As those crazy kids say, "OMG!"

George Van Wagner

A few years ago, at the Slayer booth at the SCAA Coffee Expo in Anaheim, I was served the most amazing shot of espresso I had ever had, pulled on a prototype pressure profiling machine. It was a DP Ethiopian and it was the proverbial "god shot." As the friend I was with said, "I wish i had a camera so I could have taken a shot of the look on your face when you tasted it." Yes, that was the most memorable shot of espresso I'd ever had. Until today.

This morning, I dosed 17.8g of my 13-day-old roast of Ethiopian dry process YirgZ in the standard L1 basket, tamped, locked, and pulled. Pre-infustion was maybe 4 seconds—I wasn't counting. Nor was I timing the shot, I just pulled it when it looked ready. Really. It was just that easy. I was rewarded with a beautifully complex, extraordinarily well-balanced, nuanced shot with a (dare I say it) perfect blend of fruit, chocolate, nut, and light floral overtones laid on a rich, smooth, perhaps even unctuous, sweetly buttery texture with an aftertaste that's still lingering two hours later.

Thanks, Reiss! Thanks, Fracino engineers! Thanks, community of fellow L1 owners who were a major contribution to my decision to purchase one of these things! You have my everlasting gratitude.

Now, to see if I can make it happen again …

Dan Streight

Yes...its so wonderful when the stars are aligned

I too was at that SCAA show in Anaheim...checking the industry out.

Reiss Gunson

its not that rare or difficult to achieve. distribution is important (depending on the grinder). that IMS basket i like. grinders pay dividends. i see an EK43 in my future

George Van Wagner

A couple of years ago, I got a great deal on a used MD-85, Gaggia's 84mm flat burr grinder, which is one of the lesser-known large burr grinders, using the same burr set as the 84mm Aristarcho. It's huge, it's heavy, but it's fast, it's consistent, the doser sweeps clean, and there's remarkably little retention, especially with a quick brush out of the chute post-grind. While an EK-43 sounds nice, I think the MD-85 will last me the rest of my life.

And the next shot (and the one after) were just as good. The joy of having a grinder and machine where one can just walk up, grind, dose, tamp and pull without and extra "fidgety bits" and get results that are consistently the best espresso I've ever had anywhere is incredible. Plus, it's motivation for me to work on my own roasting.