Handpresso Domepod - All Chances Sold 1st Unit

[BoldJava]

All laid out.  Extra O ring and extra "portafilter."

[BoldJava]

Gauge, water dome and jalapen~o.

The 9 bars pressure is easily achieved with about 40 pumps.  This instrument feels solid/significant (not cheap) to the touch.  The pressure holds.  I pumped it to the green line and then started reading and putzing.  Got called away and when I returned 15 minutes later, the needle hadn't budged.

Boiled water (~1.7 oz) gets poured into that plastic dome. A valve is opened from this position and the water is forced south thru the filter and into the mug.  I pre-heated the mug and plastic dome with boiled water.

[BoldJava]

Filter.  An extra one is provided.  No tamper.  Hmmm...5-7 grams?  How to tamp?

[BoldJava]

Time for jo.'   Paradise has a very nice light espresso.  Milk chocolates, cinnamon, light apricot <?> and faint wineyness.  Love it.

http://www.paradiseroasters.com/

[BoldJava]

I grind into a pitcher and then pour into the filter. Tamp away. Thumb tamp works, using left hand to make a C.  

[BoldJava]

25 second, unweighed amount.  Much too thin.  Right time, wrong amount.

[BoldJava]

A little over 7 grams, 45 seconds extraction.  Tamped too tightly. Initial crema was nice but got knocked down and faded as time extended.

Have some work to do on grind size, amt of coffee, tamping pressure, amt of water, and bars.  Lots of variables that I need to dial in here.

Initial impressions?  I believe this is a keeper.   This is more than a toy. A ton of futzing to do on the 5 items above, but there is a good shot that will come out of here.

Time out for this evening.  Time to cook some Mexican food.

[John F]

keep on tweakin'  

[milowebailey]

keep on tweakin'  

B|Burley may need to rest his forearms...

[John F]

Handpresso WILD - DomePod - STEP-BY-STEP guide to making a perfect cup of espresso

[BoldJava]

Mr John F is next.  FedEx will have the unit to you by Thurs. 

I updated the 1st thread to reflect approximate weekends you should have the Handpresso at your place.  Keep the unit moving, out by the following Monday.  Remember that other gents are waiting, thanks.  If something comes up and you need more time, please post to thread so others know of the delay.

Priority mail is $8.15 printed online.  Get address of the gent who follows you.  Suggest insurance ($2.25) unless you would like to foot the risk of $100 on your own. 

Good potential with this unit if you tweak it.  Pls post back successes and crashes.

B|Java

[John F]

My first 30 min. with the Handpresso.

I gave the instructions a quick read and after looking at the proportions of everything and the set up of the machine I pulled a straight shot with it right away (more on that in a bit).

I went with a concave spoon tamp.

[John F]

I forgot to take a pic of the first shot but it looked the same as the one in my latte.

Thin crema that dissipates quickly but honestly it looked better than I thought it might... 

[John F]

I did some calculations and figured my custom Stray Clay cup should be about the right size for my plan. 

[John F]

I need to do a lot more testing over the next 2 days before packing it up and sending it to Milo but my initial thoughts are that this little gizmo is interesting.

A year ago I thought it certainly made horrible coffee.

Now that I've had it I don't think that is the case at all.

I think great espresso is going to be asking more than you should from a hand held portable unit but for what it is and setting your expectations accordingly it might be alright.  

The limitation I'm first aware of (and what I'll be working on/around) is pictured below..