Remus, you mentioned you live in Cronulla? I grew up around there! Living in the good-coffee-desert (ie - good coffee is non-existent) of Epping now, though I do get back there to visit the family a fair bit. Have you been to Kafenio and Grind? Both are excellent cafe's, and the bairsta's there are great guys to get to know. They're very knowledgeable about coffee, and they love to chat to people who are passionate about it! I've learnt heaps from both of them, and you can too, just by picking a quiet time to order a coffee, mention that you are into espresso, you've got a setup at home ... all that. I'd back the comments above - FRESH COFFEE kicks backside over illy. I think I used illy for a few days back when I started out (two years ago) and I was just never happy. It was good for plunger and drip, but no good for espresso. That, and grinding only what you're about to use - my tip is to 'updose', so for a double shot (use the single basket as a tamp rest, so you don't scratch up the surface of your nice heavy s/s tamp) you'd be using more like 18-20g, rather than the 'standard' 14g. It may wreak havock with your shower screens and gaskets, but they're replaceable and fairly cheap. If ya ever want to catch up at kafenio one day, email me! I'm always up for chatting about coffee! EDIT: oh yeah, I've been using a mazzer mini for a month or two now - this grinder rocks! Sure, I'm only using it with a sunbeam (the HX expobar arrived in Aus today ... should be here by the end of the week!), but it's made such a massive improvement over my old de longhi. That said, the rocky gets a huge rap from many users - it seems like a competent grinder. I'd find the stepped adjustments frustrating though. And, Kafenio sell their coffee to the public, in bags with one-way valves - it's rested for two weeks, and has a small amount of robusta to produce body and crema. It's not my favourite blend, I love my home roast and the occasional trip to danes for some of their goodies. That said, Kafenio make their coffee very well, and I think the blend really suits the lots-of-milk-and-sugar crowd in cronulla.
