I find the Micra (and several other machines) to be superior in the cup over the DE1 for traditional espresso. I had the Micra side-by-side with my DE1 with the new group parts. I did not find the lack of a "preinfusion" step an issue with the Micra on traditional shots with coffees such as George Howell's Alchemy

You gave up even decaffeinated coffee?

Admittedly, I didn't try every decaf out there. Howell, Counter Culture and more eastern roasters were next on the list, but I just gave up all the arrhythmia precursors. The Fresh Roasted was the only one that ticked all the boxes for the 18g in -> ≈35g out: crema persistence, mouthfeel, taste, etc. on my equipment. As always, YMMV

Thank you for the opinions. I started to look at the Decent as well based on replies here. Glad to hear the steam wand has been improved. That was a truly awful V1.0 product they out out years ago. Correct me if I am wrong but: 1. There is no pre-infusion on the mini/micra without

I was wondering about that yesterday when I read John's post, whether tapering would work to minimize withdrawal symptoms. And 30 days! That's far longer than I would have imagined it would take for one's brain chemistry to return to a non-caffeine affected state. The only one? Either you're very picky or I'm easy to please. I doubt it's

Just want to share that while that may be the case for Len's stock, Liberica can very much be suitable for light roasts. I was lucky to get my hands on a small sample roasted by A Matter of Concrete, vacuum packed in tiny little bags. I think they were only able to source a few kgs at most

Old school hardware stores often have bins of all kinds of such items. You may have to replace all four if you can't find an exact replica. ebay has 10^3s of rubber feet

If you want a brewer with the flexibility and features offered by Aiden, and you have need/want for a machine this fall instead of, say, a couple years from now, then why not? Fellow has a good track record

Over the course of about three weeks, alter a blend of hi-test and decaf so you are 100% decaf at the end. It's about 5% change per day. 95/5, 90/10, 85/15, etc. FWIW, the only drinkable decaf [for the coffee style I prefer - old school medium roast] I found of too many direct to bin was "Organic Peruvian

After a week I can confidently say that I now prefer my new shots and my wife agrees. I wasted a lot of coffee but it was worth it and it was all the same medium roast blend coffee (picture below) so it is now time to experiment with new beans and roasts. {image} Great