In the midst of sarcasm and elitism, I've done some modifications to my beloved Oscar.

-Added Vacumm breaker. (Shit werks!)
-Added OPV!
-Changed the steam tip.

My goodness, the OPV is a definitely must have. Immediately after the upgrade, it makes life so much easier. Consistency is so much better and the entire machine is less finicky now.

Definitely a must have upgrade. The installation isn't even that difficult to begin with.

Does take some balls however.

I consider it a flaw, but then adding an OPV to this machine would mean a lot of overhead cost in the process chain. If I were NS, I'd keep it cheap and stupid.

Want an OPV? buy our moar expensive version.

Never tried the Silvia, but the main reason I got the Oscar was because considering the price and utility value, it made the most sense to me at the time.

Plus it's easy for me to hack my way through if I ever needed upgrades, I'd definitely prefer a unit with tons of documentation online. The Oscar is a good starter unit.

The OPV isn't necessary if you're the kind of person who adds milk to espresso after 10 am (blegh).

I mainly drink Espresso only, makes more sense to have a consistent shot every time.

Because manufacturers don't want to screw up. So any small addition, no matter how simple adds up exponentially. You need more test chains and workers to make sure your yield remains the same. It seems simple. You see this all the time in OEMs. (used to work in Keysight/Agilent R&D and the way production prohibits us from always going for the best stuff due to yield and manufacturability boils me to no end).

Never tried Turkish/Roman coffee before. Didn't really had the chance to. Maybe if I travel to somewhere native with the big wok + sand setup, I'd consider drinking it .

Got all my crap from Elektros. http://www.elektros.it/my/en/Oscar_modification_Kit/

It's cheaper than usual because I carried them back from Italy.

Looking to upgrade my grinder.

Anyone knows any good local source for a espresso grinder among the range of 1.5k to 2.5k?

upgrading to the Compak K3 Touch from the Grinta to pair with my Oscar+OPV.

Anyone has any beef to pick with it before I pull the trigger?

I feel like at this point the Grinta is somewhat holding me back. I absolutely enjoyed the Grinta's simplicity in both maintenance and use, but it's just "not there".

Selling off my Grinta if anyone's interested.

PM me for moar details

Is the Mahlkonig Vario a Baratza?

I own a Baratza myself, if anything, servicing them is a pain in the ass. They do not understand a good "engineering design" at all. One day I'll probably go for the EK43 straight

Is that a rebadged Baratza or the other way round?

Is your friend KF Chan?

I can't stand how Baratza designs their grinders. They make no sense at all. It's hard to take them apart and to put them back together. Maintenance is a serious pain in the ass with these plastic latch machines.

I'd take a slight "inferiority" in grind performance over maintainability every day.

So I finally got my Compak K3 Touch (Ferarri Red) to pair with the Oscar + OPV.

Some thoughts:
-Grinds very fine and consistently. Clumpiness still persist at very fine grinds but not as bad as lower end models. If you already have an efficient WDT sequence, clumpiness is never an issue to begin with. I try not to use the WDT with the K3 unless necessary. So far so good.
-Moderately difficult to know where your grind size is when you first get it. After you get it then the stepless adjustment makes sense.
-Documentation is horrible and shite. Read the manual but use your head as well.
-Timer is awesome. It's in front and adjusting it is easy peasy.
-The PF holder isn't very ergonomical for my naked PF, but otherwise gets the job done.
-Plastic top cap cover is a let down. Some aesthetic defects. Cross threading with the safety screw happened by default. Won't even grind fine enough if I leave the safety screw in tact. Does wonder if they calibrated the thing properly in factory.

Once you get the grind size calibration right, does produce good shots.

The safety screw has to be removed otherwise you can't get it fine enough.

The Grinta, despite its limitations is still in my opinion an excellent and well designed grinder. Simply because it is fool proof and so easy to use for any form of beginners.

The K3 definitely provides a much better extraction in comparison. (the price is also at least double of the grinta ><) You can observe this by tasting it (much more complex taste) and visually "see" it (through the naked portafilter).

I didn't even do the WDT with the K3. One thing that still irks me is that it doesn't fit with my naked portafilter. I have to transfer it to a small cup first before pouring it in.

I didn't get the Push because I was too lazy to go the extra mile to track down anything else. Touch was available hence touch it is.

not if it's the one I design.

Ah, if I had all the money in the world...

A pictar of my current setup

Excuse the mess obviously




Attached thumbnail(s)

Don't have any other beans to try with for now, but I'll report back if I find it different.

I can probably understand where the problem you pose come from though. The inherent mechanism does have the tendency to fuck about your grind setting over time.

"A cup of your finest hot water with brown grease in it, unless by some miracle your coffee shop has started selling coffee?" - Blackadder

Starbucks don't serve drinks with brown grit + water eh?


Don't let the shit snobs tell you otherwise. Coffee is coffee. Sure what you're drinking is shite in most cases when it comes to starbucks, but it's still coffee.

second this.

Great machine with tons of documentations online.

Mods towards Musica levels are cheap and very achievable.



P.S. anyone who wants their Oscar modded but don't have telur to do it, I can do it for you.

get a good grinder first.

The Espresso machine is a pain in the ass if there is no decent grinder.

I would suggest you to get a good grinder, and then go with the pour over.



Espresso machines should start with a CC1 or Silvano level at least, everything else is just an upgraditis waiting to happen.

lu mia budget berapa boss?

Lu suka minum ape boss? Suka hipster pour overs or espressos?

Your Philips depressurized already or not? Might want to try the route first.