New Hotness

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JmanEspresso

New Hotness

Post by JmanEspresso »

So.. This has been posted on HB, but since Im a Vivaldi owner, it's only fitting to post it here as well!

Ive made a few updates and changes.. So, will start with the least recent update:

LIGHTS! I finally added lighting to my Vivaldi, and I must say to all those who either a)haven't done it yet... b)dont really want to do it... c)Aren't planning on ever doing it... DO IT! Lol. It definitely is worth it, in my book. Lights up the whole workspace, and whether you do bottomless or spouted shots, it lights up the stream(s), making it much easier to see the tiger striping on the stream.. something i never have been able to really see.
VII Lights 1.JPG
VII Lights 1.JPG (127.04 KiB) Viewed 16438 times
I used LED Lighting Pods, from Ikea. I was waking around the store, and saw these guys and figured, what the heck, if they don't work how I want them too for the machine, Im sure Ill find a use for them somewhere, such as under-cabinet lighting over my new espresso bar. But, they worked beautifully, which was nice, because they were incredibly cheap, and they're sealed.


Next upgrade:

Macap MXK Conical, with a Gralab450. THIS is awesome, let me tell YOU! I love it. The grinder itself puts out wonderfully ground coffee. Flavors are much crisper, and more clearly defined from one another, yet the cup is still balanced(sounds weird, but thats what it tastes like). And consistent as heck! No more WDT, no stockfleths.. Just dose, Tamp down once, and go. Ill still do a nutate now and then, but on the shots I dont, I dont notice any difference in the pour. The other very cool thing, is flow rate. Once your dialed in properly, the shots bead like THAT!, and then the flow rate slows down to however you dialed in. I would get this every now and then with the Major, but with the Macap, it's every shot. And even if you are set too fine, the flow "fixes" itself.. Meaning it will bead real slow, but then speed up(this is a weird thing, but Ive read about it happening.. More investigating for sure). But, aside from all the technical stuff.. Its just a super consistent grinder, the doser action is much smoother then the Mazzer(though, so may find the clack of the doser too loud for their tastes), and its very consistent. The Macap Worm drive makes those UBER adjustments easy. Overall, I am very pleased. Adding the Gralab450 just makes it even better. No more weighing each shot, just the first couple while dialing in. In my opinion, this is a great grinder, and when you consider it's price, it's a hell of a bargain.
MXK Gralab.JPG
MXK Gralab.JPG (139.58 KiB) Viewed 16438 times
User avatar
slo
Barista
Posts: 419
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 6:51 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada

Re: New Hotness

Post by slo »

Wonderful! t is about time you did it!

Which Ikea pods did you use. It looks like you only have two? The set I tried originally had 4 and they were very dim and I wasn't happy with them.
But yours do look very bright!

Too all Vivaldi owners... Do it!
Vivaldi II, Multiple (a collection really) Lever machines
Currently on deck grinders: Mythos and MXKR
Backup grinders: Robur, Major.
Toper Cafemino Electric and Poppery 1 roaster

I have a serious problem ... Can you guess what?
oton

Re: New Hotness

Post by oton »

So now you don't need any distribution due to the conical burrs or what? :shock:
JohnB

Re: New Hotness

Post by JohnB »

I didn't find any need for any of the distribution tricks once I went to the SJ from the M4. My Major was even better & the K10 is the same. Just dose, tamp & go for beautiful pours as long as the grinder is dialed in to the dose.

Jeff - You might find this old thread of mine useful now that you've got a Macap with the worm drive. It makes upper burr removal dead simple & you don't even need to remove the hopper.
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/espres ... ers/349880

Where did you buy the Macap? I don't see those on the CC site. I'm surprised Chris doesn't offer more conicals.
JmanEspresso

Re: New Hotness

Post by JmanEspresso »

Slo, Ill have to find the packaging for the lights.. but you are correct, only 2 pods. They are 12V(I think), and there is a switch in-line, and then that connects to a small transformer, which is also the 110V plug. Very neat and tidy. The switch is especially nice.. I mounted right underneath the table... Though, for the first few days, I didn't turn them off at all!

Oton, John nailed it.. its that no extra tricks or techniques are needed to get 100% even, spot on pours, every time. The grinds come out of the doser nice and fluffly, and if you just move the PF around a tiny bit whilst dosing, you're good to go. Since Im using the Gralab, I split the dose in half.. So, right now, instead of using 11sec, Im using two 5.5sec doses. Dose the first one, shake the PF a bit to level it out.. dose the second one.. If it ends up a bit uneven in the basket, I just do a partial level with my finger. No WDT, No Stocklfleths, its very nice. I still nutate, but it's habit.. I can pull shots back to back, one nutating, one without, and I dont notice any difference at all.

John, Way ahead of way buddy, I plan on doing the mod this weekend. Then again, 3 screws and the black collar comes off the burr mount, and it screws right out anyway, and the conical definitely doesnt do well as a brewing grinder. Since it spins at only 300RPM(as opposed to 1300 on the Major), there is a lot of popcorning when you add per dose. But, I knew that going in, and I had planned to keep beans in the hopper. Grind retention ain't bad either.. If after a session I still have bean in the grinder, and dont clean out the chute or the throat.. then it's a good amount. But, if I brush out the chute, and take out the beans from the throat/sitting on the burrs, and just purge out what is in the burrs, then a half scoop or so purges it all clean. Very quiet too.

I wanted to buy it from Chris.. He used to sell this grinder, but he stopped carrying it because of it's speed and price difference from the M7Kr. Too slow for commercial applications, and its only a few hundred more for the m7K, so many home users jumped up to that. I got lucky on an incredible deal. I called Chris' to see if maybe they had one, but no luck there. Then, I found someone who was selling one barely even remotely broken in. He bought a whole setup, including TWO grinders, and used the gear for 2 months. But, with the Macap, turns out, he really never used it.. When he got it, he ran through 10lbs of crap coffee to break in the burrs, cleaned it out 100%, put it on his bench, and didn't use it once. He was happy to strike a mondo deal, which was just about the exact half of 1stLines listed price. I bought it then and there.

Have to say.. The MXK has stuck out to me as an awesome grinder for the money ever since the TGP. Im surprised its not a more popular grinder. It offers clean, clear, crisp flavors, without being unbalanced at all. I think the people who didnt like the Kony/MXK in the TGP, had two issues. BRAND new burrs, and not purging the grinder completely at the start of your session. Im sure the 68mm's offer a more rounded flavor profile, whilst still be clear and crisp, but I really would like to compare our grinders on the speedster to be sure!
oton

Re: New Hotness

Post by oton »

Uh, come on guys. You recriminate Endo for "just dose and tamp, no distribution", and now distribution isn't necesary? :happy8:
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chas
Vivaldi Dreamer
Posts: 3044
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:52 pm
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Re: New Hotness

Post by chas »

JohnB wrote: I'm surprised Chris doesn't offer more conicals.
When I was in the market for a Kony or Robur, Chris mentioned that he just didn't see the volume in that level of grinders to justify tying up the required money in inventory.

So I had to go to First Line to purchase my Kony. Jim Piccinich seemed to be just as nice to work with as Chris so I can't complain about Chris' business decision in that regard.

1st line seems to take the opposite approach. They carry over 150 grinders.
Chas
LM GS/3 & LaSpaziale Dream v 1.25 (US 120V)
Mazzer Kony E, Customized Rocky
Hottop P/B
JohnB

Re: New Hotness

Post by JohnB »

oton wrote:Uh, come on guys. You recriminate Endo for "just dose and tamp, no distribution", and now distribution isn't necesary? :happy8:
What do you mean now?? I've been saying this for over a year. I go Jeff one better as I don't level the mound, just tamp & go. I've tried it both ways & I either see no difference or the unleveled dose gives better pours so I don't mess with it outside of a light tap to settle the dose 3/4 of the way through filling the basket.
JohnB

Re: New Hotness

Post by JohnB »

JmanEspresso wrote:
John, Way ahead of way buddy, I plan on doing the mod this weekend. Then again, 3 screws and the black collar comes off the burr mount, and it screws right out anyway, and the conical definitely doesnt do well as a brewing grinder. Since it spins at only 300RPM(as opposed to 1300 on the Major), there is a lot of popcorning when you add per dose. But, I knew that going in, and I had planned to keep beans in the hopper. Grind retention ain't bad either.. If after a session I still have bean in the grinder, and dont clean out the chute or the throat.. then it's a good amount. But, if I brush out the chute, and take out the beans from the throat/sitting on the burrs, and just purge out what is in the burrs, then a half scoop or so purges it all clean. Very quiet too.
I never used my Macap M4 for brew grinding either but I found that removing the hopper, then the 3 tiny screws was a pita every time I wanted to clean out the burr chamber. With my K10 I sweep out the chute as part of each dose & since I cut away part of the plastic chute I can now reach right into the burr chamber when sweeping. Very little waste even though I an grinding with beans in the hopper. I do a quick pulse purge if any time has passed since the last shot & suck it out with the vac. Since I'm off in my own area now I keep my 6.5hp shop vac next to the coffeebar. Believe when I tell you that this will clear out any old grinds left in the chute/chamber. :twisted:

At $850 new the Macap conical looks like a great deal & if you got it for half that then you did very well indeed. I ended up paying $1100 for my K10WBC so I'm pretty happy with the way that turned out. Anytime you want to try out the Speedster & compare grinders grab your gear & take a drive over.
JohnB

Re: New Hotness

Post by JohnB »

chas wrote: When I was in the market for a Kony or Robur, Chris mentioned that he just didn't see the volume in that level of grinders to justify tying up the required money in inventory.

So I had to go to First Line to purchase my Kony. Jim Piccinich seemed to be just as nice to work with as Chris so I can't complain about Chris' business decision in that regard.

1st line seems to take the opposite approach. They carry over 150 grinders.
Thats a lot of grinders to keep on hand! I lucked out as Chris stocks the only conical I was really interested in but I'd have no problem dealing with Jim either. I have emailed him several times for pricing but in the end I either bought elsewhere or just changed my mine & got something else.
Endo

Re: New Hotness

Post by Endo »

oton wrote:Uh, come on guys. You recriminate Endo for "just dose and tamp, no distribution", and now distribution isn't necesary? :happy8:
Took them a bit longer at H-B to catch on to nutation. While the technique has been out for a while, seems they are just starting to figure it out on deep baskets .
oton

Re: New Hotness

Post by oton »

JohnB wrote:
oton wrote:Uh, come on guys. You recriminate Endo for "just dose and tamp, no distribution", and now distribution isn't necesary? :happy8:
What do you mean now?? I've been saying this for over a year. I go Jeff one better as I don't level the mound, just tamp & go. I've tried it both ways & I either see no difference or the unleveled dose gives better pours so I don't mess with it outside of a light tap to settle the dose 3/4 of the way through filling the basket.
Correct. I just reread the 1ºF thread, I thought you talk about distribution when you talked to Endo about improve his technique. :blackeye:
Endo

Re: New Hotness

Post by Endo »

I started skipping the distribution about a year go as well after watching several competitors do it at one of the Barista Championships . Check my "Making a Latte" video on YouTube from 8 months ago and you can see my "no distribute and nutate technique".

For all those criticizing my technique.....feel free to post a video too! :-?
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