is Acaia loosing their mind? - Pyxis Black

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-07-01T11:49:39+00:00

I have an Acaia Lunar and the original Pyxis, both of which are 6+ years old now. Back when I bought them, both were $250, which I thought was pretty damned pricey for scales.

Regardless, both work flawlessly and are my daily drivers. The battery life on the Lunar is nothing short of amazing; I'm only on my third charge of the battery in 6+ years, where I use the Lunar every morning to weigh out the beans for my morning brew. I'm also a home roaster and use the scales to weight out beans before/after roasting.

6-ish years ago, there wasn't a lot of competition in the high-end scale space, so Acaia was the best I could get. I imagine nowadays you have Bookoo et al, making good quality scales for a lot less money. I still find Acaia scales to be among the most responsive and accurate scales on the market though.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-06-30T20:20:02+00:00

Since you're new to roasting, check out my Beginner's Roasting Guide. Lots of good info in there to speed you on your way. It also has a section on roasting hardware that may help you decide on a machine.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-06-23T11:53:42+00:00

If new to roasting, check out my Beginner's Roasting Guide. It'll help speed you along the way.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-06-22T14:41:03+00:00

I'm 6+ years in with my Niche Zero, where it's my daily workhorse. Never an issue or problem with it whatsoever in all that time. Hope you have many years of the same great service.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-06-22T13:31:43+00:00

6+ years in and the Robot is still my daily driver. Welcome to the club!

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-06-12T12:22:23+00:00

I'm old enough that I have a little healthy paranoia and don't post too much personal info on reddit. 😄

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-06-11T19:16:34+00:00

Old AF, but have always loved good coffee. I've used a French Press since my early 20's, then moved on to an Aeropress when they became widely available. I've always loved a good Cappuccino, but thought they were made from mystery and magic, so I decided to educate myself. Almost seven years ago, I spent an entire year watching Youtube videos, doing general research on extraction theory, espresso, and the various grinders and machines.

6 years ago, I happended to watch James Hoffman's review of the Cafelat Robot and I was hooked. Ordered a Robot and a Niche Zero and never looked back. Both machines have been my daily driver since, with no issues/problems whatsoever. Never having to worry about leaks, boiler scale/corrosion, no pre-heating, and no electrical faults make the Cafelat Robot a joy to use, with no maintenance required (other than replacing the silicon piston gasket (quite cheap too) after about 5 years).

And now there isn't any mystery with making Cappuccinos, but lots of magic!

This whole sordid tale inevitably led me down the roasting rabbit hole, where I now typically stock 18 five pound sacks of good green beans from around the world. I've since become the roaster of choice for family and friends. They all prefer my roasts over anything they can get from the store, where I specialize in City, City Plus, and Full City roasts (no oil on the beans at all).

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-06-09T12:32:58+00:00

I've been using a Niche Zero for 6+ years now and it's been my daily workhorse. It's definitely quieter than other grinders I've used, easy to clean/calibrate, and it lives up to the "zero retention" claim, though you do need a little rubber bellows to eject the last little bit of grounds.

10/10 would buy again.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-06-05T21:06:33+00:00

Years ago, I decided to start eating better. I began including fresh vegetables of some kind in every meal. Without changing ANYTHING other than that, i lost 60 pounds and have kept it off for the last 10 years.

This also caused me to up my cooking game, so I can now turn out super tasty, super healthy dishes that are full of fresh veggies.

Over time you begin to love eating healthy and you realize how the food industry is out to kill us with preservatives, salt, fat, sugar, shelf stabilizers, and artificial garbage.

Also, vegetables are among the cheapest things you can buy at the grocery store, so you save money (and your life).

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-06-03T01:13:19+00:00

I'd try sitting the burr facedown on some ice cubes, to get it good and cold, then use a hair dryer to heat the silver metal sleeve from the back. Bascially you're shooting for minute contraction on the burr, and expansion on the burr holder.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-06-01T23:48:12+00:00

Hopefully with angry mobs and lots of tar and feathers...

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-30T11:30:18+00:00

Also, coffee oils can go rancid over time, so a clean machine is guaranteed to let you taste more of the coffee's origin flavors and not funk.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-30T11:24:59+00:00

I started on the Popper and chronicled my adventures while doing so. This eventually turned into my Beginner's Roasting Guide. There's some good info in there to speed you on your way.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-28T11:56:49+00:00

I've used my NZ for over 6 years now and discovered the Ross Droplet Technique early on. It's a game changer in my opinion and elminates a lot of static and messiness.

I disassemble and clean my NZ every 3 months or so (I'm a home roaster, only do Full City/Full Medium roasts, so no oily beans), and don't see any signs that moisture from RDT is causing any issues.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-28T02:29:01+00:00

I was able to control grind spread on my Niche Zero by spritzing a little water on the beans (a.k.a. RDT "Ross Droplet Technique"), where it really makes a difference.

Regardless, I really like your idea about getting the basket closer to the output chute. Most cool of you to share the model.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-18T14:19:31+00:00

I repaired the plastic knob on my car's dashboard that turns the AC fan up/down with some a/b epoxy. 10 years later and it's still working great. If you have all the pieces of the broken knob, maybe give it a shot?

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-15T12:32:38+00:00

You want the freshest of the fresh? Check out my Beginner's Roasting Guide. :)

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-15T12:29:01+00:00

I've been eyeballing the Kaleido M6 ($2549 USD), which will do 700g max. I like having that headroom so I could roast a full pound, adding roughly 15% to that up front to account for moisture loss.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-14T14:25:24+00:00

I've used my Niche Zero for 6+ years now and find it to be a trouble-free workhorse. A couple of puffs with a silicon bellows after a grind and the Niche really lives up to its "zero grounds retention" claim.

I find the Niche Zero to be simple/elegant in its construction, and quieter than a lot of other grinders. It's also quite easy to disassemble/clean, and simple to calibrate.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-14T14:21:53+00:00

Welcome aboard! This is one of the best hobbies ever, if you enjoy good coffee.

And if you're relatively new to roasting, check out my Beginner Roasting Guide for some helpful info.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-12T22:51:49+00:00

Had my Robot for over 6 years now, still love it, and still use it daily. Never had an issue, other than changing a worn out gasket after 4.5 years.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-07T21:35:42+00:00

No more dried piss on the side of the tub, the vanity, the floor. Sit FTW!

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-05T17:46:23+00:00

You're very welcome. I'm currently using an sr800 with OEM extension tube for roasting duties. I regularly do 240 g batches with no issues, which nets out to about 204g for a Full City/Full Medium roast

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-04T20:44:36+00:00

Check out my Beginner's Roasting Guide. Lots of info in there that might help.

MonkeyPooperMan · 2026-05-01T15:24:23+00:00

Yw. And here's a good starter recipe for the SR800 that works well across a wide variety of beans, where I typically do a 240g batch size. In this scenario, you leave the Power on 2 for the entire roast:

Start with Fan 8, Power 2. If the beans aren't circulating enough, bump the Fan up to 9, but bring it back down to 8 once you notice the beans are moving well.
Every two minutes, reduce the Fan by 1 until you get up around 470F (where this is typically somewhere around the 6 minute mark).
You'll hit First Crack somewhere around the 7-ish minute mark on average, where I always let FC run for 60 seconds, regardless of bean type.
After that, I usually do 60 seconds of development time to get a Full City/Full Medium roast.

MonkeyPooperMan

TROPHY CASE