Any recommendations on espresso scales? Seems like everyone goes with the Acaia Lunar, but they are rather expensive. It is better to go with the Acaia Lunar? Something cheaper?
The bluetooth connection and apps have no appeal for me as we won’t have devices connected to them any time soon.
Thanks
Update: Some research on the best coffee and espresso scales.
there is no better scale than the acaia lunar for size and functionality. the only real question is how will it hold up over time as you can buy a drawer full of lesser scales for the cost of one lunar.
I agree that the Lunar is excellent for size & functionality, as well as durablity. I usually only use the app to check the battery level and I’m still happy with the scale on its own. I have used a few cheaper brands and they tend to break easily if they get liquid on them, or if they’re dropped. The Lunar is water/espresso-proof, very responsive (vital if you don’t have volumetrics, IMO), and can take a bit of a beating.
I’m of the mindset that it’s better to buy one excellent, expensive scale than a bunch of cheap, frustrating, breakable ones, especially given the amount of liquid that ends up around espresso scales.
Have any of yours dropped off the counter yet? I have no doubt that it’s water/espresso proof, but I wasn’t sure if it was barista-proof…
Thanks for the feedback btw.
Yeah, I’ve dropped mine from the counter 3-4 times in the past couple years and it’s still working great. I would say it’s barista-proof.
I use only a Hario pour-over scale in my home setup. It’s not ideal, a little big and makes fitting cups in the tight space of my Profitec problematic. It works, and does double-duty as a brew and dose scale. Though I’d love to, I’m not sure taking action plunge for the Acaia would be worth it. You might also want to take a look at Brewista scales.
i have both the hario and brewista and the acaia lunar has relegated the aforementioned scales to the junk drawer
As a home enthusiast, I’d been waffling on a purchase of the Lunar for a while. I’m about 70/30 espresso/pourover, so I wanted something that would do double duty. The pearl is massive and impractical at best for 'spro, but on the other hand, the Lunar is a bit small for some pourover kit and - in Canada - is like $300. There really is no competition at present.
The Brewista is a “semi-smart” scale, and a good size, but I’ve heard of many QC issues with this one.
Thankfully there is competition coming, it seems.
Decent espresso is working on getting the “Decent Scale” out by April 2018, and it looks nice (if a bit thick). Looks sized for holding two espresso cups, and would take a conventional PF nicely too.
It seems to be based on the “Skale2”, which Decent currently sells and it looks capable. I’ve never heard of anyone using it though, and it looks a bit big from pictures. Price is nice though.
I’m currently most excited about the Voom Works scale, which I just heard about over at IBMOC’s Slack channel and jumped on super early bird funding. It’s just a bit bigger than the Lunar (which is a good thing IMO), waterproof, 0.1g, smart connected and it has a really detailed readout on-screen without the need for a phone.
There’s no telling if this will actually materialize, but for the price (I got the $79 and there are still $99 early bird available) it was worth a gamble for me. It’s projected to ship in March, but I’m fine with a wait. Unlike everyone else, I haven’t been able to kill my aws/Smart Weigh $20 job.
Yeah it certainly has me excited. Couple concerns:
Remains to be seen, but I know acaia was a kickstarter once too. The segment could really use some competition.
You raise some good points here. Personally, I don’t mind the name but on those other points I agree. At the crowd funding price I’d say it would be worth a shot (no point intended). It would be nice, however, to have greater assurance that it’ll make production.
watched the voom videos and came away with the impression that the creators of the scale are saying that a stop watch will enable you to run faster.
@marvid They video is terribly put together, the espresso shot and pour over technique are horrible. The have been responsive so far on the campaign though (their recent FAQ update answered a bunch on my questions), and your other option is a 220USD scale, so …
@Adam_Sepe there’s never any assurance, but it’s an all or nothing fund so it costs you nothing if they don’t fund/deliver.
I’d say if you are in a hurry or apprehensive, just get an Acaia. I personally don’t wan’t to give them 300CAD, as I feel they have largely cornered and then underserved/overcharged the market. Decent has a good track record of delivering on products so I hope they chip away at it, and I obviously want Voom to succeed as I funded them. Hopefully that will get Acaia to respond and flesh out the line of offerings a bit more. We can all win.
Call me cheap but i thought i would chime in with a set of scales i purchased recently off Ebay and am waiting for arrival. Bare in mind this is purely for Home Barista use and would probably not expect these to hold up in a cafe environment for a long period, they were approx. $20AUD so what do i have to lose!
These scales do however measure in 0.1 gram increments up to 3kg and have a timer function built in which was ultimately what i was after, being from China they look to be OK as well. Will update this comment however when they arrive in another 10 days or so. Link attached if interested:
I’d take one of these over the Hario, if I were looking for an accurate pour-over scale, I think that’s the most overrated and overpriced POS on the market.
HAHA, straight up! some of the best purchases i have made have been Ebay/online bargains.
