Hey all, just got into brewing coffee using V60. Now have a basic set (v60 size 01 + hario skerton).

I just finished my first 200gm of guatemala beans got from Coffea Coffee (it is close to my place) but I hope to find a more economic one - it was RM48 for 200gm if not mistaken.

Anyone can recommend where can I get decent fresh roasted coffee beans in PJ/KL area? or with delivery? Hopefully can get beans around RM30-40 per 200~250gm.

Any knows where can I get hario v60 filter paper for the lowest price possible? So far I found the cheapest is RM20 at Pulp by papa palheta, while online shops have 19~22 excluding shipping fee.

Daiso one doesn't have the exact v60 shape filter paper. So if anyone knows kindly enlighten

Wow that's like half price! Every parkson/Isetan has it? Is it Hario brand too?

Hey peeps I am thinking to upgrade my Hario Skerton grinder to a Lido 2 or Lido 3... However Lidos are not locally available

I know there's reseller of Lido in singapore (http://www.coffeeinaplace.com), it will cost RM970+ shipped and get taxed by malaysian kastam at another 30% which is too expensive.

I am in Seoul, Korea now for few months, and if I use freight forwarder to ship from US to korea, it's less than RM900, however I am afraid of the risk if any.

Does anyone know any safe and affordable way to get lido grinders in malaysia?

Ah! How silly of me for not looking in Korea itself first! I searched and found a great deal here: http://www.caffemuseo.co.kr/shop/detail.as...rip&g_num=12095

Thank you!

Hi all, anyone has experience with Welhome ZD-16 or ZD-17 grinders? What is the main advantage of 17 over 16, is it more consistent?

I have a lido 3, recently grinding for espresso range. It's all good but too hard to grind manually, plan to get a new electric grinder for espresso range.

How does the ZD-16/17 do in V60 grind size and espresso fineness? Thanks in advance

Finally made the decision to purchase the Flair espresso maker. Can’t resist it due to Black Friday/Cyber Monday 20% sale. Ordered the signature black model at RM880 including direct USPS shipping fee. Can’t wait to get it!

Nice! Let us know later how is it, can add on in the future
Now I just hope kastam doesn't hold my parcel...

Good coffee beans are not cheap, not because the sellers sell at higher price but because they are simply better than those RM20-30/200g beans.
ALL of the good roasters I have tried (The Hub, Artisan Roast, Ghostbird, Toothless...) sell at minimum RM45-50 per 200g.

The list of beans you've tried (colombia supremo, blue mountain, guatemala SHB) are typical varieties of cheap single origin that low quality roasters try to sell usually. They get a big bag of low quality green beans, usually over roasted and sell at RM20-30 pricing.

Nevertheless if you find them tasty, that's totally fine. If you're on budget I will suggest minimum Ghostbird's single origins. They are at RM50 ish for 250g. You get what you paid.

This post has been edited by zellleonhart: Jul 30 2020, 02:00 PM

Hmm to be honest it's up to personal taste and preference, but if you're asking coffee enthusiasts, commercial brands like illy are nowhere near "good". At most I can rate them drinkable.. lol
Reason is they are not considered speciality coffee. These brands buy green beans in tonnes that are usually lower end quality, roast in huge bulk and when you buy it off shelves, it's already few months past roasted date.

If your budget allows, i always recommend buying beans from local coffee roasters/cafe because they are usually specialty grade and much fresher (within 1-3 weeks off roast).

I have compiled a list of roasters, you can refer to my blog post which also contains the spreadsheet to the list of roasters

I am not the most experienced but I have researched a lot in the recent 1 year for my Flair replacement - including the two models you mentioned. I ended up with a Lelit Mara X.

You can do some additional research, but basically with or without PID, both Profitec Pro 500 and Appartamento are still single boiler HX machines. In 2021, it's quite hard to recommend a traditional HX machine regardless the PID because you still need to do flushes to surf the temperature. The PP500 is good at stabilizing the boiler temperature, but not the group head temperature which is more important.

The Appartamento does look fantastic, but it is so outdated and IMO not really worth it if this is your second machine, there are better choices out there.

I ended up going with the Lelit Mara X - which is a single boiler HX machine as well, but it has a very unique innovation where in the brew priority mode, it doesn't operate like a traditional HX. The dual PID and smart controller actually stabilizes the Group Head temp very accurately down to 1 degree C. You can read more about Mara X, but this points out the advantage over the PP500 very well: https://www.reddit.com/r/espresso/comments/...nd_the/g4bckw9/

The price is around the same as Appartamento as well.

Mara X aside, I recommend the following machines.
1. Lelit Elizabeth (Dual boiler at around RM7000. Throws PP 500 and Appartmento in the dust. I didnt't get it because my counter space is too small and I prefer the E61 look of Mara X more)
2. Breville Dual Boiler (The very underrated one, it can do pressure profiling and all for a very good price. Again, space is an issue for me, and I don't like breville's aesthetics and parts longevity)
3. Crem One 2B Dual

DaveC from the UK have very detailed reviews for Mara X, Elizabeth and Crem One at his website: https://coffeeequipmentreviews.wordpress.com (but his Crem One is the top of the line version).

Yes, it actually has 2 PID, one measuring the boiler temp (which is common for most HX with PID) BUT another one measuring the water exiting the group head, which is an innovation. This measurement allows the controller to adjust the group head temperature to one of the 3 settings you choose (behind the drip tray)

Setting 0: 91-92 C
Setting 1: 93-94 C
Setting 2: 95-96 C

The reason why you might not "see" the PID is because most people think that PID means the temperature display, but it really means the probe that detects the temperature and feed that data to the controller. For Mara X, you choose your target group head temperature using the 3 settings above. Other traditional HX with PID, even though you can specifically choose - say 94C, you still need to flush and surf because a single boiler simply cannot achieve accurate group head temp with the old tech.

I got it for around 6900 from J Coffee Equipment (now out of stock though). Other retailers below might still have:
- KF Chan from MyEspresso https://www.myespresso.my/contact-us
- https://thecoffeexperts.my/

You can also look at Lelit Elizabeth, it's a very good dual boiler machine if you steam a lot and doesn't like HX. Super accurate temp and modern features.

If you use the brew priority mode (prioritize the group head temp), on the first shot of the day the steam will only kick in after the first shot of espresso. So my workflow is like the following:
1. Auto start machine using wifi smart plug
2. Warms the machine for 35 min (after 35 min the temp is the most stable, but between 25-35 is fine too)
3. Grind and pull the first shot
4. Done pulling, clean portafilter, pour milk. During this time, steam pressure is building up. by this time it will reach around 1.2~1.5 bar.
5. Purge some steam and check - steam should be steady and strong now. Froth milk and done
6. Ready to pull second shot and steam

One thing to take note is that the ideal time between 2 consecutive shots is around 1.5~5mins. If you exceed 5 mins, the high boiler temp due to the steam ramp up will affect the group head temp - the next best time is after 15 mins for it to cool a bit or you manually do some flushes. Usually that 5mins window is more than enough to grind and pack for 2nd shot.

If you have friends around with 6-8 cups of milk coffee... I really suggest you to look into a dual boiler machine. Mara X is small, I like it and it's suitable for my low output usage. Not that it cannot pull 6-8 drinks back to back, but might have some ceiling eventually.

E61 is good mainly due to the widely supported accessories and 58mm size, but you can look into other 58mm group head dual boiler too.

E61 group head also needs to lubricate after every chemical backflush, if you don't mind the maintenance and cleaning work it's fine.

What is your budget? (excluding grinder of course)

If you really want E61 group head, the Lelit Bianca is my top recommendation for a dual boiler machine. Flow profiling, nice wooden accents, strong steaming and accurate temperature. Price is about RM10k.
You get the best of everything, no need to add on flow profiling kit or bottomless portafilter cuz all are provided.

If your budget is at around 7-8k, I would suggest the Lelit Elizabeth. It's not E61 but uses 58mm portafilter, most accessories should be similar. (RM7k)

E61 is more than 50 years old, other than the looks and widely supported accessories, there's no reason to use E61 nowadays. E61 also need to lubricate the cam after every chemical back flush.

For Appartamento, yes it can pull back to back milk coffee, but same as ANY typical HX E61 machine, you need to flush the group head to surf temperature, it's a hassle to be honest. Already paid 7-8k and you still don't get stable temperature. Rocket machines are nice looking but nowadays you're paying a premium for the looks and the brand. Just like buying Apple products to a certain extent. And if you want to pull 6-8 milk drinks back to back, you definitely want to look at a dual boiler. At some point a HX machine will need to refill the single boiler and temp will drop.

Thanks, I didn't know got these 3 types of HX. True that, if someone desires temp surfing, go for it. I for one can't imagine why I would want temp surfing if I can get the exact temp I want without guessing how much water to flush or installing a group thermometer.

On top of that, for Rocket Appartamento - it doesn't even have a PID to set your target temp. Without a group head thermometer you're shooting in the dark, it could be 90C this shot and 96C the next. Of course I don't have experience myself, it could be learned, but my point is spending 8k, there are better machines with temp stability compared to this unit. Can't say the same for all other HX of course, I am just replying him about Appartamento specifically.

Also to point out that temp surfing is almost a must for most typical HX machines, and it is *usually* not desired by most users.

Hi Bob! Very solid points. A cooling flush to compensate the HX temps is not temperature profiling. To me, any profiling means you have a way to decide the exact parameters of the variable. For example (build on top of your example), start at 94°C for 15 seconds and ramp down to 90°C over the next 20 seconds - This is temperature profiling and for home machines, probably only the Decent can really achieve it.

Boiler machines regardless of HX or DB can't do accurate little changes like this on the group head.

Coming from the flair, I do miss feeling the pressure when I pull a shot! Planning to add the flow control paddle to my Mara X later. And thanks for your acupuncture needles back then - I am still using them to WDT and they work wonders.

Exactly.. I don't need to play with temperature profiling too, I just need accurate and constant temperature throughout the shot.

That chunk of brass is why I like E61 too, it's just some kind of romance... Even though it needs some maintenance but I have learnt a lot about the mechanism in the recent weeks and I'm glad that I probably know which part is faulty / need service in the long run. It's fun!

Can't wait to get my hands on the peddle to play with the flow profiling. Though I appreciate Mara X's slow ramp up of pressure to 9 bar over 10~13 seconds.

Yes you're right, assuming space is not an issue and I am okay with the look, Elizabeth wins hands down with some small caveat:
1. No flow profiling kit as future upgrade since that's only applicable for E61. Not an issue for most people
2. SOME said that Mara X has slightly better build quality, but I can't confirm. It might just be a false impression because the E61 giant group head might make you feel it's better quality
3. Mara X has both Steam and Brew pressure manometer, both are analog and I love it. Elizabeth only has the brew pressure manometer. Not a deal breaker for most.

For Mara X, there's an ideal time window between shots so that the temp is well maintain. Based on my testing, it's between 1-3 minutes.

For example, your temp setting is 93-94C. Once you exceed the 3 minutes *after the first shot*, it will slowly go up to 95 C (almost 1C per minute). So if you manage workflow to pull the second shot within 3 minutes, there's no need to wait. After 3 minutes, either you wait for another 15 minutes, OR you can flush some water to cool it down. After all, it's still an HX. For my usage, I pull max 2 shots back to back. So the 3 minutes window is perfectly fine for me.

It is close to a month now and I will still get a Mara X if I am offered a choice. But in the future if I move to a bigger house, I am definitely considering a dual boiler.

That said, Mara X being a E61 machine definitely requires more fiddling and maintenance. Lubing the lever cam is a must after chemical backflush. For a 100% peace of mind, non-E61 is better. I like tweaking stuff so I went with the tougher route!

Grinder, to me, is a rabbit hole. There's always better on the market haha.

For me single dosing is a must, even if I pull 2 shots a day. I don't feel comfortable leaving beans out in the hopper mixing with lots of air. It's going to have some difference in the cup; and I also don't like the fact that some beans could be ground "half way" when used with a hopper.

As for the Eureka - I am using the old version of Mignon (MK2). It's serviceable for decent shots but it's very clumpy (unlike the newer Specialita) and even with single dosing mod, I know there are still exchanges for every shot.

I don't know how similar is the Silenzio with the Specialita (50mm vs 55mm) but the screen is not really instrumental to dialing in. For the whole series - you only use the knob to dial in. The screen is just for you to set profiles or grind by time, it has nothing to do with the fine/coarseness.

With a single dose mod (3D printed hopper + bellow) it's serviceable for single dose, but not a true low retention grinder. The newer (and pricier) Mignon XL could be a good consideration, or the very-hard-to-get Niche Zero.

I actually ordered a very affordable DF64 single dose grinder which has 64mm flat burrs and it can fit SSP burrs at a very affordable price (almost half of Specialita). PM me if you want to know more, it's very new and not so well known in the market yet.

Yes, it's either called the G-iota or DF64 grinder.