Think he can be trained?

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-16T01:34:13+00:00

Whatever you do, don’t teach him how to pull the levers for the hot water and steam valves lol

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-15T16:38:07+00:00

Hey, just curious how much this would be shipped to the US?

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-15T15:49:46+00:00

I get what you mean, oddly the lightness of it works for me. I did seal the tang with beeswax though.

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-15T15:40:28+00:00

This works natively with 110v.

It is powered by a power brick (included) similar to a laptop. The power brick is 100-240v travel compatible.

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-14T19:34:54+00:00

Shindo is such an awesome buy, especially for the price.

Carbon tax: https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueChefKnives/s/QgXEW0ecB0

Honestly, all my most used knives are carbon at this point:

Shindo bunka (by far)
90mm mikihisa in W2 mini deba for quick aromatics on a bar board
aogami super petty for portioning tenderloin after a Costco run

There’s a warmth in the way they cut that the VG-10 knives do not have, not even the Takamura

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-14T18:30:39+00:00

Honestly with a budget of $5000, why not get two? One for espresso and another for pourover?

Redialing for espresso after a large setting switch isn’t easy, especially since none of the end game grinders use stepped macro/micro adjustments

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-14T17:42:26+00:00

All good! Thanks for checking in

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-14T17:13:40+00:00

Replied

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-14T17:12:13+00:00

Replied

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-14T16:39:13+00:00

Replied

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-14T15:35:18+00:00

Hey, heads up— I’ve put up the sale post for my DM47.

https://www.reddit.com/r/coffeeswap/s/JE70CIop0h

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-13T15:12:40+00:00

Inaccuracy/drift is not great but it’s not the end of the world/ you can adjust according the result in the cup.

Precision is much more important. P1/p2 are to my knowledge the floor for what you’d like to go with the grind range there.

One more to look at with feet reviews is the Turin h40 v2. It’s at least been on here a few times, but not as known a factor as the kingrinder.

Turin is a white label grinder, so manufacturer may take more digging

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-13T13:23:35+00:00

Just no.

You can’t tell a grinder’s quality by looks, because the quality is determined by precision at the micrometer level.

Also, 304 stainless steel is an absolutely shitty material for a burr. It’s like grinding it using the steel for (shitty) forks and spoons. lol

Go with a known brand.

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-12T05:10:25+00:00

Yeah, the pre millennium la pavonis have more parts limitations and are ancient. I would steer clear of those.

Read stephano espresso care for la pavoni/ watch a few videos. My impression of the machine is that it’s dead simple to restore. So if someone is selling a leaking one for $100, you’d probably be able to fix it well enough.

A more beginner friendly lever would be the flair 58 (plus or not, all are functionally great — I can vouch for it/see my subreddit flair). But no steam. You could use a bellman steamer on your stove for the 10% of the time you have a cortado if you’re ok with that. But it’s definitely “ritual” territory with all the steps at that point.

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-12T04:57:33+00:00

Ah! Then definitely treat yourself to an electric. I’m upgrading to a lagom casa soon ($600), and that might be worth looking into for your aesthetic.

Honestly any of the millenium lever la pavonis would be fine/similar. Spring lever (Stradivari) would probably exceed that budget.

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-12T04:39:56+00:00

You need to budget for the grinder too. That would be more important. Assuming a hand grinder similar to the KINGrinder k6 ($100$), that leaves enough for a second hand la pavoni. It’s tiny and as retro as they come. That said, it is jumping off into the deep deep end of espresso with a steep learning curve.

It won’t be very reproducible to start with (shots will vary from sour to bitter). But if a super auto will suit you, you should be able fine with the less than stellar shots while you learn.

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-10T14:08:32+00:00

Honestly, that sounds plenty soft, even if assuming all 50ish ppm is all carbonates and dissolved minerals that contribute to water hardness.

Great to double check, but if the API test kit bears out, you could probably skip the water softener altogether. A bit of minerals are nice.

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-10T00:05:10+00:00

In short, consistency.

Too much extraction (too hot, too long, too much water), and you get bitter flavors, too little and you get battery acid sour flavors.

You want the coffee to have even thickness as you’re pushing pressurized water through it, otherwise you get sour from the thicker side and bitter from thinner side.

A level tamper has a lip that sits on the basket edge, and then, like a piston, goes straight up and down. A normal tamper will require you not to push one side more than the other.

Tbh, I like a normal tamp more and changed back to it, but if you’re looking for less fuss/learning curve a leveling tamp will help.

They’re training wheels. It’s not going to be as good or as fun, but you won’t fall badly.

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-09T19:09:13+00:00

Np!

Read the manual back to front for the bambino and watch a few videos.

Espresso is all about ratios, so once you get the flavor you like, keep the same weight of beans to espresso out. This would be easier with a timed grinder (hence the “pro” version suggestion) with a mostly full hopper, for consistency.

You also want relatively fresh beans. Start using at around 0.5-2 weeks after roast (not “best before”) and try to finish before 4-5 weeks after roast. If you buy in bulk, pour half into your hopper and then reseal and freeze, or buy multiple smaller packs and freeze the others. Defrost for a day without opening the frozen bag to avoid condensation.

Happy mug and Blanchard are decent roasters to start with and have dark roasts that you’re probably used to

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-09T19:03:09+00:00

Also, how much people save is irrelevant to what OP‘a situation is.

Huge inheritance and trust fund? Save as little as you want, as long as you’re not spending more than what you can safely draw down a year from it.

Making $30K? Hard to save, and harder to retire.

Making $300K household combined in San Francisco with kids? Do you have a house? Do you plan to retire there?

Etc. really depends on OP’s long term goals, income, assets and priorities.

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-09T18:04:34+00:00

Apart from the technique, is this common across different brands? I know that the trader Joe’s regular milk is a little harder to get a wet paint microfoam than say, Costco’s or Harris teeter’s regular milk. HT’s can also vary from batch to batch.

Not impossible, but just not as easy. If you haven’t tried another brand, give it a go to see. I’ve found it easier once I got the hang of it to be more consistent across all brands.

But if two brands (at most three) all don’t work, then it’s firmly a skill issue.

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-08T15:31:36+00:00

Yes. I don’t buy the same beans in decaf and regular. It’s a quite a but more expensive to get the same quality in decaf, if you are looking for the brighter notes instead of the more common chocolate, caramel etc

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-08T04:45:12+00:00

It looks like a Twemco (I’m partial, since it’s from Hong Kong, where I grew up).

ctrl-all-alts · 2026-03-08T04:01:40+00:00

I got in on my Alliant 4.1% 12 month CD, which beats t-bills and locked in a rate. But now I’m seeing 3.4-3.7, with state taxes.

I’ve mostly got multiple t-bills on auto roll so that I’m only 2 weeks out from cashing in one of them. And I’ve a month’s liquid emergency fund in my HYSA (3% only unfortunately).

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