I have no real evidence to back this up, but my hunch the slow steam tip is by design. Even though these machines are prosumer, they are bought more and more by home users. There is a thought that steam tips are better for people trying to learn steaming, especially when steaming small amounts. That might be true, but anyone can develop the skills to out grow a slow tip within a few weeks. I wish they had included a 4 hole tip like they did with the profitec, but it's easy enough to work around or buy an alternate tip.

I'm still using the 2 hole tip and have altered enough of my technique and boiler temp to compensate. I only steam about 4 oz of milk at a time, so not in a big rush to swap it out.

I can see that being possible but its a good way to turn people away from your machines. When I tried steaming with the steam tip how it came, it would take just over a minute to get the temperature up where it should be. Apart from that, the small amount of micro foam I'd get would be totally separated from the milk.

So if they designed it that way on purpose, they are shooting themselves in the foot.

That is a problem of your (and mine to be honest) expectations. I had a similar feeling when I first got the machine and the steaming was not what I thought. I can't agree with now that now because I adjusted technique, boiler temperature, and switched to a smaller frothing pitcher and I get fantastic microfoam with the two tip in short amounts of time. The tip geometry was probably the biggest thing to adjust. I was used to aiming the tip in an entirely different spot in the pitcher. 4 years of muscle memory was hard to say that my technique was the problem and I was quick to blame the machine. But going back to basics and remembering what dynamics actually cause the roll quickly made me realize I was holding the pitcher wrong for this style of tip. A few other adjustments and I was getting pro level rolls and a bit more steam pressure drastically reduced my frothing timing.

A friend of mine just got a linea and while I appreciate the extra power, the end product isn't any different. So I can't agree that the two hole tip is that big of a deal, but rather just an adjustment. One of these days I'm going to get around to switching to a 4 hole tip for that extra power. I do wish they had included one with the machine.

Would you mind sharing a video or some more information about how you position the two-hole steam tip? I am actually a Vetrano 2B owner, but I am struggling to make good microfoam with either the two-hole or four-hole tips. The Synchronika technique may vary slightly from the V2B, but I would love to see some examples of tip positioning that are not on large commercial machines or a GS3.

There isn't a lot to it and it depends on the size of the pitcher, so I'm not sure a video will help if we're not using the same stuff. I went from a 16 oz pitcher to a 12 and that helped a lot. Mainly I start out with the wand in the pour spout while ripping. I will slowly move the wand towards left of center while ripping to get a slight swirl, but this doesn't really happen for long and isn't necessary. You can rip with the wand in the spout the whole time. Once the volume has increased where I want it, I bury the tip and keep it next to the pour spout. This creates backpressure with the hole facing the wall, and the other tip is aimed directly at the opposing wall where the curve meets the bottom of the pitcher. If you imagine the steam traveling this way this in your head you can see why this would create the most aggressive roll.

If you are having trouble I would just take a small amount like 4oz of milk and move the tip around until you see the right roll. There is going to be some combination of geometry that creates that for you. The ripping part is easy, there is enough audio feedback that I think anyone can learn that. The roll to incorporate the air into the mixture is the harder part. Some online guides suggest trying to create a vortex or surfing the hole, and that just confuses people. What you want is the highest roll you can manage.

So I'm looking at getting another basket for my single spout portafilter since I doubt I'll ever use the single dose basket. Is there a particular one you guys would recommend? I see the VST ones are suggested frequently. Is there a specific size/model I should look for? Or maybe I should just stick with an ECM basket?

Thanks!

I like the 18g VST ridgeless as my go-to basket. Also, you might want to consider a bottomless portafilter. I sent out the single sprout and had it chopped.

Yea, I have the ECM bottomless with a 30g basket. Does the ridgeless work fine with the ECM portafilter? Nice and snug?

Works perfectly

Jshot wrote:I like the 18g VST ridgeless as my go-to basket. Also, you might want to consider a bottomless portafilter. I sent out the single sprout and had it chopped.

Where did you send it? I didn't know this was an option.