt you'd get much above 92C, no matter how crazy you went. I stuck a few videos up on my blog here.

Oddly I found that the setting I had for my Synesso worked quite well. I even shot a little video fo a side by side pour. Naked shots from the Mypressi look awful unless you remember to hold the thing straight!

Overall - I am having lots of fun with it!