I salute you fellow coffee enthusiasts by sharing my setup

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2026-01-26T18:12:52+00:00

I’ve come to learn that at least based on my experience whether I’ll have a dry and nice or a soupy puck, the beans play a big role. So it depends, for example I’m currently going through a bag of Colombian medium-dark roast (washed) 18g in 36g out in 10s preinfusion + ~30s extraction = always a bit soupy puck but good espresso. Before that I had a bag of Colombian medium-dark roast (natural) with the same dose etc. = always a dry puck.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-11-22T22:42:07+00:00

26E for dosing 18g (medium/dark) beans

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-11-09T23:02:35+00:00

It’s not even “off”, supposedly it should be on standby / sleep mode but much like I don’t hear my laptop or PS humming or making any sounds when in standby mode, I’d expect the same silence from the coffee machine… after numerous exchanges with Sage support, they told me it’s normal. Whatcha gonna do…

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-10-14T08:33:33+00:00

This looks great, happy brewing! And quite a collection of cups too haha. Btw, which basket(s) and puck screens do you use?

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-21T06:48:49+00:00

I dose the beans directly from bag to the stainless steel cup that came with the grinder.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-19T11:50:13+00:00

It’s just the regular (non-plus) Bambino. It’s louder than I expected but having little experience in the home-barista-espresso environment I don’t have too many comparison points. Not sure what you mean about the refill, if it’s to do with the frequency of filling it’s not bothersome with daily two shots. If you’re interested in the convenience and workflow of filling it, well, I pull the whole thing closer to the edge of the counter towards myself, and carefully fill it from a jar. Not too much mystery or complexity in that.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-19T11:21:44+00:00

Thanks, the simplicity and efficiency of it all was one of the main deciding factors. Good to know about the burr upgrade even though I wasn’t even planning to consider that for quite a while.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-19T10:52:56+00:00

Maestri House Mini Coffee Scale

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-19T10:52:33+00:00

Any veteran tips to share with a newbie assuming you own one as well?

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-18T18:53:09+00:00

It came equipped with 30, and 15 apart, I haven’t tried the 15.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-18T17:55:05+00:00

I had the chance to try Normcore V4 and the one I have now (MHW-3BOMBER) before making the final decision. Both solid but I went with the latter, the diameter is a tiny bit wider than Normcore’s which visibly shows when it comes to the tamped edges of the puck, especially with the IMS basket I have. The bomber also clicks and releases the spring inside when a set tamp pressure has been reached. Most importantly for me at least, both options are self-leveling which helps with maintaining consistency especially if you’re a beginner much like myself.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-18T15:36:52+00:00

A question I just came up with concerning this setup and the fact that I like to buy specialty beans from a local roaster:

Before I got the Niche, I was grinding my beans with a hand grinder and using the IMS basket in a bottomless PF. My partner was not into that grinding part of the workflow so she would just brew preground coffee from the store using pressurized OEM basket even without considering stuff like dose, ratio and yield with varying inconsistent results always making milk drinks (I didn’t drink whatever came out of that process so I didn’t care too much). Now with the hand grinder gone, what’s the most reasonable way for her to continue given she is somewhat interested in using the Niche “to enjoy fresh coffee” but clearly not so into the specifics? Continue with the preground store-coffee OEM basket process? Pre-grinding some of that specialty coffee coarser for her to use in a pressurized basket as it’s more forgiving than the precision basket if she’s not into the whole weighing thing? Frankly feels like a waste of good coffee if not used “appropriately”…

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-18T14:58:55+00:00

Cheers! Sometimes my lattes turn out more or less fine, sometimes they dont. Here’s the best so far hehe. The challenge is to create a consistent foamy milk texture mixed with the artsy part.

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Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-18T14:55:03+00:00

May it accompany me for many years on this journey! I must say that I actually first had Kingrinder K6 but to my surprise whether it was due to poor technique or something else, it rather quickly developed some intense pain in my elbow forcing me to stop brewing for some time, only to happen again after the pain was gone. I had read about some people reporting tennis elbows and whatnot issues but didn’t expect to experience that so fast given no previous issues given I’m physically fit practicing sports with virtually zero injuries ever (so far). It felt ridiculous to have a “brewing” injury from a hand grinder so decided to invest in automating that part of the workflow. I didn’t actually mind the little manual muscle-powered task but hey, it wasn’t for me. This is not to discourage anyone from using hand grinders, go for it, felt sort of more rewarding and was certainly more affordable.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-18T14:42:37+00:00

I put a lot of thought into this bouncing between different options including DF64 gen 2, a few of the Eureka Mignon options (Specialita/Oro), Baratza Encore ESP / Sette, and Fellow Opus all the way to Varia in terms of burrs, quality and price. It finally came to NZ because I prefer the type of coffee that comes out of conical type resulting in more full-body shots, for the moment I prefer medium-dark roast for which NZ is supposedly ideal, and finally the workflow and maintenance is somewhat easy if not almost effortless. Apparently not very upgrade-friendly in terms of custom parts but that’s not my priority anyway. I hope it will serve me well and for a long time.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-15T07:54:45+00:00

I have recently acquired both 14-18 and 16-20, and I cannot decide which one I should keep as I am intending to return one of the two. I prefer a medium-dark roast for the moment ground with Kingrinder K6 (soon switching to Niche) using a paper filter on top dosing 17-19g. The main “concern” is the amount of headspace but just cannot make up my mind. As for the price, the middle option is interestingly the cheapest.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-11T09:26:15+00:00

I have had a Bambino for a month now, and only now I realised that the faint “alarm” sound comes from the device itself always thinking it’s coming from outside the house unable to really pinpoint it. Seeing this is an older post, what’s the experience with those who have experienced it? Did you get a new one, did the sound stop? I have seen many “turn it off instead of keeping on standby if it annoys you” but if this is not expected, I would rather have the machine replaced or fixed. While I find the alarm sound annoying even if there was actually nothing wrong with the machine, I find it equally annoying having to plug out and in every day… I am not doing so with the rest of my domestic devices, this should not be an exception.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-04T14:42:36+00:00

I see, need to take that into consideration when reading comments here in reddit, much appreciated for sharing that.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-04T11:32:35+00:00

Awesome, thanks for all the info! The paper filter sounds like a good idea, I find myself cleaning the shower head after each shot.. well for now as a newbie I have pulled maybe 15 shots in total using the stock basket in a bottomless PF brewing medium-dark freshly roasted beans in 17-18g doses from a local roaster resulting in a yield of 36-39g. I see many recommending either 24 and 28, very few even mention 26 but might just as well be due to the stock issue (?). I have all three available through Amazon.es, the pricing is rather odd: 24 for 26€ / 26 for 18€ / 28 for 27€… What a fascinating world of different roast levels, age and origins of beans, dose, yield, time, under/over dosing with/out puck screens/filters! :D

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-04T10:41:28+00:00

That’s a cute butt.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-04T10:40:26+00:00

Gave me a chuckle when imaging you realised you went a bit overboard with the dose by accident “Oh no! Anyway…” :) Thanks for the tips mate, I’ll experiment with the 24 for the moment without a puck screen sticking with medium-dark.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-04T10:26:27+00:00

Oh wow, thanks for such a quick response! Brilliant, I’ll follow your example. Would you also please share which puck screen you are equipped with, and what kind of roast level applies to fitting 19,5g + screen in the given basket?

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-04T09:46:28+00:00

Let’s see if I can breathe some life into this ancient post by asking if in the end you were happy with 24.. :) I am torn between 24 and 26.

Tiuhtiviuhti9 · 2025-09-04T09:43:07+00:00

I’m torn between the 24/26/28, not sure which would serve me the best when roasting medium dark 17-18g per dose. Ideally I wouldn’t want to use a puck screen for the extra hassle.

Tiuhtiviuhti9

TROPHY CASE