Finally succumbed

[wacchimacchiato]

Enjoyed your video and really, really good going for a fourth attempt!! Plus you were right about that paint, much less 'tart's boudoir' than the posted pic! (mind you all sorts of magic can happen in the edditing I've been told )

Have you seen Scott Rao's milk frothing / texturising vid on youtube? It's quite useful and his book(s) are worth a read too, plus you end up with a really clean jug!

How many holes in the tip, is it three or four and any idea what size they are? (smaller ones can be quite useful for microfoam- 0.9mm ish!! but what you have is often what's best to get used too-I ask because of my determination to find a well paired tip to my cimbali junior (it has an inox steam arm- mod!- I now have a three hole tip produced for the giotto rocket-magic!)

I was wondering (in your vid) if maybe the steaming was a tad too long (40 secs- my guess is your spazie will steam a bit quicker than that -the pitch (note) of the steaming was dropping a lot towards the end of the steaming sesh (sometimes gives away overheating)- was the drink v.hot? A thermometer can help with ball park temps (I tend to use after steaming ((v.occasionally)) to calibrate the hand!) but as Bruce said the hand can learn it too!

Is Lingtong a particular favourite? just wondering 'cause so many would opt for a 'spresso blend for a new machine (sorry I'm just a little nosy!)

Craig.

[ChrisD]

Thanks Craig! I made sure all of the tarts were out of shot before filming, though if you watch the video in slow-motion you can occasionally see a glimpse of them in the reflection of the chrome

Will definitely look up the frothing videos - I did go too long and overheat it, the drink was far too hot. Apparently I should only be going for half that time on the Mini! It's a four hole tip, I'm guessing about a mm each, maybe slightly smaller - haven't got anything capable of accurately measuring, though US vendor ChrisCoffee suggests the Mini comes with a four hole/.9mm tip as standard so it's probably that. My new, smaller jug made for better handling this morning when I tried steaming again, though I'm still relatively hopeless!

Bottomless portafilter arrived this morning, courtesy of Happy Donkey, so I couldn't resist shooting a new video of my first attempt On the plus side, I wasn't blinded by stray sprays - on the negative, it took a while for the stream to coalesce, and I think I should've ground finer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K-XA-eFZ8A

The Lingtong was something I'd enjoyed just before the Mini arrived, brewed in one of those Clever Coffee drippers, and I wondered how it might compare as espresso. Of course, since then I've not taken the CC out of the cupboard, so there've been no side-by-side comparisons!

[GreenBean]

It looks good Chris.

[sicinius]

Take no notice of the tart's boudoir nonsense - pastels are out. My kitchen is finally finished next week and I'll post some pictures of the coffee station. I like that red. If it's Firefly from the Little Green Paint Company, we've made the same choice!

Looks good but maybe not thick, stripey and sticky enough when it first appears. Maybe a little finer on the grind and a little less on the final tamping pressure.

[dr.chris]

I agree with Sicinius on the grind - does come through a little fast but then I am used to triples and there different rules apply. Does look like an improvement on the other vid. Lots of small steps but hopefully all in the right direction.

Another great thing about the bottomless PF is that its a lot easier to clean and very easy to pop the basket out and the blank in for back flushing.

[ChrisD]

It looks good Chris.

Thanks! I'm having so much fun playing with it all.

Take no notice of the tart's boudoir nonsense - pastels are out. My kitchen is finally finished next week and I'll post some pictures of the coffee station. I like that red. If it's Firefly from the Little Green Paint Company, we've made the same choice!

Looks good but maybe not thick, stripey and sticky enough when it first appears. Maybe a little finer on the grind and a little less on the final tamping pressure.

I didn't actually pick the red myself (the flat is a rental) and I'm not even sure if it's paint behind the glass or if the glass itself is coloured. But tarts or otherwise, it makes a great backdrop to coffee kit!

Tried a finer grind this morning; turns out I was about five notches down on the Vario's micro setting, not two as I thought, so I pushed it up a couple and ended up choking the machine. Dropped it back down a notch and things slowed more pleasingly, though again the streams didn't come together until later on in the pour than I would've hoped for. Guess my tamping is still in need of work.

I agree with Sicinius on the grind - does come through a little fast but then I am used to triples and there different rules apply. Does look like an improvement on the other vid. Lots of small steps but hopefully all in the right direction.

Another great thing about the bottomless PF is that its a lot easier to clean and very easy to pop the basket out and the blank in for back flushing.

The longer pour today made a difference in taste, which was great - I love that you can tweak something and actually notice a difference! Reminded myself to actually taste the shot before adding milk, too

Thanks for all the advice, guys, much appreciated!

[sicinius]

I bought a bottomless pf for testing and still use it as a default. You can see any problems straightaway, get bigger cups underneath and if you flush and dry between shots, there's much less water flying about.

Your shot may be a little cooler as it passes through more air and over less hot steel but I don't see that as any sort of problem.

[bruceb]

Just to confuse things here, a long-time member of TMC, "gadders" has insisted for years that a shot using the bottomless is inferior to (noticeably so by taste) than a shot using a spouted portafilter. I have tried occasionally to verify this, but my taste has never been sensitive enough to be positive about it. Phil said that the shot from the bottomless always tastes "rougher" than from the spouted, iirc.
I would really be interested if someone would try to verify or disprove this. I use a bottomless for my morning double and a double-spouted filter for afternoons when I have to share my double. I can't say that I don't notice a difference, but it isn't enough to make a positive judgement on. Thanks to anyone who might comment or experiment.