I tend to buy the exact same coffee every time as I only drink decalf so should be hopefully easy enough to dial in and never touch it hah. But I did buy the single dose kit should arrive next week, Happy to look at the dial with scale if you have a link. I was looking at getting the larger dial kit for it as well.
Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread
- Thread starter Siliconslave
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I tend to buy the exact same coffee every time as I only drink decalf so should be hopefully easy enough to dial in and never touch it hah. But I did buy the single dose kit should arrive next week, Happy to look at the dial with scale if you have a link. I was looking at getting the larger dial kit for it as well.
Which bottomless portafilter did you go for? I think that that may be my next unnecessary/exciting purchase.Mods have arrived..
9 bar spring, new shower screen and a bottomless unpressurised portafilter.
Best I get fitting them.
And how's the Gaggia? You sound happy enough with it!
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Very good, I’ll be keeping it.
Nice to get a bit of worktop real estate back with it having a small footprint.
Portafilter..
www.edesiaespress.com
Nice to get a bit of worktop real estate back with it having a small footprint.
Portafilter..
Bottomless Portafilter for GAGGIA 53mm Espresso Machines - 14g Basket - V2
<span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <ul><li>[{PRODUCT_PROPERTY_AMZ_UK_BULLET_POINT1}]</li><br> <li>[{PRODUCT_PROPERTY_AMZ_UK_BULLET_POINT2}]</li><br> <li>[{PRODUCT_PROPERTY_AMZ_UK_BULLET_POIN
www.edesiaespress.com
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Got mine a couple of weeks ago, very good value and getting the same results with my Timemore which is 3x the price.
Caporegime
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It seems someone has put it in a wooden enclosure and add £20 on top lol The screen looks the same, the buttons looks the same, the power button and USB-C port is in the same spot.
I think I have the same scale as @maj - previously recommended by @Raymond Lin, although mine is branded 'LYtech', came from Amazon (£15) and the box exactly the same internally, but brown cardboard with some graphics on the top. The scales are fantastic. Very accurate from what I can make out.
I've finally got around to ordering an expresso machine and automatic grinder - will post when it turns up.
However because I've finally exhausted my decaf Nespresso pods (a week, or so still to go on the caffeinated coffee) I've been using my stop gap solution of a 3cup Moka Pot and Kingrinder K6 hand grinder. I bought the former for £24 and the K6 for £84. I know there are better hand grinders out there (1Zpresso etc.) but those tend to be significantly more expensive the K6 reviewed very well. Also for decaf, just starting out I think it might be fine and a useful backup/tool moving forwards.
Have to say a moka pot does produce some quite interesting results, particularly as someone who like milk-based drinks. Relatively consistent results as long as you follow the guidelines and don't leave it to burn etc. At the moment I only have a couple of supermarket wholebeans. The Decaf was a 'Raw Bean Decaf' brand from Waitrose. I imagine there's much better and fresher beans to be had, but this is fine for now and what I could get hold of. My journey through beans can begin proper once I've exhausted the Nespresso and my expresso machine arrives.
I've finally got around to ordering an expresso machine and automatic grinder - will post when it turns up.
However because I've finally exhausted my decaf Nespresso pods (a week, or so still to go on the caffeinated coffee) I've been using my stop gap solution of a 3cup Moka Pot and Kingrinder K6 hand grinder. I bought the former for £24 and the K6 for £84. I know there are better hand grinders out there (1Zpresso etc.) but those tend to be significantly more expensive the K6 reviewed very well. Also for decaf, just starting out I think it might be fine and a useful backup/tool moving forwards.
Have to say a moka pot does produce some quite interesting results, particularly as someone who like milk-based drinks. Relatively consistent results as long as you follow the guidelines and don't leave it to burn etc. At the moment I only have a couple of supermarket wholebeans. The Decaf was a 'Raw Bean Decaf' brand from Waitrose. I imagine there's much better and fresher beans to be had, but this is fine for now and what I could get hold of. My journey through beans can begin proper once I've exhausted the Nespresso and my expresso machine arrives.
I found great coffee (with milk based drinks) is possible with a moka pot and I used a Bialetti Moka Express until it got a bit corroded as it was aluminium. I would like to try one of the stainless steel models to see if they are as good. It’s not espresso but it’s more intense than filter or pour-over.
I have the same. I went with classic design although there obviously loads of other options. I like you can replace some of the bits.
I'm not sure how durable it would be if used every day, but I've enjoyed using it so far. I think the window I anticipated being between setups is much shorter than I thought, but the Moka pot is going to be a useful tool.
I also bought one because unlike an expresso machine it's pretty cheap to try out.
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I have been thinking getting one of these to put it into my travel bag with some V60 papers. Then all I need is a kettle.
I'm looking for some buying advice and any recommendations on a bean to cup coffee machine please?
I'm coming from a pod machine but want to take the plunge and start using whole coffee beans, I'd like something with a built in milk dispenser/frother and with one-touch drink making.
My budget would be up to £400.00 any recommendations?
I'm coming from a pod machine but want to take the plunge and start using whole coffee beans, I'd like something with a built in milk dispenser/frother and with one-touch drink making.
My budget would be up to £400.00 any recommendations?
I get the impression that the Ninja Luxe is the one to go for. They often seem to be kicking around at about that price point.
Right - decisions pretty much made:
I got a cheap refurb Barista Express from Ebay to dip my toe in the water so to speak and see how I get on with the workflow/extra effort, give it a couple of months and if all is good I can probably sell that on for close to what I paid.
If I do get on with it, then I'm going to go for a Baratza Encore ESP, paired with either a Lelit Anna, or a Gagguino modded Gaggia Classic; that seems to be the best budget bang-for-buck combination
Pulled my first couple of shots with it this morning, first one came out a little quick, but otherwise poured perfectly (with a bottomless portafilter) - tasted a little sour, so I adjusted the grind, and the timing on the second shot was much better, but it sputtered all over the place, so a bit more tweaking required I think (or just a crappy basket).
Either way it tasted completely different (in a very good way) from my bean-to-cup machine, a lot smoother, more complexity, and none of the sour and bitter notes I was getting before (I assume this would be from uneven grind, with some under extraction and some over extraction?).
I also might have picked up a cheap Timemore Chestnut C3 ESP from Aliexpress for £40 after spotting it on offer while I was shopping around... Be good for those camping trips
I got a cheap refurb Barista Express from Ebay to dip my toe in the water so to speak and see how I get on with the workflow/extra effort, give it a couple of months and if all is good I can probably sell that on for close to what I paid.
If I do get on with it, then I'm going to go for a Baratza Encore ESP, paired with either a Lelit Anna, or a Gagguino modded Gaggia Classic; that seems to be the best budget bang-for-buck combination
Pulled my first couple of shots with it this morning, first one came out a little quick, but otherwise poured perfectly (with a bottomless portafilter) - tasted a little sour, so I adjusted the grind, and the timing on the second shot was much better, but it sputtered all over the place, so a bit more tweaking required I think (or just a crappy basket).
Either way it tasted completely different (in a very good way) from my bean-to-cup machine, a lot smoother, more complexity, and none of the sour and bitter notes I was getting before (I assume this would be from uneven grind, with some under extraction and some over extraction?).
I also might have picked up a cheap Timemore Chestnut C3 ESP from Aliexpress for £40 after spotting it on offer while I was shopping around... Be good for those camping trips
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Bottomless basket is good for dialing in shots, and practice but IMO terrible for day to day use. It's prone to spray more than half the time. Sometimes you can't even see it because it is so fine a mist. Lay down some paper towels around everytime and you will notice it more.
Plus, unless a shot comes out in like 10 seconds and look like dish water....I would drink it even if it's not perfect. I hate wasting good coffee because of my incompetence in pulling a shot.
Plus, unless a shot comes out in like 10 seconds and look like dish water....I would drink it even if it's not perfect. I hate wasting good coffee because of my incompetence in pulling a shot.
Yes, good for dailing in, but I definitely don’t agree with the day to day use being terrible.
You’ll have zero problems with proper puck prep.
A WDT tool is a must imo.
I’ve never had that, ever.
YMMV.
Yeah, that's what I suspect - looks cool, and I thought it would be handy to check my distribution to start with, but I'll probably switch back to the spouted one once I've got it dialled in
When I say "a little quick", it was about 15 seconds, and there was a significant difference in taste between the first and second shot, so it definitely needed changing! Don't know if I'll have the patience to constantly tweak the grind as the beans age, but I don't mind "wasting" a few shots worth on a new bag to get it right (and drinking every shot until it's dialled in would probably have me bouncing off the walls
)
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I have WDT tools, I have the needle, I have the shake cup, I have the distributor.
I have adjusted the pressure to 9bars in the machine.
I use a puck screen.
Just lay down some kitchen towel as I said, everytime and if you see 1 micro drop on it. That counts as a fail. Since there will be zero spray with a sprout.
I want to GUARANTEE zero spray EVERY SINGLE TIME.
There is no way a bottomless can do that, no matter how good you are. I don't care who you are, not even Hoffmann can guarantee that. By zero spray, I mean not even a micro droplet, and I really do mean it. Hence the paper towel, even that can't be certain because the spray can go quite far, beyond a sheet dimension of a kitchen towel.
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