Getting to know the Izzo Alex

[jmatt]

My Alex arrived along with my bottomless portafilter and Macap MC4 stepless with doser.

I had one setback - a hose from the water tank had gotten pinched and broke. It took me an hour or so to figure out why I couldn't get primed, then to take apart the machine, cut off the broken hose end and reinsert the clean end onto the pump.

One I did though.....!!!!!

I used a BOATLOAD of espresso beans. My first pour was 4 ounces in about 4 seconds.
My next pour choked the machine.
I currently have it set such that a pour takes somewhere between 20 and 30 seconds. I'll need to fine tune another day.

I didn't practice steaming milk, but the one time I tried proved that steam power will never be an issue.

So far, so good.

[lparsons21]

Glad to see you got her and up and running.

I had a problem when I got mine, but it was my fault. Couldn't get it to prime at all. Started looking around, must've looked at that internal/external lever a gazillion times before it dawned on me that it was set for plumb in, not the water tank.

I've got a mini review over on CG in the thread 'Izzo Alex is Here!'. I added to the thread this evening.

Good luck with getting everything dialed in...

[kllrbbq]

I used a BOATLOAD of espresso beans. My first pour was 4 ounces in about 4 seconds.
My next pour choked the machine.
I currently have it set such that a pour takes somewhere between 20 and 30 seconds. I'll need to fine tune another day.

Happy to hear that Santa's sleigh made it in plenty of time for the holidays. Post details about tuning in your grinder - I'll be needing to do the same with my M4 and Vetrano next week.

Richard

[jmatt]

Early reaction from an espresso novice:

My only prior experience is with my 10 year old black & decker "espresso" machine. Wow!!! 58mm portafilters are huge!!!!

I now wonder how much coffee was actually in my old "double" basket? It couldn't have been but half of a true double.
Also, I'm stepping up to the Macap M4 stepless with doser. My old machine I used with a whirling blades grinder.

I was completely unprepared for how fine one really grinds espresso. My first shot poured 4 ounces in 4 seconds. Whoops. Within a 1/4 pound of beans, I got pretty close. Now I'm making very slight adjustments each time.

On my old machine I had gotten pretty good at steaming exactly 3 ounces of milk. The machine was anemic, but it gave me 30 seconds to steam those 3 ounces. I'd double the milk into 6 ounces of nice microfoam, and add it to 2 ounces of "espresso" for a pretty decent 8 ounce drink.

Alex: Hmmm...... Here's where better actually makes it more difficult. Does anyone want to guess how long it takes to steam 3 ounces of milk with a 2 liter boiler at 1.5 bar? Can you say "hot milk but no foam"? I tried again with 8 ounces of milk, and did much better. I think I'll order a single hole steam tip. From what everyone says, it should take longer to steam the milk, which should make the process more forgiving.

I also need felt for the feet. At 70 pounds, I just can't slide the machine around at all. I'm not plumbing it in (for the time being) so I need to slide it out to add water.

By the time I shut down for the evening, I did have several textbook looking pulls. Beautiful tiger striping. Some nice flecks in the pour. Great crema. Now - If I can get the milk steaming down......

Perhaps tomorrow.

[Ron_L]

Congrats on you new arrival! Dialing in a new grinder for the first time can be a time consuming experience, but now that you're close, you won't have to change the setting by very much to compensate for humidity changes, new beans, etc.

My Alex was here when i came home from a coffee cupping up in Milwaukee. Even though it was 11pm I HAD to unpack her and get her set up for morning! She's all primed and heating up right now. My firs impression was "This is one BIG machine!". She makes the Millennium look small! My espresso cart is getting pretty full. Here's a picture of the cart with Alex in place.



I should go to bed now so I can get up to make espresso in the morning!

[DaveC]

I also need felt for the feet. At 70 pounds, I just can't slide the machine around at all. I'm not plumbing it in (for the time being) so I need to slide it out to add water.

Hi,

I wrote the original reviews of the first Alex (I was an early adopter), these are on "Bella Barista" web site in the UK. In the review I advise using either felt furniture pads on the rubber feet (same as used for protecting wooden floors), or the Teflon glide pads (which I currently use), just stick them on. I can pull my Alex out for filling with 1 finger!

The best single hole steam tip for the Alex is Expobar one.

It's a fine machine, very well made inside and of course the MKII is even better.

[jmatt]

Morning #1:

I'm going to try to document the learning curve. I would give my Barista skills/knowledge a 15 on a scale of 1 to 100. This means I've read everything I can get my hands on, and I've used a crappy machine, but never made a real good espresso with an e61.

Today, I turned on the machine, warmed it up, then did a cooling flush. Ground my beans, tamped, placed in the group head, turned it on - nothing. Turns out my water level was too low and I didn't have any pressure.

Pull machine out, burn forearm (dang - everything is hot!!) add water, try again.

Grind and tamp, cooling flush, set timer to 30 seconds: Nice shot! Took about 23 seconds. Turn Macap stepless adjustment one revolution finer. I'll try that setting next time.....

Espresso - pretty good. Very nice crema. (I'm using Black Cat Espresso roasted on Monday - 4 1/2 days ago).

Milk steaming - I still stink at it this morning. Instant hot milk, very little microfoam. No sweet taste. My Latte has no foam and my drink now just tastes watery.

I'm hoping as I get my grind further dialed in, that my steaming skills will improve and it will all merge together with a great latte.

Stay tuned.

What I learned today: Fill the water tank back to the top at the END of each session. That way I'm ready to go when I next turn on the machine.

[HB]

Thanks for sharing your learning experience, I think it will be interesting...

Milk steaming - I still stink at it this morning. Instant hot milk, very little microfoam. No sweet taste. My Latte has no foam and my drink now just tastes watery.

Adjusting to the faster steam pace of a semi-commercial espresso machine takes time. DaveC reports that the one-hole "cheater" tip for the Expobars fits your machine, but I always give the stock equipment a fair shake. Try practicing the motion using a pitcher of water. The idea is to control the sound and swirling. Then get a gallon of milk, super cold, and a 20 ounce pitcher from the freezer. Yes, you'll go through more milk than you prefer, then in time switch to smaller pitchers.

Look forward to your next update. Post a video if you have time! I have to dash for the kids' picture with Santa, ho ho ho!

[lparsons21]

While I'm inconsistent with the stock tip on this machine, I can produce properly stretched milk with plenty of microfoam. But I don't move the tip around, just straight down in the middle of the pitcher with the tip just below the milk surface.

And Matt, that constant refilling with water was what made me get the plumb-in hooked up so quickly. You just use lots more water with the HX/E61 combo.

[Ron_L]

DaveC... Thanks for your detailed review of Alex on the Bella Barista site. Your review, along with all of the info on Alex on TooMuchCoffee.com helped in my decision.

Jmatt... It will be fun to follow your learning curve! We can compared notes and hopefully get used to our new machines that much faster. I've posted some of my early thoughts in the Izzo Alex Is Here thread on CG, but I'll keep the more detailed notes here if you don't mind.

I have a bit of an advantage in that I am using the same grinder, PF and triple basket, so I didn't have to go through the dial-in process on the grinder. I used my previous settings and my first shot looked and tasted beautiful. Steaming milk is another story! For me, i think the biggest adjustment will be switching hands since the Alex steam wand is on the right, and the Millennium steam wand is on the left! It will take me a while to get used to the different mechanics. The Alex steam power will take some adjustment as well. As you indicated, things move quickly! I have to figure out the best wand angles, etc. I think I'm going to practice with some water first, and then I'm going to take Dan's suggestion and buy some extra milk and practice some more!

Here's a picture of my second shot just before I stopped it. This is from Malabar Gold roasted last Sunday morning.

[HB]

Here's a picture of the cart with Alex in place.

Do I spy a new Coffeelab Design tamper on top of that grinder?

[Ron_L]

Do I spy a new Coffeelab Design tamper on top of that grinder?

Yep! It's Angela's fault at Chris Coffee... She talked me into it.

OK... not really... I wanted one, and a new machine seemd like a good excuse.

[Ron_L]

OK... I'm officially bummed. Twice.

I went to practice steaming milk earlier today and I noticed another puddle of water under Alex, this time by the right rear foot. When I went to clean it up I noticed that enough water had leaked to seep into the drawer below the machine and soak a bunch of towels and booklets! After I cleaned it up I moved the machine to the front edge of the work surface and watched for additional drips. Water was dripping from the machine near the back right corner. I took off the cup warmer and unscrewed the four screws that hold on the inside top plate, and then lifted off the side and back assembly (very easy to do!) and I could see water dripping from the hose that feeds from the reservoir into the rest of the machine. The actual fitting is behind a three inch high metal band that appears to be part of the chassis, so I don't know how to get better access to that point. If I lifted up the hose, the water would drip faster, so it looks like the hose is split or cracked. Bummer!

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums...on_L/AlexDrips.jpg

I also noticed that the boiler pressure gauge has condensation inside of it! Double bummer!

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums...Ron_L/IMG_1499.jpg

I sent an e-mail to Chris' Coffee and Chris responded very quickly. He said that the hose could just be pulled off of the brass fitting and trimmed and reseated, but the gauge has to be replaced. He suspects that UPS laid the box on its side at some point and water got into the gauge that way. He's going to have a tech call me on Monday. I suspect that replacing the gauge will require that the machine be sent back to Chris, but we'll see.

[lparsons21]

Ron,

Sorry to hear of your problems with this. Hopefully both fixes will be doable by you with Chris' tech help.

[Psyd]

Alex: Hmmm...... Here's where better actually makes it more difficult. Does anyone want to guess how long it takes to steam 3 ounces of milk with a 2 liter boiler at 1.5 bar? Can you say "hot milk but no foam"? I tried again with 8 ounces of milk, and did much better. I think I'll order a single hole steam tip. From what everyone says, it should take longer to steam the milk, which should make the process more forgiving.

I make a similar drink to yours, on a 12 liter commercial machine, with a wand that has the circumference of a baby's arm, and a five hole tip. Two and a half ounces of milk steam in about as long as it takes to get the steam turned back off.
Here's the fix. Round toothpicks in four of the holes (and you can remove yours as soon as you start getting really good) and turn the boiler pressure down to about 1.1 Bar at the most. Depending on where you are, 1.5 Bar can be as high as 270 F! You should still get plenty of steam for three ounces at 1.1. And your cooling flush will require less water, therefore less re-filling!

[miKe mcKoffee]

Here's the fix. Round toothpicks in four of the holes (and you can remove yours as soon as you start getting really good) and turn the boiler pressure down to about 1.1 Bar at the most. Depending on where you are, 1.5 Bar can be as high as 270 F! You should still get plenty of steam for three ounces at 1.1. And your cooling flush will require less water, therefore less re-filling!

FWIW I run my Bricoletta with it's tiny 1.5L boiler 1.0-1.05 bar toggle. Still able to pull shot and steam simultaneously without intra-shot temp nose dive though not steaming with quite the gusto of higher boiler pressure. (shot temps while steaming verified with Thermofilter) Indeed helps reduce required flush, even though direct plumbed still prefer the shorter flush for flush-flash-n-go than super steam power.

[jmatt]

OK... I'm officially bummed. Twice.

. . .I could see water dripping from the hose that feeds from the reservoir into the rest of the machine. The actual fitting is behind a three inch high metal band that appears to be part of the chassis, so I don't know how to get better access to that point. If I lifted up the hose, the water would drip faster, so it looks like the hose is split or cracked. Bummer!

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums...on_L/AlexDrips.jpg

. . . He said that the hose could just be pulled off of the brass fitting and trimmed and reseated . . .

Ron - that is EXACTLY where my hose was torn. I couldn't get the pump to prime. It was a hassle to get to it, but with an exacto knife and a lot of patience I was able to cut the end off and re-seat the hose. Works like a champ now. I'm sorry I can't help you with the pressure gauge part though.

[jmatt]

Well - today was full of lessons. I title them:

1) The Weiss Distribution Technique is your friend
2) Bitter is Banished
3) Dancing isn't so tough
4) Don't fear the steam valve
5) D$#% these things get hot!!
6) I need a LOT MORE espresso beans

Read carefully - there's some tips throughout.

1) Using the WDT made an instant difference. After a couple of decent, but not great, pulls, I used the WDT to stir the ground in my portafilter basket. The results were instant and dramatic. On my next two shots the entire basket bottom darkened almost simultaneously and the stream drained right down the center for the entire shot. I must say, the pulls looked as good as any I've seen video of. Truly beautiful looking pulls.

2) Whoever first developed the bottomless portafilter should get a medal! It is so much easier now to tell when blonding is happening so I can cut off my shot. Although not heroically good, my last three shots were all very nice. This brings me to....

3) The water dance isn't very tough to master. Just flush until the water LOOKS like you'd put a finger in it (but don't - duh). Then keep flushing for a couple of seconds, turn off the water, but portafilter in place, PULL! Consumes water yes, but seems easy enough to practice

4) Microfoam, microfoam, where are thou microfoam? Well, early on I was steaming like a banshee, so I tried to use the steam wand at its lowest point of producing steam. Nice hot milk. Yuck! Well - after about 10 failed attempts, including practicing with water so I could see what I was doing, I turned the valve open further and BOOM!!! Microfoam! Not perfect yet mind you. In all honesty, not ever great. A little too much cappa style froth in the pitcher, and still too much milk, but instead of 5% microfoam, I jumped up to about 40% microfoam in one try. I'd like to get close to 60% microfoam by volume to be satisfied.

I'm going to use the suggestion of blocking one steam hole with a toothpick - sounds like a great idea.

5) This tip should be obvious. Of course, if it were that obvious I won't keep getting burned!!!!!!!

6) Intelligentsia should pay royalties to Chriscoffee.

[jmatt]

Here's another tip:

If anyone happens to have an Aerobie Aeropress (popular over at CG), the funnel that comes with the Aeropress works great for the WDT. I put the funnel into my filter basket, fill to an appropriate level, stir with a metal skewer, and remove the funnel. I then carefuly level the grounds back and forth with the metal skewer. I believe I'm getting great distribution and a very repeatable dose.

[Ron_L]

Ron - that is EXACTLY where my hose was torn. I couldn't get the pump to prime. It was a hassle to get to it, but with an exacto knife and a lot of patience I was able to cut the end off and re-seat the hose. Works like a champ now. I'm sorry I can't help you with the pressure gauge part though.

Hmmm... Maybe there is an assembly problem?

My hose is secures to the brass fitting with a ty-wrap. Were you able to cut the ty-wrap with an exacto? Did you put another ty-wrap back around it to secure it?