Linea Mini vs DE1

#1: Post by **Katran** » September 30th, 2023, 6:56 pm

I've been using a Linea Mini + e37z hero for 3 years at home, and I got a DE1 + EG-1 for my office last month. I've been pulling the same shots, but so far I can't match the Mini with the DE1. Help me figure out why. Here's the details.

First setup: linea mini with slayer needle valve mod, set at max 7 bars and enough flow in the preinfusion such that the puck get fully soaked at about 20 seconds. I'm also using the Weber unifilter with this set-up. The grinder is e37z hero, running at 900 rpm.

Second setup: Decent DE1, using sweet and gentle profile set with max 7 bars, and 20 seconds of preinfusion. I'm using the sworksdesign billet high flow basket that I know on my mini matches the unifilter in terms of extraction. The grinder is EG-1 with the standard core burrs.

I've pulled several coffees, with very similar parameters and the first setup is consistently managing to extract 2% more, which is quite a difference. The coffee that I used is mostly light roast, basically several offerings from Sey. I used similar water with same minerals.

Unfortunately I can't mix and match machines and grinders, because my office is in midtown and I'm downtown.

Why would my first setup extract so much more? What am I doing wrong in the second setup? I feel like the second setup should be able to match the first.

PS Both setups gave good results in terms of taste.

Thanks

#2: Post by **Milligan** » October 2nd, 2023, 10:37 am

Extract more as in you are using a refractometer to measure extraction? How do the shots taste? It is very hard to diagnose this with everything being different between the two machines. You'd really need to AB test all the differences to figure that out. You may want to play with different profiles though. What works great on the Mini may not on the Decent. The Decent gives you access to a variety of ways to approach light roast, why try to make it emulate the machine you already have?

#3: Post by **Jeff** » October 2nd, 2023, 10:52 am

Despite the marketing claims, the DE1 is best with its own profiles, not the "emulates any machine" ones. In practice, it doesn't. I'd suggest staying away from the profiles that are highly marketed by DE and Rao (who has a financial interest in DE) and work with ones developed by the community to take advantage of the features of the machine. Extractamundo Dos! or its mirror analogue Tres (not better, different in which is the driving parameter and tuned for a slightly higher flow rate) give many people very good results with light roasts. LRv2 does a good job for more traditional shots from medium roasts.

#4: Post by **RapidCoffee** » October 2nd, 2023, 1:25 pm

Katran wrote:I've been using a Linea Mini + e37z hero for 3 years at home, and I got a DE1 + EG-1 for my office last month. I've been pulling the same shots, but so far I can't match the Mini with the DE1. Help me figure out why.

The "why" is easy: different grinder, different espresso machine, different basket, possibly different water. The only consistent factor is (presumably) the roast. So no big surprises here.

But Jeff is correct: despite marketing claims that the Decent can emulate other machines, all you can do is approximate the extraction profile. This does not account for pump differences (vibe vs rotary), grouphead geometry, and other factors. E.g., despite many attempts, I could never match the body/mouthfeel of Spaz Vivaldi extractions on my DE1.

Having said that: I have bench tested the DE1 next to high end machines such as the Slayer and LM Micra, and it holds its own.