Augsburger

Which one is mine?

Who the hell launders wheat futures? Just sayin'

In, now I need to PP the $. Euros or Rubles? I have a stash of both that need to be laundered exchanged.

Doing my part I am now drinking Tito's instead of Stolichnaya. China needs petrol to feed it's industry and arable land to feed it's people. It currently does not have enough of either to meet it's needs. Russia and Kazakhstan have the petrol and arable land and the geographic proximity to China. Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan offer great corridors to what China needs with little military resistance should things go south. Vladivostok and areas just north to Khabarovsk have been "temporarily" leased to China for agriculture needs. Shouldn't take a rocket scientist to see where this end game is going. I think Putin is looking west when he should be watching his east.

Happy birthday Nate! Sorry I missed you in Beantown.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday Dan!

Happy Birthday Al!

Happy Birthday Colin!

Happy Birthday Steve! Sending birthday wishes from our house to yours...

Try Etsy, I have one in mind there. Be careful though, some sellers misrepresent the nature of their products and where they are made.

I like to make my purchases in reverse order. I bought the VST, then the Flair 58, then this tamper. Next will be the grinder then...oh yeah the coffee.

Happy Birthday! May the termites pass your property and keep on going.

I looked at the Baratza line because they are in Washington where my youngest is going to school. So that makes a good reason to start, yes? From what little I could gather the Baratza line tends to do one thing i.e. espresso or pour over well and the other so so. The Sette 270WI was on the short list but lost it's place to the Niche. As for the Lagom P110/P64, as I told Jacob, when they have a 50% off sale I will be all over that.

Well way less than the Mignon XL. Not unlike audio stuff, spending huge does not guarantee your gear will even work...the first time. The Niche is a contender as most of the grinders I am finding in my searches are either ugly, have questionable controls, or state that they can only do pour over grinds or espresso only grinds, I need both. And most importantly, I need the grinder to work without field stripping it each time I use it.

Paypal took care of the Clive issue so I am now in the market for a grinder that handles espresso for the Flair 58 and Chemex switchoffs. I am going to be much more particular in my selection this time.

Tell that to him.

So Clive received the second Mignon XL and the rep informed me that yes the grinder did not grind coffee when she first booted it up but then messed with it a bit, changed the settings to a coarser grind and got it to grind again all the while emphasizing that I should not use the full range of grind settings since the finer ones will make the grinder stop working. This is Eureka's flag ship grinder and it is normal for it to not work on first use and for the operator to not be able to use the full range of settings? Kind of like buying a Lamborghini Aventador and being told by the factory after you received it that you should not exceed 100 Kph or the car will stop working. So Clive accepted my return and will refund me my purchase...less a $100 restocking fee. I sent this debacle to PayPal to sort out. Clive Coffee sucks at ethics and customer service. *Forgot to mention, when the second unit arrived I noticed that it had been double taped, the original Eureka package tape and a second different packing tape. I didn't think anything of it at the time but when I brought this up to the "non-service rep" complaining that if they had taken the time to open the package why didn't they check to make sure it functioned she changed the subject awkwardly. I am now suspicious that maybe this was a return/restock which they shipped to me as new.

As soon as I learn how to use a saw I will be all over that.

I bought the VST as well but it is sitting next to the Flair while this Mignon grinder debacle is getting sorted out.

Happy Birthday! Wishing you kilos of bacon.

OK, abbreviated version of the Clive debacle. I purchased the Eureka Oro Mignon XL on 12/20 from Clive based on Angus' recommendation that it would be the best at doing both fine espresso grinds and switching to pour over grinds. When the Mignon arrived I plugged it in and loaded 28 grams of beans into the hopper and turned it on...nothing came out. I removed the bean hopper emptied out the remaining beans and partially ground coffee. Turned on the grinder to make sure the burrs were spinning freely, and they were. Reloaded another 28 grams of beans and turned on the grinder and again nothing came out the chute. I called Clive and after a lot of back and forth returned the Mignon for another one. Suffice to say, same outcome with the second Mignon. Nothing, not even a gram of coffee came out. This week things got really frustrating. The Clive customer rep first recommended that I take the Mignon apart to assess why it was not working and see if I could unjam it myself. I told her I would not dismantle the machine to trouble shoot it for them because if that did not resolve the problem they might claim I broke the machine and void my warrantee. So I sent the second unit back to Clive. The rep also emailed me this week to tell me the following- 1) Yes the first unit was clogged and not functioning but that can happen and the Mignon needs to be cleaned periodically, This was my first use with only 28 grams of beans and the machine couldn't handle that? What am I supposed to do clean it while running it each time? 2) She claimed that I had the grind set too fine which could clog the grinders and that I should back the grind setting off a few notches, The reason I bought this model was that I was told by a sales rep that the Mignon was exceptional at handling all espresso and pour over grind levels. So when the dial provides settings of 1-10, I should not use 1 because then my unit will not work? 3) If the second unit was found to be in working condition they would take the unit and refund my purchase price less a 10% restocking fee. Really? A defective return for a machine that does not work is a "restock" subject to a 10% fee? Based on my experience I feel that if you ever have a problem with anything you buy from Clive they have no intention of making things right.

Yep I posted my version last week on here. No need for a straw of a chopstick unless you are into that kind of kinky thing with your morning coffee.