I can't believe it took me ~8 years to find this site...but I'm really glad I did. I often followed alt.c back in the early 2000s then I got busy and it, as you know, fell apart. I've been pleased with my setup but recently was curious to read what the latest buzz was. That's how I found home-barista. There are some really good conversations here!

I'm certainly no expert but I like to believe I've gotten quite good at making espresso. (My weak point is clearly access to freshly roasted coffee; yes, I know I should home roast ) I'm always looking to improve so in addition to finding home-barista, I also found that a lot of folks are posting their extractions on youtube. I was fascinated and spent way too much time watching.

This brings me to the purpose of this post: After watching videos of extractions I had the idea to borrow my daughter's hand mirror and propped it up so that I could watch the pour while standing straight up. The mirror rests on one fork of the grinder and leans against the bottom of the drip tray (at roughly a 30 degree angle). I know I'm not the first to use a mirror to watch an extraction (in fact, to my surprise I found an espresso supplier selling mirrors to do just that) but if you haven't tried it give it a whirl. It's much more comfortable and I swear that I can just see the pour better. I can't say if it will result in better shots but it certainly has upped my enjoyment of the process.

[One odd recent observation was that just past the halfway point of locking in the portafilter handle, the filter basket stops rotating. That makes sense but I never realized this was what happens.]

web cam and watch on the big screen.. Best when using a Nakid

I mounted one of those stainless shot mirrors from Espressoparts on my Bezzera. Had to shorten it with a hacksaw first, but it works well and looks like the machine came with it.

I have one of those little blind spot mirrors they sell in the auto parts store, just sitting on the drip tray.

I knew others had to be doing this!

cpreston wrote:I mounted one of those stainless shot mirrors from Espressoparts on my Bezzera. Had to shorten it with a hacksaw first, but it works well and looks like the machine came with it.

How did you mount it? Can it rest in place without mounting?

sweaner wrote:I have one of those little blind spot mirrors they sell in the auto parts store, just sitting on the drip tray.

I like this approach because the perspective is probably better than my approach. Being a blind spot mirror, does it distort the image?

The mirror is slightly convex, and the image is "closer than it appears."

How did you mount it? Can it rest in place without mounting?

The mirror comes with industrial doublesided foam tape. It does not want to come off.

i used a 5" round mirror to view the p/f and found the other side of the mirror was magnified and consequently improved my view . it helps with "old persons eyesight".

I've been wanting to do this for a while. I have erics' adapter and I can't keep an eye on it if I'm crouched down.