The Little Guy (was: Otto) user experience - Page 4

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
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zix (original poster)
Posts: 484
Joined: 18 years ago

#31: Post by zix (original poster) »

Thank you LewBK! That thread is younger than this one, so not strange that I didn't find it at the time. Thanks for finding that for me, I will try it out again later this week. Perhaps I'll bring it home, where I sometimes have more time.
That thing with less crema on a regular stovetop than on an induction hob sounds weird to me... but maybe it is just the efficiency of induction heat-up or something, there are quite a few other stovetop machines that heat up the coffee too much and therefore lack crema for being kept too long on the heat. The 9Barista being an exception, it still gives you good espresso and crema, it just silently stops working until next time, where you will find you need to change gaskets and safety valve... don't ask me how I know :oops:
LMWDP #047

cuongdinh
Posts: 69
Joined: 3 years ago

#32: Post by cuongdinh »

Hi Mats, here is an actual user experience of the Little Guy :)

I had a Little Guy and used it nearly daily for about 2 years, paired with a Porlex at the beginning and a Super Jolly toward the end.

It could produce ok espresso with ok crema, without being too hot (refer to attached pics). I used regular electric range, using the smallest burner. It can get really hot if used on gas stove. I usually put it in a sink and pour water on to cool it down after brewing.

I also enjoyed the look. But the UX wasn't great: had to cool down after use or risked being burned, got my arm burned once; felt my hands tied a lot of times as you can't do much with it, only 3 main adjustments I could do: dose, grind size and .. power of the burner; and the price!

Ended giving it away after I got my Mini to a friend and the guy is enjoying it a lot. But probably only because he's still new to coffee and didn't have to pay for it.








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zix (original poster)
Posts: 484
Joined: 18 years ago

#33: Post by zix (original poster) »

Hi cuongdinh and thanks for the help!

OK, so I did a successful extraction today of, effectively, two and a half shots of totally crema-free espresso, or, if you wish, a long lungo.
The burnt taste was gone, it was even a little cold. I just made a drinkable espresso with crema from the same beans so I don't think the lack of crema has anything to do with them. More likely I ground too coarse, which also would explain the slightly colder brew.

So, next time, finer grind than I did today but not as fine as last time. I have the settings on a separate hand grinder so we should be OK for grind consistency.
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