thm655321 wrote:Jim, did you ever get an answer to the wood question? I want to make some accessories out of wood and would like to match the Bianca if I could (Lyn Weber commercial bean cellar holder).

It would be really helpful to know both the wood and the stain.

Thanks.

Please understand that some manufacturers will not share their learning and certain things. They want their competitors to go through the same costs and tribulations that they went through. There is another manufacturer that selected the wrong wood, and they are falling apart upon use.

Unfortunately, I did not get any answer yet.

Jim see my post one above yours, Lelit told me it is nut wood. No comment on the stain (if any) yet.

JayBeck wrote:Bianca users: I'm curious to hear your thoughts on how the Bianca's mouthfeel and body compares to your prior machine. Let us know what your prior machine was and confirm if you are attempting to pull shots similarly to see how they compare. NOTE: Since long, slow preinfusions are known to reduce body/mouthfeel and increase extraction/clarity, I'm most interested to hear how it performs with the paddle all the way to the right (max flow) and pulling a very traditional 9-10 bar shot in 30 seconds in the 1:1.5-2.0 range. Even more interesting would be how this compares to a prior rotary pump E61 you might have owned.

We had the Bianca at Coffeefest NYC 2019 this past weekend. It rocked! The Lelit Bianca won 3rd place for Best New Product! This competition was just not espresso machines, but all sorts of products in the coffee industry. It is NOT easy to even place third....

I was pulling extractions Sunday through Tuesday. My favorite, that blown many baristas away, was a 41 second shot at roughly 2 bar. One competition judge, I even pulled a 114 second shot at 2 bar, and he said he was keeping the espresso while walking to the next product evaluation.

The Lelit Bianca is truly a game changer! Many baristas were impressed that we broke so many rules and guidelines used for espresso extractions while tasting the improvements in the cup. The clincher for most was when I told them after that the coffee we used was 4 months old and NOT freshly roasted. It was a great show!

3rd place finish! Even more importantly, the positive feedback of the espresso shots we were pulling was tremendous!



And a picture of our booth showcasing the Elektra Belle Epoque, our own roasted 1st-Cup coffee blends, and the Lelit Bianca sitting next to the Eureka Atom espresso coffee grinder. We were also trying to win the People's Choice Award for Best New Product, but the voting results were never announced, so we are unsure who won.

thm655321 wrote:Jim see my post one above yours, Lelit told me it is nut wood. No comment on the stain (if any) yet.

I saw, but which kind of nut wood?

The did not say, I am not a wood expert so I thought "nut wood" referred to something specific. I will follow up though.

I think they may be holding this one close to their chest. I could be wrong.

thm655321 wrote:The did not say, I am not a wood expert so I thought "nut wood" referred to something specific. I will follow up though.

Its Walnut, that is public information. However, there are a few Walnut subspecies, commonly divided in three categories Black (Arizona Black, California Black, Texas Black, Hinds Black, Black) English/Persian and White (Butternut). Out of these, White cannot be because is rare, expensive and some of its subspecies are endangered, its definitely not black, so that leaves us with English/Persian walnut, this is the type used in the Lelit Bianca. Now, the biggest harvesters of English/Persian Walnut are the USA, France, Turkey, Greece, Romania, Ukraine, Iran, India and China and this is where it gets tricky, as the wood color and density can vary from country to country and even in the same country.

To complicate things more, Im certain that Lelit wont have direct contact with the Walnut harvesters, they should buy their wood from a supplier and the supplier from an importer and the importer from a wholesale distributor that possibly buys wood from different areas... In short, to buy the same wood will be very difficult...

Just buy English/Persian Walnut and experiment with light stains, I honestly think its not even stained.

1st-line wrote:3rd place finish! Even more importantly, the positive feedback of the espresso shots we were pulling was tremendous!

Jim, which products took 1st and 2nd?

guydebord wrote:....Just buy English/Persian Walnut and experiment with light stains, I honestly think its not even stained.

Well stated. Thank you!