# Cherub pics - warning: newbie content!



## vikingboy

A quick thank you to everyone on Coffee Forums UK for the wealth of knowledge here, and to Peter over at Espresso Underground (EU) who helped me finalise a few things before he pulled out all the stops to make sure my order arrived for the wife's birthday this weekend.

As way of returning something to the forum and in the hope I may be able to help someone in future in a similar position to where I was five days ago, I wanted to share my journey.

Monday: Usual situation, wifes birthday approaching fast, no idea what to get her. She has enough bags, shoes and makeup to last a lifetime (IMHO anyway). As I sipped on our regular crappy instant "coffee", a bright idea hit me, why not get her a coffee machine!? She likes coffee...and the small bonus that I do to sealed it! I recalled a friend of ours was raving about his Nespresso machine so of I popped into town to get one but on discovering the price of the pellets I was put me. It reminded me of the printer ink cartridge business model....get the printer cheap and forever be paying for expensive ink cartridges so was put off that idea. Then I noticed the bean-to-cup machines which looked in theory a much better deal, until I noticed the price of the beasts, circa £1200 for the one I liked the look of! Shocked & stunned I wandered off and had a beverage from a nearby Starbucks whilst I took advantage of their wifi network to google and see if the machine I wanted could be purchased on line cheaper. Thats when I discovered Coffee Forums UK.....and thats where the fun/trouble/mess/expense started!

I quickly discovered the coffee game is serious - WBC, really!?, obviously much more serious than I initially understood anyway. So off home I went and spent the next 12 hours reading all the various discussions and reviews on here, and a few other sites, about all the different aspects of brewing coffee at home.

I set my revised budget at £500 and was happy to discover that I could purchase a Gaggia Classic, Ibertial MC2 and a few accessories well within that budget....but for just a bit more I could step up to a machine with slightly better specs like the Fracino Cherub or Rancilio Silvia.

Having found a great deal of positive comments relating to Peter at Espresso Underground, I decided to call him to talk through my needs and see if I could understand the benefits from spending "a bit more" on a higher end machine. As other posters reported, Peter spent time explaining all the different options and helped me decide to go ahead and order the Cherub. Given the proximity of the wifes birthday, I wanted a one stop solution, Peter helped me understand the differences between the grinders he offered and I confirmed an order for the Fracino grinder and knock box too.

It came as a bit of a shock to learn the lead time was 7-10 days, I'd foolishly just assumed these things were sat in a stores waiting to be sent out but luckily Peter spoke to the guys over at Fracino, pulled a few strings and confirmed they were shipping my order for delivery Friday....just in the knick of time, bacon saved









The wife wasn't that keen on all the faffing around dialling the grinder in and I think would probably have preferred the click-and-go Nespresso setup however, now I've got it roughly dialled in for her, its close enough that she can make a coffee easily enough and with time. I'm sure will start to fiddle as she begins to feel more comfortable with it. I think she's more impressed with the milk frother which makes a rather excellent hot chocolate too!

Here's some pics of the setup we ended up with.....

the beast of packaging that arrived today...










Fracino standard vs Faema Bottomless PF


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## vikingboy

VST baskets


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## vikingboy

Selection of baskets, Fracino, Faema & VST


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## vikingboy

VST in Faema PF


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## vikingboy

Tamper & mat



















the most important stuff....


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## vikingboy

these are my spent shells of some supermarket rubbish I used to dial the grinder in....any feedback?


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## vikingboy

first decent coffee.....25seconds to draw










and the bench setup......










never mind coffee being addictive....I've already started researching higher end grinders.....Christmas isn't that far off!!!

thanks everyone, glad to be a member here.

Ian


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## Glenn

Speechless, well done, what a fab intro post!

Welcome to Coffee Forums UK. So glad you found us (just hide the credit card receipts from the wife!)

You seem to have the basics covered.

PM me your address, I have a little something to help with the learning curve. Will get them out in the post to you...


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## BillyHoyle

Lovely set-up!


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## skenno

Looks like you've got everything covered!


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## Padder

Awesome to go from a kettle and instant to all of that in a week.

BTW, my wife would have divorced me if I'd bought "her" that for her birthday


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## gman147

Blimey! What a first set up! That machine will pretty much never need to be upgraded!

When you say you thought of gaggia classic then thought of the step up to Silvia and Cherub.. PS they arent in the same class mate. The FC absolutely blasts the Silvia out of the water due to having a E61 style group head meaning your shots are more consistent, powerful and you have the ability to pull shot after shot after shot whilst also steaming milk. You cant do this on the single boiler Silvia as it needs long recovery time and a total faff temp surfing and bringing it back to brew temp after steaming etc etc.

Well done on the purchase!! You'll have lots to learn and master but the equipment you bought will cover most if not all bases.


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## aphelion

Wow..serious "equipmentage!"









Very impressive setup mate (all at once too!)

You must have an understanding wife..mine flipped out when i bought a tamper the other day! (jeez!)


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## 4515

And theres me thinking that upgrading within a month of dipping my toe in the coffee was pushing it.


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## Jason1wood

Amazing stuff mate, well done.

Looks like you have everything covered for the time being.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ronsil

Great setup for starters - welcome to 'serious coffee'


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## tcr4x4

Can I marry you?









Lovely set up, should last you a while, until you want more shiny things!


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## w1lldabeast

This goes to show just how much great info there is to be found here at coffee forums uk! I have taken a similar jump to high end equipment after a lot of reading, but over months rather than days and keeping an eyes out for second hand deals. It's great to see people making use use of all the great info. That's quite a learning curve in such a short space of time!


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## vikingboy

So upgradeitis has struck after 2 days.....Mahlkonig Vario ordered from Peter yesterday.

I'll write up my reasons why after I've had chance to verify with the Vario tomorrow.


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## aphelion

vikingboy said:


> So upgradeitis has struck after 2 days.....Mahlkonig Vario ordered from Peter yesterday.
> 
> I'll write up my reasons why after I've had chance to verify with the Vario tomorrow.


Good choice!


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## vikingboy

thanks Andy - the fact there's hundreds of happy users and reviews out there, mainly positive, I figured it would be a good benchmark product for me to use to compare with the I2.

I also dont want the hassle of a massive grinder like a Mazza SJ+, so if the little Vario can do well I'll be very happy.


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## vikingboy

Upgadeitis struck again....3 weeks and 3 grinders now









Fracino Piccolo now sold.

Vario doing great and will be kept.....

and now a HG One inbound....thanks to Reiss @ Londinium.


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## forzajuve

Wow that is rapid upgraditis! I would say though that a separate grinder for brewed and espresso is a good idea so you are not purging so much. Nice work and great shots above.


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## seniorminnion

I've gone down the 'get the grinder 1st' advice that a lot on here have given me. Bought a Mignon to go with a moka pot for now, and the coffee is loads better than the instant I've drank all my life. Saving up now for the Cherub to go with it. What essential accessories will I need (only me to cater for and I drink cappuccinos/ flat whites ?)


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## vikingboy

seniorminnion said:


> I've gone down the 'get the grinder 1st' advice that a lot on here have given me. Bought a Mignon to go with a moka pot for now, and the coffee is loads better than the instant I've drank all my life. Saving up now for the Cherub to go with it. What essential accessories will I need (only me to cater for and I drink cappuccinos/ flat whites ?)


You certainly dont need a load of accessories and I'm pretty sure a fair number of the ones I bought when I bought the machine werent used much beyond the first few weeks. Pick up a decent set of scales which measure in 0.1g increments, a cheap but accurate analogue thermometer to help foam your milk correctly and a correctly sized milk jug and you are good to go.

A 35cl motta pot from creme supplies (sponsors above in the banner I recall) will be spot on for a latte/cap. A 50cl if there is two of you. DOnt go bigger than you need - it makes it harder to get good foam.

A decent fitting tamper is a good idea - knock do a reasonably priced one, others are more luxurious but Im not convinced they offer any advantage.

Skip the VST baskets for now and get to grips with the one that ships with the Cherub.

hope that helps! check classifieds on here, always people upgrading and selling off old buts and pieces at good prices.


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## vikingboy

oh....and a couple of shot glasses wouldnt be a bad idea.

If you want to check your pulls, an open bottom portafilter is useful but not mandatory, £40quid or so from happy donkey for decent priced ones.


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