Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

This may be complete nonsense, and probably is, but I've had a go at decent coffee on the cheap, and for my limited knowledge and experience it's worked out pretty well.
I bought a Gaggia expresso Deluxe to replace my Barista express (which I took to work) for £165 and modded it with a 9 bar spring, IMS shower screen and naked Edesia portafiler..



I could have probably have done better than the Sage smart grinder pro, but for the money it's working well, as is the whole set up (excuse the daft wall art, I may have had a few drinks when I ordered them)..



The tamper, distributer, scales, WDT tool and stuffs were from Ali X for less than a KG of decent beans, so I'll consider that a win.
It's a bit more work than the Barista Express, but it kerb stomps it for quality of drink.
 
I was dropping into this thread as I want to by a machine using money I've saved from birthday and Christmas (yes I'm an adult. yes mummy and daddy still give me money for Christmas). Seems like I should probably just go with the Gaggia!
 
currantloaf said:
After quite a lot of research, I finally decided on a rancilio pro x to replace my broken sage barista express:
/snip
This is now my current setup . Originally wasnt sure on the look, but the look but its slowly growing on me :)
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You'll not be disappointed - I've had my Silvia 15 years now. She's had a few updgrades and addons over the time (my favourite are the downlights to illuminate the work area) and she works really well with the DF64 grinder. My only gripe is the frame really needs de-rusting and repainting, but that's a "get round to it" job. Enjoy :)
 
currantloaf said:
Are you drinking milk based drink and also in need of a grinder?

If you need a grinder would suggest a barista express / pro. Trying to buy a Gaggia and a grinder for 300 might be quite difficult
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Yes, oat flat white typically and yes, in need of a grinder. The gaggia is around £180. Is a £120+ grinder really normal for a sort of entry level setup??
 
dirtychinchilla said:
Absolute maximum, £300 for everything
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If you are happy to be patient and buy used you could get a decent setup for around that.

I picked my brother up a used df54 earlier this year, locally for £130. If you are patient/lucky you could pick up a gaggia within budget still.



£120 is budget territory for a grinder, unless you go for a manual grinder, where you can get very capable grinders for under £100


Manual grinder for espresso, both under £100
  • Kingrinder k6 (good for filter too)
  • Kingrinder k4 (espresso focused version)

Electric espresso grinders you need to spend a decent amount, avoid anything Sage, I'd be targetting the following on the used market:
  • DF54 - budget king single dose grinder - easy to change between coffees and go back and forth between grind settings
  • Eureka Mignon (not the Filtro) models, such as Manuale, Facile could be in budget, you might get lucky with some of the higher specced Eurekas, such as Specialita, Silenzio etc
    • On demand hopper based grinder - does have a couple grams retention
    • note, the adjustment dial on these is a bit small and very sensitive to adjustment

These recommendations come from personal experience, I have had several of the above Eureka grinders (Facile and 2 Specialitas) and had the DF54 I sourced for my brother for a number of weeks, both can make superb espresso. I also had a Kingrinder k6, great grinder.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
Yes, oat flat white typically and yes, in need of a grinder. The gaggia is around £180. Is a £120+ grinder really normal for a sort of entry level setup??
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other than the coffee, the grinder has the biggest impact on the quality of the coffee. Espresso can be difficult, the last thing you need is a rubbish grinder that will hold you back.

Essentially rubbish espresso grinders will have the following deficiencies:
* Inability to grind fine enough
* Inconsistent
* Grind adjustment range may not allow you to dial in accurately
* May not have the power to grind lighter roasted coffee

When you start making espresso you will see how particular it can be, you need adjustment, you need consistency etc.


You could also look at commercial Mazzer grinders, such as the Super jolly, Mini etc, get one without the doser, you want the "on demand" funne,l and you could get a superb commercial quality grinder (that will retain a bit of coffee), for under £150. it will be huge though!
 
@BAcon thanks for the recommendations. I was actually thinking I'd get a manual grinder as I want this whole set up to take up as little space as possible and also would rather it wasn't making massive grindy noises at 6 AM :D

Thank you very much for those recommendations. I'll probably look at the Kingrinder K6 as I'll undoubtedly still use my V60 occasionally.
 
Manual grinding is sometihng you need to enjoy, or rather. The processing of hand grinding is tedious so get a grinder that makes the process as frictionless as possible. No pun intended. Get a quality one. I got a 1zpresso Q2 and whilst it is great, it still takes longer than I'd like.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
How long does it take??
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That depends how fine you are grinding and how much coffee, and also how easy it is to grip the grinder. The finer you grind, the harder you need to grip it...if it's too fine and it is hard to grip, you actually could get a blister in your hand. I would never want to grind espresso grind for more than 1 cup at a time.

I grind for 15g and for a pour over. I would say around 20 seconds in mine? I never actually timed it.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Manual grinding is sometihng you need to enjoy, or rather. The processing of hand grinding is tedious so get a grinder that makes the process as frictionless as possible. No pun intended. Get a quality one. I got a 1zpresso Q2 and whilst it is great, it still takes longer than I'd like.
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You are right, you need to want to do it.

I have electric grinders at home and 2 hand grinders. I use the 1zpresso K ultra for holidays and at work, Aeropress and french press. It's a pleasure to use, grinds a 15g dose in under 30seconds of pretty easy grinding (6.0 to 7.0 on the dial, so quite coarse). It also grinds for espresso fairly easily around the 1.5 to 2.5 mark, though ofc a lot slower.

I recently picked up a used 1zpresso JMax, espresso focused grinder, to play with, it grinds espresso very quickly, but it is harder work than the K. Wide diameter body makes gripping it harder, longer handle so lots of torque, add in some lighter beans and oh man, it is hard work! Luckily I prefer medium-dark roast coffee. So it's reasonably easy work.

But I find myself using it every weekend, I'll grind my wife's coffee of choice in the Duo, and I'll hand grind my coffee of choice in the JMax at the same time. Saves adjusting the grinder and I enjoy the process. Helps that I don't have to do it, rather that I can choose to do it!
 
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BAcon said:
You are right, you need to want to do it.

I have electric grinders at home and 2 hand grinders. I use the 1zpresso K ultra for holidays and at work, Aeropress and french press. It's a pleasure to use, grinds a 15g dose in under 30seconds of pretty easy grinding (6.0 to 7.0 on the dial, so quite coarse). It also grinds for espresso fairly easily around the 1.5 to 2.5 mark, though ofc a lot slower.

I recently picked up a used 1zpresso JMax, espresso focused grinder, to play with, it grinds espresso very quickly, but it is harder work than the K. Wide diameter body makes gripping it harder, longer handle so lots of torque, add in some lighter beans and oh man, it is hard work! Luckily I prefer medium-dark roast coffee. So it's reasonably easy work.

But I find myself using it every weekend, I'll grind my wife's coffee of choice in the Duo, and I'll hand grind my coffee of choice in the JMax at the same time. Saves adjusting the grinder and I get pressure from the process. Helps that I don't have to do it, rather that I can choose to do it!
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I have the Niche Zero at home, and I besides testing the 1zpresso on the first day i got it, I have not used it at home since. I have used it on my travels.
 
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