I just use good ol Walmart basmati rice (drier, less prone to clumping) to season my new grinders and also to clean it when I go through a bag of darker/oiler beans.

after using the rice, I run 10-15g of beans to ensure I don't have any rice residue left.

TBH I don't see a need for Grindz for home use. Unless you're going through 5-10lb of oily beans a week, all you really need is a good quality brush and damp cloth to wipe down everything.

So would you have to grind much much finer to jam that into the same size basket? (i.e. if you have a 20g basket, how do you jam 22g in it?)

I personally find grinding decaf too fine will lead to clogging and creating super bitter, syrupy espresso.

With decaf, I find going 1-2g's over the basket size is okay since the 7-9 bars of pressure will compress the puck just enough to clear the shower head.

That said, that's my way, and it varies depending on the type of bean and machine you're using.

hmm i guess too fine is subjective. I'm using a BBE inner burr @ 3, outer burr @ 3 and with 18g dose in the stock double non-pressurized basket, the showerhead can sometimes leave an imprint depending on the tamp.

I wouldn't be too worry about the imprint, it may be caused by the puck swelling up as well as the OPV sucking it upward.

I think it's all good as long as your tampered dry puck has a bit of room between the lip of the basket.

Thanks for the tip, I won't adjust my grind settings if I see the imprint. I use the dosing levelling tool that Breville gives you and it does a good job at cleaning the inside of the basket just above the puck.


Lol, speaking of decaf options...right now it would be sweet to have some decaf beans because I feel like an espresso right now. I should get my artigiano decaf beans sometime this week.

If someone is interested in getting a Moccamaster, Wayfair and Amazon are having a sale on them: https://www.wayfair.ca/dining/pdx/mo...-mcca1010.html

Great machine for drip/pourover, very much a buy-it-for-life item. I love mine.

After using the Aeropress for a few months, I recently switched back to V60. Definitely better results, and it's more fun to tweak with new beans, but when I'm lazy I'd rather just use the press LUL

During my saving period, I find AP and V60 serves very different purposes. When I just want a good cup of joe, I go with V60. With AP, it's mostly after a meal and I want a milk beverage to go with pastries.

A bit of update on my setup. The Niche Zero is awesome. Being a single doze grinder, no more purging coffees when changing the setting, everything is pretty much on the fly. And result is super consistent. Definitely worth its price and might be comparable to European units at higher price tag.

For the Rocket, I was mixing my own water with milk jugs... with demineralized water from Costco ($3.xx for 15L, if there's a better option, let me know) as I go there every so often, and it's the one that makes most sense logistically.

But after a while, I got tired having to bring the 15L jug to fill milk jugs, so decided to "plumb in" my unit. Using a Flojet 5000, I hooked everything up, and now the machine just feeds off directly from the jug instead of having to pour every so often. And at my speed, a 15L jug usually lasts me easily 2+weeks. So the plan is to always keep 2 of them at home at all time and rotate them as I go to Costco.

Just got all that done today. There was water leaking because I missed a joint point to apply teflon tapes. Took that off, applied it and now everything works like a charm. Still need to find a better solution to hide all the pipes, but this is the raw state now:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d6b3fa0f_b.jpg

Recommendations for local roasters? Been using Viva Java in Richmond -$25/pound. Looking for something new, maybe in that price range.

A few people already asked the same question a few pages ago. So I assume you are looking for dark roast? is it for espresso or drip?

For your price range, I'd suggest Agro. They sell direct or at Donalds Market.

Espresso generally. Med dark. More towards chocolate/caramel notes than fruity.

Try out Agro nocturnal- big fan.

Agro or Pallet. $25/lb sounds really expensive - Agro is $14/340g or $28/2lb!

Agree with Agro - great everyday beans, I have been ordering online for $28 for 2lb all year!

Their single origin coffees are a steal at $32 for 2 pounds IMO.

Did you use the factory/stock hoses from Rocket? I haven't touched mine, but it appears they are Italian standard/threaded and a pain in the ass, unless they were updated to British threading.

Are you manually draining from the drip tray? Or are you draining using the drain hose into a bucket or bottle of some kind? If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your Flowjet? I've been thinking of temporarily plumbing mine in throughout renovations. Thanks in advance.

Yes. Rocket comes with an adapter (supposedly hit-n-miss thing). Check yours, it's a full metal adapter that goes at the end. You do need to take that adapter apart (2pcs to form that adapter) as it didn't come with teflon tape installed and when I first started, it started leaking at the joint. (not sure if it's the tape or it wasn't tight enough. But I put it on anyway and it stopped the leaking completely)

What I did need though, as the Flojet uses John Guest quickpush connectors was an adapter from 3/8" quickpush to 3/8" compression female connector.

I ordered everything from Thewaterguy.ca

It's fairly straightforward. Water jug-->Flojet pump-->1/4" to 3/8" adapter (comes with the Flojet 5000)-->3/8" clear pipe (Homedepot)-->female adapter mentioned above-->Rocket adapter-->Rocket hose to the machine.

Cool thanks. I'll consider using this as a temporary setup in the upcoming weeks.

Are you draining the excess water/overflow from the drip tray into a bucket or bottle? Or are you just manually emptying it?

Edit: Is this the kit you got? https://www.thewaterguy.ca/catalog/v...5volt-1471.htm

I got the 5000-010A. Can't seem to find it on the site for some reason. You can call to order that. It's a bit more expensive (225), but it's the newest model with higher flow rate. Not really a whole lot different in practical sense, but I thought why not...

As for the drain, I tried the idea of hooking up the drain into an empty water jug. But then I figured that having a dirty water jug is not ideal as god knows what can grow in there. Also, the tray would still accumulate water and coffee residue here and there and requires a daily cleaning anyway. I ended up just scraping that idea completely give my usual usage and workflow. The tray will always be cleaned daily and I can't fill it up.

Edit: the adapter for quickplug you also need if you go this route

https://www.thewaterguy.ca/catalog/v...012u9-1530.htm

Viva Java is a fucking rip off.

That place is the worst.

For those of you with semi-professional machines, my Sirai pressurestat slowly failed where it wouldn't build up enough steam pressure or heat for shots.

While the shots of espresso were "okay" it was a slow and gradual failure. The tell tale sign was the steam pressure being slow to build up, would sit just a hair under 1 bar of pressure (which took forever) and generally weak where you could barely steam milk. I had no real way of further troubleshooting after adjusting the pressurestat, cleaned the pipes etc.

After that, I threw in the towel, took it to Faema in Mississauga (Rocket distributor) and replaced it with a new Sirai pressurestat and voila - like new. Something for you folks to keep in mind. My machine was 6 or 7 years old, which falls into the general timeline of pressurestat failure. Had I known this was the issue, I would have replaced it myself.

Part - $120
Labour - $95
Time and frustration to open up the fucking machine (because Italian) - Over $999999999.

Will not attempt again.

Did my first cosmetic mod. :fuckthatshit:

Got a set of custom plates and handles for my Rocket made out of wenge.

The steam/hot water/pour ones were a piece of cake. But the handle... god damn... it took a good 10min on the heatgun to lose whatever it was in (locktite?) to lose enough to twist.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3afa437d_b.jpg

Fuck that’s nice

You need to remove that caution: hot surface label