My new Compak E8 grinder arrived just in time for Xmas. I have no tree and anyway it would not fit under the tree so I took out my sebenza and cut the box open, unpacking and installing the machine. I expect to put 10-20kg through the grinder before really putting it to the test. Jan van der Weel and I have promised a review for KTC magazine to appear in the spring 2016 issue. So there's time!
Below the list of pictures is a video of a first shot of espresso after dialing in the grinder to find the "espresso" grind, aiming for 30g of espresso in 30 seconds from 18g of grinds in the VST 18g portafilter basket, tamped with the LONDINIUM tamper and extracted on the Londinium L1-P lever machine, monitoring the flow with an Acaia Lunar coffee scale.
This specific grinder has the Lucidate "Red Speed Burr" set for lower friction and lower temperature.
A Box
Opened Box
Hopper popping out
First peek at the machine
Ready for action
Red Speed Burrs
Posing
Hopper filled
Sister E8 next to Big Brother R120
Grinder table ready, next to the little ROK (far left) and the larger HG One (far right)
Can't really say yet. I just unpacked and installed it. Jan and I will test and review in January. The first shots look and taste great though! I have not even methodically compared R120 and HG One inside-by-side shots yet. Could be nice to even do a ROK / E8 / R120 / HG One compare, measuring extraction % in shots that all were 30g in 30s from 18g. Later.
(also see Daily Coffee News feature ) Tije designed and made the following structure for a tiny and cheap fluid bed roaster, to which Jan van der Weel added the Arduino parts, electronics and programming: Sketch by Tije de Jong Jan sourced a very cheap blower (€ 11) to start with, Tije developed and constructed the mechanics, Jan built together and programmed the TC4 / SSR electronics. On his blog, Jan will specify exactly how the TC4 part is combined and programmed and I will copy these details into this blog entry, just as Jan will use this video in his blog. We did a few test roasts to make sure it works at all and it does. Towards the end, the first roast tended to get a flat BT line and airflow was slightly decreased. 200g seems max load of green beans. Second roast a little more power was given to the heater. Next we will try the Background Roast driven by the PID software of Artisan. A week later, with updated software that works better to change the...
Peter van der Weerd had an alternative for my original vacuum breaker. The (tiny bit of) water and steam that comes out at the start of the day is now released into the drip tray. The way it was originally done was no problem since the little amount of water coming out evaporates quickly, but my machine has glass side panels and they would get steamy opaque at the start of the day. Now they stay dry. Unscrewing the original anti-vac: The original is out: The new one ready to install: Almost in: Tight enough: The little silicon hose that I have used before when I briefly had a Non-Return Valve is now used and it connects the anti-vac with the nipple I have on the front of the machine: The nipple. When the machine starts up, this is where the "prrrr....shshshsh.... flop" sound and moisture comes out.
Last week a friend brought me a BWT Bestmax water to replace the DV8 that I had. The advantage of this new filter was that it has a built in bypass so some amount of Ca minerals that the resin in a DV8 and Bestmax replaces with Na / sodium can be mixed back in for a better coffee extraction. Then I read that the newer " Premium " version of the Bestmax filter uses Mg(Magnesium) ions instead of Na which further enhances the water taste and subsequent coffee extraction. Online, BWT are very brief about what exactly sets this filter apart from the rest. I find that generally, water filter manufacturers are terse in explaining the exact workings and most text has words like rich, full taste, particle-free and pleasant. I assume manufacturers keep the text vague for two reasons: first, the competition is not to be made any wiser and second, consumers may be taken aback by technical specifics. Anything beyond the absolute necessary, like mention of Calcium ('scales ...
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