EdipisReks1

Buyer flaked on the Speedmaster. Thanks EBay! Anyway, I may just keep it. Obviously I didn’t need to sell it to buy the Hermes, I have just been trying to consolidate without spending any money out of my pocket. Maybe what I need is a new strap for it. As I age I become less of a bracelet person. Speaking of straps, apparently I’m not allergic to chrome tanned leather anymore, which is weird, as I had a rather strong and fairly immediate reaction. I could usually get away with wearing a chrome tanned strap for a few hours, but I would always get a rash the next day. I’m on day five of a chrome tanned alligator on my Santos, with no rash. This opens up a lot of possibilities for me, especially with the Santos with the proprietary lugs, and suggests I’ll be able to wear the Slim on the OEM Hermes strap.

If anybody wants one of Twitter’s Lineas, here is your chance: https://www.gearpatrol.com/home/a42283958/twitter-furniture-auction/

Nice! It feels really good when you get things dialed in. Plus, as you say: good coffee makes you happy.

Speedy gone, Hermes Slim D’Hermes in grey incoming. I think I’m at or very close to a watch stable that will be, well, stable.

The problem for me is that my wrists are quite round and quite small, so the Speedmaster pro sits very proud on my wrist. It’s why I tend to prefer watches that are substantially thinner (no longer have any extra flat watches though; those are too thin!). The JLC complete calendar is about as thick as I want a watch to be where the thickness is case and not crystal; it’s under 11mm. It wasn’t an issue when I had 8 inch wrists (you should have seen the Maurice LaCroix Double Retrograde GMT I used to wear!), but is certainly an issue with 6 3/4 wrists. I’m 6’ tall at about 190 and my wrists aren’t much larger than my 5’2” 100 pound 80 year old mother’s wrists. The Ed White would be a hell of a $10,000 watch.

Latte art is sure hard if you aren’t making 100 lattes a day and/or are not a robot.

The Oracle and the Dual Boiler have the same basic mechanism, so yeah, it works the same way. I don’t think my having the OPV set much lower than factory affects the preinfusion, but my having a different solenoid very well may: I’m running at 80, which on my machine gives me a solid 1/2 bar preinfusion. My understanding is that it’s percentage of pump pressure, yeah.

Not too terribly often; are you WDTing? I WDT or use a blind shaker; they both do a great job of distribution, which is the number one element for reducing channeling.

I still love it, it just doesn’t fit my skinny wrists anymore! Because of that I don’t wear it, and there isn’t much point in having a watch I don’t wear. I plan on replacing it with something, if it sells, so the watch box stays full. I wish the Ed White weren’t so incredibly spendy, as it would fit my wrist better, I’m sure.

I have a Normcore mirror and a Weber looking glass. The Weber is nice, but not worth the money over the Normcore. The Normcore has a magnetic base. I keep it on the edge of the drip tray.

I’m selling my pre-moon speedy, if anybody is interested.

And the corollary being that we can all calibrate the same way. I go slightly to the right of the indicator, myself.

I clean grinders the same as Dan. The Hoffman giveaway item I received was the refractometer! It’s not the best one in the world, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.

There is a flat burr retrofit for the Niche coming out soon. I might try the 60mm (the largest on offer for it) SSP burrs when it goes public. I like the 64mm SSP burrs in my Ode, but the Ode has too coarse a thread pitch to easily dial in espresso, even with the replacement burrs. I don’t think it will be an “upgrade,” more “it’s something to do.” I honestly think I prefer the Kony burrs to the SSP 64s, but I haven’t been able to really dial those in (they are brilliant for filter).

Like Dan said, you want to go a lot finer. I do about 45-60 seconds with the flair, usually going to 6 bar and then ramping down. I’m at around 10-12 on the Niche, which is substantially finer than I use with the dual boiler (it would choke). 15 seconds is definitely a turbo shot. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s not the sort of espresso I typically make. My recommendation: go finer until you hit the point where you aren’t getting any water flow, then go a bit coarser until you can immediately peg the pressure you are looking for with control. There will be substantial resistance; patience is key, as with all things espresso. I’ve pulled some long, think two minutes, ristrettos with the Flair 58 that were absolutely delicious. They were a workout.

Just a little decaf cafe mocha for the afternoon. I really do like Wondermilk. Most of my shots are well over a minute from pump start to finish. That includes a preinfusion, but as Dan says, the time really isn’t really all that demonstrative of anything other than how long it takes.

The shot I just had was pretty good considering I forgot to put the shower screen in with the Flair 58. It made it a turbo. Was perfectly enjoyable.

So Delicious Wondermilk whole fat is my new milk of choice. It steams very similar to dairy, and it tastes very neutral in a milkish way.

I won one of the “useful” AliExpress tools James Hoffman reviewed a few weeks ago. No idea which, but I’ll report back! Loving the Dual Boiler/Niche combo, with no real additional need to spend more, but I’ll take free coffee crap happily.

Picked up a little mid-60s Omega Seamaster dress watch. A new green Horween shell strap and voila: the watch I wanted the Cartier Drive to feel like on the wrist. Keeps -10, which ain’t bad at all (it was given a VERY basic service by the seller).

I’m doing some pretty excellent shots with the BDB. Slayer mod next, though I doubt I’ll be able to do as much as I can with the Flair 58. This was a medium-light roast Guatemalan. Despite the roast, it was a chocolate bomb. I use 198 for medium-light. I prefer to not do lighter coffees as espresso or filter without having PID: Dan is totally right about light roasted coffees really benefiting from control.

I’ve got it dialed in and I’m grinding for and brewing some of the best espresso I’ve made. The Flair Pro2 is brilliant. You could get away with one case for it (I have three, because I have scales and funnels and three different brewheads with gauges, and tamps, and yada, because of course I do). Is it the Flair 58? Well no. Of course it isn’t. And I’m pulling the great shots because I’m pulling shots every day, but the Flair Pro 2 represents an amazing ROI for anybody reading this who wants to get into espresso, especially if you travel, for not too much money.

I gotta say, I really love this watch. My first calendar that I bought to be worn, and not to be flipped. The movement is a bit of a looker. I don’t normally do exhibition backs.

Just bought this.

Out of town, using a Lido E-T grinder and Flair Pro2. This was a delicious shot.