Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Soldato
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Thought I'd give everyone an update as it's a month on since my last post:

These kind of machines are typically dialed in for dark roasts, as generally speaking, a rather sweeping statement. People who like coffee, but not really INTO coffee and buy these all in one entry level machines are used to the instant coffee taste and then tend to flavour dark roast profiles.

People who are REALLY into coffee, separate grinder and whatnot, they start experimenting lighter roasts, which are the more citrus side of the flavour profile.

So...try a dark roast coffee and see?

Raymond nailed it — I got some dark roast beans and it solved the problem with the machine.

sounds as though the beans are still fairly young too - where you do need finer grind - so perhaps wait a week and try again -
I have burned through, newly roasted coffee, trying/failing to dial it in on a grinder+manual machine.

I did try this with the Ethiopian beans, and the Guatemalan 'Grind Control to Major Tom' from Neighbourhood were already a week old when they were delivered, but alas, it's just not quite right.

Not that I would expect an identical setup, but I've weighed the beans used in my DeLonghi ESAM4200 for single and double shots.

When turned up to maximum strength, it uses 12g for a single and 18g for a double. I prefer the flavour I get from a single (drink size dialled just above smallest - maybe 8 o'clock on the dial).

As such, I make 2 single drinks into a small cup of hot water. That's 24g of beans! But I do use a 50/50 mix of full caff and decaf so it's not cheap but it's not rocket fuel either.

YMMV but what I did was put a fixed amount of beans in the hopper and count the drinks it took to empty. After a few tries I was able to get 72g to produce 6 singles with no leftover beans nor "empty" grinder time. 72/6 = 12g :)

N.B. I haven't checked, but would presume the grinder runs on a timed system rather than weight.

I've tried to dial this in by weighing the beans going in but it's just too inconsistent. I think you're right about it being on a timer, so it's a question of whether the beans fall into the grinder uniformly or not. Using 100g of beans gives me 7 double-shots, sometimes it works out perfectly, sometimes I get a few leftover beans and sometimes it spins up with 'empty grind time' on the final shot. That works out around 14.29g per shot but if I try 98g (14g per shot) or 102g (14.5g per shot) I'm still not getting consistent accurate results. I think it's just the nature of this machine.

So I'm going to use dark roast beans for the espresso machine and practice steaming milk, and use the light roast for pour over/French press at the weekend when I can take my time to enjoy the quality beans.
 
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OK, so I've had a Barista Express for about a month now. I've faffed and faffed with grind settings, tamp pressure etc but the shot always seems to sputter out of the portafilter, not the steady 'honey' like stream the instructions indicate. I'm using 18g of beans per double shot and the resulting espresso is around 60ml in around 20 to 24 seconds from button push. Pressure gauge rises into the correct zone for espresso after about 3 to 4 seconds.

I need to use a mug to ensure I catch all of the shot - if I used and espresso sized cup I'm sure a lot of the espresso would miss the cup.

Any ideas? I'm thinking of a bottomless portafilter to see what happening during extraction. Is this worth a go?

www.hasbean.co.uk

The UK's Best Coffee Delivery & Subscription Service | Pact Coffee

Buy Coffee Beans Online | Fresh Roasted | RAVE Coffee

Sounds like you are using **** beans mate. Try the above
 
Soldato
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I need to use a mug to ensure I catch all of the shot - if I used and espresso sized cup I'm sure a lot of the espresso would miss the cup.
Any ideas? I'm thinking of a bottomless portafilter to see what happening during extraction. Is this worth a go?

re-thinking - if the coffees coming out off a pf spout , I've never seen it go everywhere ?


Sage bottomless @54mm only look as though they're available from China at china not sure if that's a copyright issue ? so, risky purchase in terms of good fit.
and shops I'd bookmarked to get one from (58mm) http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/edesiaespress don't seem to have them.
sage seem to be stainless too, but since coffee is not touching the bottom I guess heat capacity of brass(supposedly cnc'd) doesn't matter
 
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ok .. so whats a good ..not perfect machine for around £3-400.. i don't drink much coffee but have been visiting a few coffee bars lately mocha man :) .. so my kenco is just not as good as it was .. and i need that home fix .. the one in the morning that go's hello let me wake you up ...
i'll normally do 2 tsp kenco 1 heaped chocolate and a sugar .. but now i'm leaving half a cup as it's blahhhh
 
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don't think its really doable any more, but:


would usually suggest a good grinder and pour over for that money but if your after mocha it wouldn't really work, guess you could use a dualit milk frother and an aeropress or bialetti

sure you could add chocolate powder to the milk frother, seem basically the same as the crazy hotel chocolate thing.

like:
 
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ok so we have 3 ...
Sage Barista Express Espresso Machine - Espresso and Coffee Maker, Bean to Cup Coffee Machine, BES875BKS, Black Sesame : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen
Gaggia Brera Bean to Cup Coffee Machine : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen
De'Longhi ECAM 22.360.B Bean to Cup Coffee Machine, Plastic, 1450 W, 1.8 liters : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

to me ..yes the uneducated they all seem to do the same job ? would any of these be acceptable and reason why ..and reason not the other 2 ?

wifes on board she was looking a £1k+ units ... lol's that's to expensive for me
 
Soldato
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Doesn't @Junglist have the Sage Barista Express, or have I misremembered?

From what I've read, the Sage BE is a great bit of kit as long as you're not looking to tinker with it too much (being on an Overclocking forum, this might not be for you. :p) For instance, I believe (but happy to be corrected) that it has a non-standard Portafilter size, so you're limited in what alternative PFs you can buy. That's just one example.

A lot of people on Coffee Reddit seem to start out with the BE and then upgrade to something like the Gaggia Classic/Pro when they get to the limits of what the BE can do.

Of course, if you went for a Gaggia Classic or similar you would also have to factor in the cost of a grinder and then you'd really be looking at second-hand machine/grinder to stay within the budget of the BE.

ok down to two sage and gaggia .. leaning toward the sage as the gaggia is plastic ?

I think they are both a combination of plastic and metal, aren't they?

The Amazon link to the Gaggia Bera you posted says this:
Stainless Steel Body
The case of your machine has been skillfully manufactured from stainless steel. This makes your Gaggia more robust, ensures long-lasting performance and is an eye-catcher in every kitchen.
 
Soldato
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Doesn't @Junglist have the Sage Barista Express, or have I misremembered?

Correct! I've had it for almost a year to the day now. It's the first and only espresso machine I've ever owned so I have very little to compare it to but I haven't had an issue with it at all really.

There are things I'd look for in my next machine; I now want something with a dual boiler so I can prepare milk at the same time as it's extracting the coffee and I would be interested to see how something else with more pressure compares. My next machine will 100% be a separate espresso machine and grinder as I understand the coffee grinder in the BE isn't supposed to be fantastic but it works well enough with fresh beans. Again, having no other point of reference makes it hard to judge it fairly. I like the look of the Sage Dual boiler with the niche grinder but I think that's still another year or two away now - maybe even longer as we are expecting a little one. Unless of course this packs up then I'm sure I'd justify it to myself that I'll need coffee more soon than ever before :D

I only use filtered water with it, as well as changing the water filter every 3 months and run a cleaning cycle as soon as it starts flashing but it's never caused any issues.

I do find it's much more consistent when using fresh beans. Even good quality store beans don't seem to grind fine enough and it's hard to build up the pressure without it just spraying everywhere.

In fact I just made a coffee on there mostly to test my new scales.

40HDc6v.jpg

Wogan's Guatemalan (supposedly notes of Red Apple, Fudge and Blood Orange) 18g in, 36g out and 27 second total shot time. I couldn't resist slurping some before taking a photo. Not that my art is anything special :p
 
Soldato
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@Junglist

Firstly, congratulations! And good luck — yes, you're going to need coffee. Lots of coffee.

Secondly, your art is way better than anything I've managed so don't be too hard on yourself. :D

Thanks man! Feel like I'm going to need a coffee IV directly into my veins!

I think they're only ever good when I'm not trying too hard. More often than not I get fed up halfway though and it ends up looking like a Rorschach test
 
Soldato
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you bought from the seller on the link ? not Amazon / dedidcated web coffee seller
  • Business Name:Warib Capital Ltd
  • Business Type:privately-owned business
  • Trade Register Number:09860010
  • Business Address:
    • 10 Amesbury tower
    • Wandsworth Road
    • London
    • Greater London
    • SW8 3LG
    • GB
 
Soldato
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Looking to add a bit of pizzazz to my coffee making, just because. Do bottomless portafilters add anything to the experience other than looking mighty cool? I'd assume it would help me work out if I'm getting channeling?

Also, any decent scales around? The cheap ones I got are fine for weighing but they're a bit slow when it comes to actually timing the shot as it jumps up quite quickly.
 
Soldato
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the smartAI scales are coming down in price eg. https://www.amazon.co.uk/RENPHO-Nutrition-Calculator-Weighing-Capacity/dp/B08X1H8NPX

... now if you could get you hands on the API (reddits not giving it up) and plot a graph of time/yield on a tablet/phone
1g accuracy is sufficient for me once you have checked that is accurate - the 0.1 machines probably have the same strain gauge
response time looks fast enough from the video.
 
Soldato
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Looking to add a bit of pizzazz to my coffee making, just because. Do bottomless portafilters add anything to the experience other than looking mighty cool? I'd assume it would help me work out if I'm getting channeling?

Also, any decent scales around? The cheap ones I got are fine for weighing but they're a bit slow when it comes to actually timing the shot as it jumps up quite quickly.
Bottomless portafilters are for training and inspection really, so if you want to do distribution/tamping boot camp, you could get one. But IMO it wouldn't really get used much after that initial period. Are you happy with the actual basket and portafilter you've got? Not sure what the stock ones for your machine are like, but I bet there are snazzy ones available with nice wooden handles etc.
 
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