I believe that the Twist should have a discussion of its performance outside of the review.

Get it on.

I just got mine, and I have not had enough time with it to make it out of the box. But here it is.

-C

Mine arrived yesterday, and this evening I had a chance to run a first experiment.
It has a very high rating on the "cool new toy" scale.

And here is what I learned this evening:
Do not expect to use the same grind setting as you would for a Synesso 18g basket in a GS3


Serious dialing in will have to wait until I have run out one of my currently dialed-in (Klatch) coffees.

For those that are interested, the thread Mypressi Twist covers the TWIST's introduction in April 2009 thorough early comments from SCAA conference attendees, some informal reviewers, and clarifications from the product's designer, Stephen O'Brien. Abe and I are reviewing it in the thread Mypressi TWIST - Second Look. Contributors to this thread may wish to read these other threads to avoid repeating earlier discussions.

And thanks HB those are good references. This is more a user hands on. So your welcome to take what you want from it.

JonR10 wrote:It has a very high rating on the "cool new toy" scale.

And here is what I learned this evening:
Do not expect to use the same grind setting as you would for a Synesso 18g basket in a GS3 :shock:

I am expecting these to be on a Zass, not a home grinder. I am looking at this for my hotel fix, not a cheap home setup. Though it could be if it is good enough.

Top side of the basket was at 54mm, but it slopes to 53.7 in the inner depths. It is more or less straight sided until the end. I would Suggest a turning of about 53.2 for a good tamper if you want one made.

The stamped holes on the basket were perfect on mine, no flaws or missed holes, it looks quality that way. The top edge has some serious burring, enough that it is obvious by hand. A bit of polishing may save you a seal or two if you take the time.

That is it for the time being.

-Cecil

Just as a note, I did measure the plastic tamper they sent after the fact.

Guess what, it was 53.2mm They did do their homework.

-Cecil

PS: It is nice that they came up with the same spacing that I usually give a tamper. But being that dead on is weird.

Couple of tips of my own:

1) When pulling bottomless shots... if you place the bottom spout piece, inverted on your countertop and the included rubber coaster immediately next to it; you can now rest the trigger on the spouts with the edge of the ring frame resting on the rubber coaster (which prohibits it from sliding). I was concerned about resting the trigger itself on the counter, even though it doesn't seem like the weight of the unit would activate it, I still wanted a more elegant solution. This seems to work.

Here you can also see the Pino kettle in the background showing the water's ready...



Here you can see how the trigger rests on the spouts...



2) To lose as little heat as possible when refilling the water chamber I do the following: Begin dumping the chamber of the water used to preheat it and simultaneously begin pouring from the kettle into the sink (this brings the cooler metal between the water level and the spout up to temp) and then pour the new water into the chamber. Doing this allowed me to keep the temp above 195 in the chamber. I was almost to the point of thinking I was going to have to jury-rig an immersion heater to present into the chamber (j/k warranty department folks )

I too agree that simply leaving the chamber on the frame sans basket warms it up fine... and ditto on requiring its own grind setting (though that's to be expected).

Overall, I'm really enjoying it.

I couldn't hold out any longer.... just placed an order. Thanks to H-B and everyone who has provided information about this new little machine!

-steve

Mine is on order. Now someone needs to make a hand-held steamer!

I got mine on the 4th - I'm just a home roaster but on the homeroast mailing list the Twist got mentioned. It sounded neat so I looked it up. It looked neat so I showed the wife. She's known as 'the ever-indulgent wife' and told me it was neat, we should get one. So I did.

First few shots weren't bad. Not terribly good either but we were having fun.

After reading the Second Look thread and playing some the shots are starting to get pretty good.

Intelligentsia included a pound of their Black Cat with it so I've mostly used that. Brought it to work the other day to show off - I mean, treat my co-workers.

The method I'm using is based on my tests and what I've read.
I've got one my hand grinders dialed in reasonably well and I use a Bodum Ibis pot from my travel kit for the water.

I pull out the basket and put the chamber back on the ring and set it on the coaster. Fill with boiling water, put on the lid and let it sit while I weigh & grind the beans - for the first shot I might even wait a bit before I start so it gets a minute or two soak.

When the beans are ground & tamped, cup is pre heated I take off the water chamber, dump out the water, drop the basket in place, put on chamber, fill with fresh boiling water, dump the cup-pre-heat and pull the shot.

Most of you should be better at all of this than I am (being not much of an espresso guy) so you should be able to get really good shots. Of course, you'll also have higher standards so you may not like them as well.

For me it's good for home and travel - I have high enough standards I'd need a good espresso machine but insufficient budget and counter space for it. I've got everything else so the Twist gives me the small part I was missing. For travel I'll make up a case to carry the Twist and it's supplies similar to the converted small suitcase I use for my normal coffee stuff. Just take a case and use foam pad to make compartments. Need the Twist, cartridges, tamper, grinder, cups, water pot, coffee, and some misc bits.