My Anita and M4 order From Chris - Detailed unpacking Pics

[CyclingCraig]

Received my order yesterday from Chris Coffee, figured I would post how well everthing was packed and shipped.

I placed my order on Tuesday and received my order on Wednesday, NEXT DAY!!! I was sooo excited.

anyway, onto the unpacking pics.....

This is how the order was shipped:


Misc acc box was packe VERY well with plenty of peanuts:


All my Accesories:


Now for tne new M4, again packed VERY well, parts were in form fitted foam:


M4 all unpacked:


Now for the Anita, this it what is meant when they say item is "Double Boxed":


All Unpacked:


Anita in her final placement in my kitchen:

[mrgnomer]

Whoo hoo Santa delivered for someone this year

Chris packs his stuff good.

Very sexy. Lucky guy. Look forward to hearing about the espresso. Congratulations!

[jgriff]

Congratulations on your new setup! I got the same thing minus the accessories from Chris a few weeks ago. Been very happy since getting my routine figured out and learning the machine. I did adjust the brew pressure and boiler pressure fairly early on, though. I did this based on stuff I'd read in these forums and elsewhere and I think it's made Anita more forgiving. Good luck!
Justin

[woodchuck]

Way cool. I have a VII and M4 from Chris to be delivered today! I hope they arrive in as good as shape as yours has. Enjoy your new machine and I look forward to your posts as you get used to the machine.

Cheers

Ian

[cannonfodder]

Nice.

One thing you may want to consider. A shiny stainless steel machine beside your stove won't stay shiny very long. You will get a lot of oil attaching itself to the machine with it that close. You would be surprised how much oil is atomized and floats on the thermal currents rising from the stove, then it settles back down on anything around the stove. Stainless is particularly bad. Been there, done that, moved the machine to a dedicated table and life was good again.

Looks nice, makes me want to reach for the credit card, Must..hold....back hand......

[jmatt]

Very nice. I can also assure you that if you have any questions or issues, ChrisCoffee's continued service is top notch. Now prepare yourself for the learning curve.....

My only initial tip: If you've never owned a "real" espresso machine before, be prepared that you will be grinding finer than you would have imagined. My first pulls literally ran through the portafilter. Maybe 5 seconds tops.

[CyclingCraig]

Thanks guys for the good wishes..

Yeah, I gave myself a nice present. (didn't take too much vacation from work this year, so I got a little extra back that helped out with this).

cannonfodder: Thanks for the advice on moving it away from the stove, I am already taking you advice and figureing out how to rearrange things.

One thing is for SURE.. a good machine and grinder does does not automatically mean you will make good espresso!! (I knew that before, but i am just busting on myself). Now I have to really learn how to use this new machine. I had a $* Barista before this (about 5 years) that I got *OK* shots from so I am not a TOTALLY newbie, but this is a WHOLE new Level.

I have lots of reading to do on this forum to learn technique now. And I am sure I will have MANY questions for you all.

Thanks
-Craig

[gabriel]

Craig,

First congratulations for the new machine

Second would you mind telling how much did you pay for this setup ?
I'm now narrowing down on either the Anita or the Tea (II) for machine and the MACAP M4 or MAZZER-MINI for grinder (still trying to understand the pro/cons of doser/less step/less ) plus all the accessories, so what you paid is probably a good approximation for what I will need to pay.

Another question if you don't mind, were you able to get anything drinkable yet ?
I would appreciate it if you could post when getting first good shot as it is still hard for me to understand from reading how hard is to make a good espresso with this type of machine

Thanks
/gabi

[k7qz]

Second would you mind telling how much did you pay for this setup ?

Why not check the source? Here ya' go:

http://www.chriscoffee.com/products/home/espresso/anita

http://www.chriscoffee.com/produc...rinders/m4stepless

Happy Shopping!

[miKe mcKoffee]

Another question if you don't mind, were you able to get anything drinkable yet ?
I would appreciate it if you could post when getting first good shot as it is still hard for me to understand from reading how hard is to make a good espresso with this type of machine

Thanks
/gabi

It's really more a matter of where your barista skills are than the machine itself. If as I had been you've been pulling shots on a Silvia or similar class machine for a few years then when going to an E61 HX it is a breeze with virtually immediate improvement over Sivlia class machine shots. Either the Anita or Tea paired with Macap or Mazzer quite capable of excellent shots, assuming the handle side of the portafilter is in order.

[junkinduck]

Oh the envy.
Keep us posted on your progress. I hope to make the very same order soon after the first of the year. Hope for a little more cash flow then. I am still debating the Anita vs. the Alex but am having trouble justifying the 500.00 for the plumb-in option so I will most likely end up with Anita. Also planing on the M4.

[CyclingCraig]

Hey gabriel,

As far as Price I paid, just go to ChrisCoffee, put a anita and a m4 in your cart, and that is what I paid, then I added a bunch of accessories on top of that.

Now for my current status, really only had if for 2 days now. But I *THINK* I am getting just OK shots. I think my Brew pressure is too high and I want to bring it down a little. I am brewing at like 10.1 bar right now, if I adjust my grind/tamp my shot time drops below like 20 seconds. So I am not sure what is going on. Also my shots are coming out too "tan" in color not rich reddish brown. I am practicing with *$ beans currently, that might have something to do with it. I am actually going out to get some beans from a local roaster in a little while so I will try them and see how that goes.

On a good note, I am getting better at steaming and microfoam in my milk. This morning was pretty good, real nice foam, nice silky milk and even almost got some Latte art;)

I will keep things updated on my progress.

-Craig