@pcrussell50

+1 on the Breville Pizza Oven, although they just did a major price hike. Great way to carbo load. Gonna have to find a way to make coffee flavored dough.

Got my machine today. Noticed that they ended the sale yesterday at some point.

The first 4 digits of my serial are 1938, so I should be good on the updates. Just warmed it up once and started to dial it in. Will continue in the morning.

symbology wrote:Got my machine today... Just warmed it up once and started to dial it in. Will continue in the morning.

Remember to use good water. Along with many others here on HB, I use a scale free solution of 100mg of potassium bicarbonate to 1 liter of distilled water. Scale is the bane of espresso machines

bhennessy wrote:Remember to use good water. Along with many others here on HB, I use a scale free solution of 100mg of potassium carbonate to 1 liter of distilled water. Scale is the bane of espresso machines

Just so everybody is clear... It's potassium Bicarbonate.

You can use also 100mg/l of sodium bicarbonate too, and since that is baking soda, it is more likely to already be in your cupboard.

-Peter

pcrussell50 wrote:Just so everybody is clear... It's potassium Bicarbonate.
-Peter

Typo, but now fixed. Thanks

Thanks guys, I am good on the water supply.

Brendan, How do you like the Mignon Specialita grinder? I need something to replace my M7D, as it is just too big. I no longer have the room for it. The size and sound output of this grinder has me considering it as a replacement.

pcrussell50 wrote:Just so everybody is clear... It's potassium Bicarbonate.

You can use also 100mg/l of sodium bicarbonate too, and since that is baking soda, it is more likely to already be in your cupboard.

-Peter

Would you need to dilute this any further? Or can it be used as is. Also, if doing this, I assume I shoulda too using the charcoal filter that comes with the BDB?

No. Though you can use as little as 50mg/l as well. The exact amount is not important.

With safe water you don't need extra filtration. Though if your bare water tank doesn't have a mesh screen over the water pickup, the old style bean bag filter holders do have a mesh screen. So you can run that without the bean bag. The reason for the mesh screen filter is just to trap any spare particles that might get in like bits of ground coffee, which manage to find their way everywhere.

-Peter

symbology wrote:Thanks guys, I am good on the water supply.

Brendan, How do you like the Mignon Specialita grinder? I need something to replace my M7D, as it is just too big. I no longer have the room for it. The size and sound output of this grinder has me considering it as a replacement.

I really like it. I tried a number of other grinders, but bought the EMS for it's fluffy non clumping grinds, small footprint (height was important for under cupboard), quiet operation, and rugged build - pretty much in that order. Clive coffee has a good video of them.

I pre-measure and single dose for both 12g single and 18g double baskets. It's easy to dial in and very precise. With many coffee drinkers in the house, I like to be able to switch between reg/decaf, other beans etc. so I don't use the hopper. Just a small funnel on top of the opening.

This post shows a nice mod for the grinder - Specialita single does mod

symbology wrote: Brendan, How do you like the Mignon Specialita grinder? I need something to replace my M7D, as it is just too big. I no longer have the room for it. The size and sound output of this grinder has me considering it as a replacement.

Me? When it comes to flat burr grinders, I am an alignment wonk. Alignment first, last and always. That is one (of several reasons) I bit the bullet and got a Monolith, (FlatSSP). One of the things I always advise people looking for commercial looking, Mazzer derivatives like the Mignon and Ceado and Atom, is to do their homework on them. How much emphasis does the manufacturer place on planar alignment? Has the user base developed ways of checking for it and adjusting it to perfection?

For people with doubts in these areas, who aren't yet sure about dropping the coin on a Monolith, I always suggest they give this thread a read: Baratza Vario Super Alignment owner experience At the very least, it is easy to attain world class alignment. And even though Baratza is "plasticky" like Niche and Breville, unlike Breville, they make any and all their parts available AND provide how-to videos for common repairs. My Vario lasted ten years before I replaced it with a Monolith and it was still going strong, with none of the upgrades Baratza put out over the years. Now, I added the two important metal bits from Forte ($30) and Jake has aligned it to Monolith specs (he has my grinder, and is using it for a comparison test against some other fancy grinders I think).

Anyway, with this route, it will not satisfy your need for solid look and feel aesthetics, but you will have assurance or world class alignment. And long lasting full factory support, for an affordable price. Baratza sells from their own web site, factory refurbs with full, as new factory warranty as well if you want to save even more $$$.

On Edit: None of this applies to the Sette. It is a completely different animal, which I know nothing about.

-Peter