# My not-so-wee home setup



## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

My wee home setup that I posted 3 years ago changed quite a bit!


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

The black Niche looks great next to your L-R. And a bit of red finishes things off nicely









More Congratulations


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## Snakehips (Jun 2, 2015)

PPapa said:


> My wee home setup that I posted 3 years ago changed quite a bit!


A super-duper setup...... enjoy !

All you need now is that drilled block of mahogany or....


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

Snakehips said:


> A super-duper setup...... enjoy !
> 
> All you need now is that drilled block of mahogany or....


Haha thanks!

Limited space on the counter... might have to think of a vertical stand, really! Or a wall shelf... or a flat move...


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## mmmatron (Jun 28, 2014)

PPapa said:


> Haha thanks!
> 
> Limited space on the counter... might have to think of a vertical stand, really! Or a wall shelf... or a flat move...


Wall mounted spice rack type thingy?


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## Iris (Oct 29, 2018)

where did you get the wee stand with the glass tubes, for storing you coffee? I love the idea of that wee stand.


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## Snakehips (Jun 2, 2015)

Iris said:


> where did you get the wee stand with the glass tubes, for storing you coffee? I love the idea of that wee stand.


 @Iris The wee stand is from the path lab at his the local hospital as I recall. The sample bottles have to be well rinsed before use but it saves splashing out on expensive LW bean cellars and blocks of mahogany.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

mmmatron said:


> Wall mounted spice rack type thingy?


That's a possibility. It might be a long reach since the counter is 63cm deep.



Iris said:


> where did you get the wee stand with the glass tubes, for storing you coffee? I love the idea of that wee stand.


I got them on AliExpress, if you don't mind waiting a bit.

24 x 60ml tubes:

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/ckYIPJC9

30mm 21 hole rack:

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/nCv1625

Came at just under £30.


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## ATZ (Aug 4, 2017)

PPapa said:


> My wee home setup that I posted 3 years ago changed quite a bit!


How are you finding this so far Paul? Buying experience? Set up? Ease of use?


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

ATZ said:


> How are you finding this so far Paul? Buying experience? Set up? Ease of use?


Buying experience was great. I did exchange some questions with Reiss and he was very helpful. He ended up asking for my phone number at 23:50-something on Friday as the number was missing from the order sheet and was needed for delivery! He also advised me what to get extra: 35um shower screen, IMS h26 basket, grease, 3 piston seals, 1 portafilter gasket. I did also get a tamper, which has been great so far.

L-Rs now come in one box and do not require assembling the group yourself. Pop the panels off, remove the protective film, remove plastic cap for one of the valves, screw the lever in, fill up the water... maybe something else and please refer to the manual, but it was quite an easy task! I dread even the simplest mechanic tasks (I'm a software guy) and assembling a table from Ikea is already frustrating me, but L-R was an exciting one to do and wasn't too difficult. Pay attention to the side walls - don't mix them up and make sure you understand how they fit.

It is a doddle to clean and rather easy to use. The steam is powerful, but finally getting the hang of it. The shots are delicious and I'd say they might have less body, but certainly more flavour than Sage DTP. It is a different beast when coming from DTP (I know you have it too). The grind adjustments do not correlate to what I'm used on Niche (which you also have, I believe?). 2 notches slowed down the extraction of the desired weight by 10s while that doesn't work out quite the same with L-R. Still working on that. I had to tighten the grind finer than I ever had to, so ball parking didn't really work and I will need to relearn that. Nothing you'd expect otherwise from getting a different machine, I guess.

It also seems to draw less water than the hungry DTP, but that's still to be confirmed as I think I'm checking the water level way too often.

I had few concerns with getting a new machine - not just L-R. The first one was quite obvious - seeing it in flesh. I didn't really achieve this the way I wanted, but nothing can be done here, really. I drove up to Edinburgh, but the shop were using way too dark roast and they didn't seem to be caring about extraction too much. Still nice to see L-2 in action. The other one was the quietness of the warmup cycle as I would be sleeping quite close to it due to a silly choice to live in a studio. I was woken up by the pump once, but it's really quiet!

It looks great, a joy to use and produces great coffee - what are you waiting for?!


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## ATZ (Aug 4, 2017)

PPapa said:


> Buying experience was great. I did exchange some questions with Reiss and he was very helpful. He ended up asking for my phone number at 23:50-something on Friday as the number was missing from the order sheet and was needed for delivery! He also advised me what to get extra: 35um shower screen, IMS h26 basket, grease, 3 piston seals, 1 portafilter gasket. I did also get a tamper, which has been great so far.
> 
> L-Rs now come in one box and do not require assembling the group yourself. Pop the panels off, remove the protective film, remove plastic cap for one of the valves, screw the lever in, fill up the water... maybe something else and please refer to the manual, but it was quite an easy task! I dread even the simplest mechanic tasks (I'm a software guy) and assembling a table from Ikea is already frustrating me, but L-R was an exciting one to do and wasn't too difficult. Pay attention to the side walls - don't mix them up and make sure you understand how they fit.
> 
> ...


You are indeed correct Paul.

I have both a DTP and a Niche as well! I've been bitten by the spring lever bug hard and had my finger on the trigger a few times. I'm going up to see Patrick (@thesystemickid) soon to have a look and experience an L-R first hand before pulling the trigger though.

Weird thing is I think I would prefer the old L-1 plumbed in, but unless I can procure one second hand it's more likely I get a new L-R. Sounds quite the unique buying experience and it'll be all shiny and new too!

How much finer do you have to go on the niche out of interest? I'm at 18-20 for most beans I'm using at the minute.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

ATZ said:


> You are indeed correct Paul.
> 
> I have both a DTP and a Niche as well! I've been bitten by the spring lever bug hard and had my finger on the trigger a few times. I'm going up to see Patrick (@thesystemickid) soon to have a look and experience an L-R first hand before pulling the trigger though.
> 
> ...


Why old L-I over L-R?

I am at 14-15 just now, dosing 22g into IMS h26 basket (rated for 18-20g). I haven't had enough playtime with it yet, so that might change, still.

I was planning to play with it this weekend, but had a 3am alarm so I could catch a sunrise at the top of a hill...


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

My understanding is that you can plumb in the old L1 so that the pump to fill the group doesn't get activated ever. I know dfk if a big fan of the old L1 over the LR. Also from what I read, the LR is designed to better extract lighter roasts.


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## ATZ (Aug 4, 2017)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> My understanding is that you can plumb in the old L1 so that the pump to fill the group doesn't get activated ever. I know dfk if a big fan of the old L1 over the LR. Also from what I read, the LR is designed to better extract lighter roasts.


 @PPapa this is essentially the reason. It'd be silent plus because it's a different configuration you can shorten warm up time to circa 15mins.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

ATZ said:


> @PPapa this is essentially the reason. It'd be silent plus because it's a different configuration you can shorten warm up time to circa 15mins.


I thought you can plumb in L-R and it bypasses the pump.

The rotary pump on L-R is quick and quiet.


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## ATZ (Aug 4, 2017)

PPapa said:


> I thought you can plumb in L-R and it bypasses the pump.
> 
> The rotary pump on L-R is quick and quiet.


You can, but it kinda defeats the point as you run at line pressure and not the pressure generated by the rotary. The L-R also takes longer to warm up as it's a different thermosyphon.


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