krmkrx wrote:Any idea from where to get these handles? What exactly is Tasmania? A quick Google search didn't show anything.

Tasmania is island off of Australia (and part of). You sure you Googled right name? It would have to pop up on Google search lol.

krmkrx wrote:Any idea from where to get these handles? What exactly is Tasmania? A quick Google search didn't show anything.

Hi Karim, Tasmania is a state/island off the south east coast of Australia.

The handles are custom made by Leon at Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/WilcoxCoffeeParts he is slow but reliable.

In regard to turnaround time, a lot depends on the availability of the timber which must be sustainably farmed. Also, check with Leon but I may have mis-named the wood, it may simply be Australian Olive Wood as opposed to Tasmania Olive Wood but Leon will know either way.

Leon has made these portafilter handles for me for the Decent as well as an Izzo Valexia, the trier on an Aillio Bullet and for other machines too. His quality is unbeatable.

Hope this helps.

Thank you, this is indeed very helpful, much appreciated - they will look nice on my soon-to-be-ordered DE1!

Preparing for Milan

Next Sunday, Bugs and I drive to Milan, Italy, to set up our booth at the https://worldofcoffee.org/ trade show. This is the main coffee trade show for Europe. It starts on Thursday, June 23.

In the past, we've had a much smaller 9 meter booth, with an espresso machine literally coming out of a suitcase and a backdrop of cardboard boxes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEXLftYYV8o

This year, we're just a wee bit better, with a 20 meter booth, four proper coffee carts, and two pop up banner stands as a backdrop.

Scott Rao will be making Filter 2.1 shots, and he's arranging for the coffee to be sourced and roasted to his spec. Alan, a coffee roaster/cafe owner from Czech (and who runs our favorite Instagram feed "50% Arabica"), will have a cart and be making espressos demonstrating his beans. Stefan, a DE1 owner from Germany, will have a cart, and will be saying "I am just an enthusiastic owner, I don't work for them" several hundred times per day. Paul will be flying in from Hong Kong, via a family visit in Manchester, assisting everywhere. Bugs will be with her mother, sitting in the back seats, drinking tea and offering biscuits.

I'm lending a DE1XL cart to Doug Weber, who will be lending us his newest EG-1 grinder model and a unibody portafilter. I'll have my Key Grinder, and several Niches too.

If you're coming, and have a favorite bean you'd like to try on a Decent, bring a bag, and we'll make it for you. You can also try several grinders with the same beans, to decide for yourself, how much you want to spend on an espresso grinder.

-john

Olive wood handles now available

Our olive wood handles are now in stock, and can be ordered from:
https://decentespresso.com/cart?filter=olive

They are fitted with M10 bolts, and work with Decent Espresso Machines, as well as any portafilter that uses M10 bolts.

The M10 bolt is the most common standard, but I've seen M12 bolts on some portafilters too.

Our handles are available in two sizes, which I'd call "normal" and "short". The "group head handle" is the short one, and works on M10 portafilters too.

Based on the feedback I got from a previous posting, we've grouped the various natural styles of the wood into four groups, and we also created a SALE section for those with minor defects. There are sample photos of each grouping, but not a photo of each of the handles. We have 2000 handles in total, too many to photograph individually.

We will accept returns if you're not satisfied with the handle, and we'll refund the price of the handle, but the cost of the postage won't be refunded. This policy is also from the discussion previous, trying to strike a balance between "every wood handle is unique" and a certain level of customer service.

I'm planning on making a webpage dedicate to handles, once the resin handles also arrive, as we'll have quite a selection then. For now, these handles can only be found by searching our catalog.

-john

Is it true (read this on the website) that you've run out of suitcases and can't deliver any machines before July? Can you say more about this, will you get plenty of suitcases in July or is there a queue? Also wouldn't it make sense to include the suitcase in the number of available machines shown on the website? I'd have ordered earlier but thought there'll be no problem in a few weeks as you still show about 60 DE1Pros available.

John, will you be present from 23 - 25 June on the trade show in Milano or just on specific days?

I'll be there, all the time, all days.

Marco80 wrote:Is it true (read this on the website) that you've run out of suitcases and can't deliver any machines before July? Can you say more about this, will you get plenty of suitcases in July or is there a queue? Also wouldn't it make sense to include the suitcase in the number of available machines shown on the website? I'd have ordered earlier but thought there'll be no problem in a few weeks as you still show about 60 DE1Pros available.

Yes, I just posted this last night:



We have a day or two more of suitcases, and then we run out. This is due to Shanghai being in total lockdown for two months. Our suitcases are made there. No other suitcase manufacturer could spin up fast enough (we started looking when the lockdown started) to replace them. Besides, they do quality work and don't cause us headaches, which are both rare traits these days.

Thankfully, the Shanghai lockdown ended at the start of June, and our manufacturer built our suitcases in their first week of being back on the job (good supplier!) and a container of 500 suitcases is already on a truck to us. Normally, we send by boat, but there are no container ships available (no surprise there) so we're paying quite a bit for a truck to make the loooong drive from Shanghai to Shenzhen, and then a dual-license-plated truck will take them over the border.

In theory, we'll have them early next week so only about a week of not shipping DE1. But... during COVID and this crazy quarantine that occured, it's hard to make promises, so I put a very pessimistic schedule up.

I'll post again once the suitcases arrive and we're shipping again. In an ideal world, that'll be in a week, but it could be (unknown quantity) longer.

-john