I am moving and it isn't easy to plumb in my current La Spaziale Vivaldi II. I have narrowed my choices to Lelit Bianca and Decent Espresso. I have a Baratza Forte that is aligned so I was not planning on getting a new grinder. 90+% of the time I am medium roast, but I have...

Hello all,

I have gone through a number of espresso machines over years. The last one I've been using for awhile is Jura F9 (superautomatic). It's old and it breaks every couple years but it produces great espresso. I decided to switch to a manual and after a long research I...

Hi everyone! I'll been using my Cremina SL for a year and i have come to conclusion that spring is to weak for most type of coffees i like. Therefor im wondering there i way to increase pressure to ca 8bars? Stronger spring? Or another double spring?

Getting back into the game. Previously used a manual OE Pharos grinder which did the trick but took forever and had tough adjustment settings. Not opposed to buying secondhand, saw a few good options on the forums for sale. Located in Seattle so can visit brick and mortar spots...

Hello everyone! It may sound weird but i'm trying to understand differences between VST and IMS baskets. What are they? I bought a Lelit Pl41 Plust and If i'm not wrong it says IMS on the basket.
I'm just trying to learn more about it.

Hey all

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on a la Spaziale Dream or Vivaldi. Leaning towards the tank version, not the plumber in version, but still undecided.

From all I've read I don't think I'm interested in an E61 machine. I've been mainly looking at none E61...

Hey all,

Two of the little magnets in my Decent dosing funnel came out after the first week of use. A quick Google search tells me this is a common problem with many magnetized dosing rings. Not a big deal, but if I can find an easy-to-use food safe glue that will effectively...

I live in a small apartment, which is just right for me but this does have its drawbacks. Where I have my coffee island only has one outlet within reach. I know I can only power one espresso machine and the grinder running safely. But since both machines are La Pavoni's, I can...

Hello everyone,

I'm having a hard time tracking the BT curve and the ROR curve on the background.

It seems like I can only align the background with the BT curve or the ROR curve, in other words I have to choose if I wanna track one curve or the other.
If I track the BT curve...

I currently have a Baratza Virtuoso that I use strictly for pour over (V60, Origami w/kalita filters, and Chemex). I was looking to upgrade my grinder and was thinking about the Ode, but then decided on a good hand grinder for portability reasons since I bring it to work with...

Hmmm another sale and no greens included. Funny I wanted to do a poll on this but their email beat me too it.

We are vacationing in Waikoloa village and open to any suggestions where to pick up Kona beans or prepared Kona coffee. Obviously while in Kona almost all coffee is trying to capitalize on the name and it's not all created equal. The one place I really like that I've been to...

Does anyone know the distance the burr travels with each marking change? Just curious.

Depending on origin, degree of roast, age of roast.... the range of adjustment has been around plus or minus one increment marking.

~8kg run through the grinder. Wondering if the...

Total tear down of a '87 Cremina. GH was particularly gnarly. Only hair-puller was getting the front piston rod pin out. I pulled out the ultrasonic bath to speed things up. The small parts went in plastic tubs in a 60C bath. Cafiza did its job in minutes vs hrs. Descaling also...

Working on my GS3 to change the vacuum, steam, and safety valves I noticed a number of issues.

I've attached a photo -- excuse the latte art. the dark spots are clumpy bits of crema. Anyone ran into this before? Making espresso on a Pasquini Livia 90.

- espressomonkey

Does anyone have a suggestion for a milk to use while traveling that doesn't require refrigeration?

We travel with the Robot (next week to Vegas and the Utah national parks, staying in hotels) and usually bring some sort of milk frothing device which we use after microwaving a...

Hey friends, this morning when I fired up the burner under my Huky I found there was no way to keep just the burner filament lit, rather I had flames dancing on the filament up to the bottom of the drum. Nothing different today than any other day. I think it has to do with the...

Do you know where VST Inc. is located? If the vstapps site is official, the about us and contact us pages both lead to 404 errors.

Moderator note: Split from Differences between IMS and VST baskets

We're heading to Italy for a month and want to get some advice on what to do with our machine. It's plumbed with a water filter system. I'd rather not bother with fully draining (tilting machine) the boilers.

Release from boilers, shut down power and water to machine.

When I...