Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

So I can finally rejoin the thread, after downgrading to a Nespresso machine due to personal reasons I am now back in the fresh beans category, I picked up a faulty Sage Oracle early December and after waiting nearly a month for one of the parts to be shipped from Australia it was delivered today and after install I now have a fully functional and fully serviced machine :)

I am also looking at picking up a matching grinder to go alongside it for either a second bean or for pour over coffee but that's more for the future.

if I remember ill get some photos and upload them in the next few days but its currently sat in the garage as I only got it working and tested just before coming to work, still need to tidy up all the cables and put it back together properly.

Also ordered a few packs of beans from a local roaster to collect in the next couple of days to get back into it properly as I got some half price Caffe Nero beans thanks to work benefits to get it all set up and checked.
 
It's alive :) picked it up as faulty for £350 as it wouldn't get to temperature, looking online it was heating only one boiler and taking the average temperature, changed the thermal fuse and it was overheating as one of the boards was faulty, after waiting a month for it to be delivered from Australia thanks to Covid I installed it yesterday and it's now fully functional. As a plus, I used to wait to give the unit a full descale and clean down.

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Plus some locally roasted coffee

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Action shot (not the above coffee - I picked up some beans from Nero as I get loads of offers through Vitality so they were 50% off)

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And it's been a long time since I've attempted latte art, I also need to get out my old coffee cups again as the glass is for iced coffee.

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Very happy to be back to real coffee again, I would have loved to get a separate grinder and machine again but I just don't have the time anymore to fine-tune on dialing in a shot and this takes away 2 of the biggest variables.
 
So I've been following Laura Angelia and watching her videos on YT. She is a barista at a coffee shop in Oz and does vlogs of her working her shifts. I find them quite relaxing.
A new one appeared on my home page this morning under a different account from a month ago where she's using a Puqpress auto tamper device! Well damn, I had no idea such a thing existed!

I'm still trying to work out how it achieves that because in the video it tamps so rapidly I can't work out the method.
 
Kainz said:
So I've been following Laura Angelia and watching her videos on YT. She is a barista at a coffee shop in Oz and does vlogs of her working her shifts. I find them quite relaxing.
A new one appeared on my home page this morning under a different account from a month ago where she's using a Puqpress auto tamper device! Well damn, I had no idea such a thing existed!

I'm still trying to work out how it achieves that because in the video it tamps so rapidly I can't work out the method.
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Have you looked at the videos on their website? There's an adjustable cradle you set to take your basket, which holds the basket under a piston. You set a tamping pressure on the machine. When you put the basket in the cradle, it seems to activate a switch and the piston comes down and tamps to the pressure you've set, which is why it happens so quickly. You can't see it because the basket is up against the machine where the piston comes out, but it's visible when you clean the machine.

Presumably like everything else coffee related, it needs dialling in for your preferences, and then it gives consistent results. There's three dealers in the UK and several different models including a light capacity version for home use.
 
Steampunk said:
Have you looked at the videos on their website? There's an adjustable cradle you set to take your basket, which holds the basket under a piston. You set a tamping pressure on the machine. When you put the basket in the cradle, it seems to activate a switch and the piston comes down and tamps to the pressure you've set, which is why it happens so quickly. You can't see it because the basket is up against the machine where the piston comes out, but it's visible when you clean the machine.

Presumably like everything else coffee related, it needs dialling in for your preferences, and then it gives consistent results. There's three dealers in the UK and several different models including a light capacity version for home use.
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Suspected it was a piston as I noticed the basket holder being mounted and adjustable via two fixings. What surprised me with how fast the tamping occurred. I looked at the website but couldn’t see any videos and since I was in a rush to leave for work I didn’t properly look around.

Quite a useful device I thought!
 
Kainz said:
Suspected it was a piston as I noticed the basket holder being mounted and adjustable via two fixings. What surprised me with how fast the tamping occurred. I looked at the website but couldn’t see any videos and since I was in a rush to leave for work I didn’t properly look around.

Quite a useful device I thought!
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I would guess the piston is operated by a gear or a cam (would be simpler and need less maintenance than hydraulic), and it only has to travel about a centimetre or two, so it seems to work blindingly fast. Everything is preset, so you just push the basket in and take it out a second or two later.
 
jpaul said:
Interesting , piston doesn't seem to twist too ? wondering if the LaMarzocco ones do ... what do they use in the main hot beveragecoffee shops .
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It doesn't seem clear from the info I skimmed earlier. It could be done with a helical gear, and the piston itself seems to screw out of the unit for cleaning, so maybe it does. Maybe the tamping pressure is so even and straight into the basket, it doesn't need to.

Dj_Jestar said:
£550+ for the puqpress. Think I'll manage fine with my manual setup :p
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It's a pretty niche thing for home use. It does seem to be going after the same market as the likes of the Niche Zero. I guess by the time you're looking at automatic tampers, you're in too deep with your addiction, and own a coffee machine that costs more than your car.
 
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pretty sure the automatic tampers are for coffee shops looking for crazy consistency, you can get spring loaded tampers that click on a set pressure & even ensure a level puck for a lot less than the puqpress...
 
After ~10 years of service, our Delonghi ESAM 4200 bean-to-cup has finally given up the ghost!

We've decided we want to replace it with a separate grinder & espresso machine.
Wonder if you guys would be able to offer some advice about a grinder + espresso combo for around £500-600 for the pair.
With the espresso machine out of action, we're down to drinking French press/plunge coffee, and the occasional moka pot.
Happy to look used, but from what I can see at the moment, it's pretty slim pickings with everything going on in the world.

Cheers
 
Will check them out, cheers.

One grinder that keeps coming up is the Sage Smart Grinder Pro... as I'll primarily be using it for espresso (with French press as a weekday brew), is it it capable of going fine enough?
 
Shadows1990 said:
Will check them out, cheers.

One grinder that keeps coming up is the Sage Smart Grinder Pro... as I'll primarily be using it for espresso (with French press as a weekday brew), is it it capable of going fine enough?
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I have a Sage Barista Express and the integrated grinder in that does Espresso. When this finally gives up the ghost (which hopefully isn't soon) I will replace the combined unit with the Grinder Pro and the separate Espresso maker. This is so that I can have the programming function of the Grinder Pro and easily switch between Espresso and French press settings depending on mood.
 
The oat barissta stuff actually seems to make it easier than
Scottland said:
To start you off - either: Sage Barista Express, or a used Rancilio Silvia + Eureka Mignon


This bundle looks interesting, but I don’t know much about either: https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/solis-barista-perfetta-espresso-machine-and-fred-grinder.html
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Grinder looks similar to mine (ibertal mc2) in the way it works, wouldn't be changing mine from french press to espresso regularly - you'd end up with blisters.
 
Shadows1990 said:
Will check them out, cheers.

One grinder that keeps coming up is the Sage Smart Grinder Pro... as I'll primarily be using it for espresso (with French press as a weekday brew), is it it capable of going fine enough?
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I don't drink french press, so don't take my word for it. But I believe a French press grind is pretty hard to do on most grinders as it needs to be a very coarse grind and getting the consistency is hard. That being said the the Sage Smart Grinder will go fine enough for espresso you can also look at some of the Baratza grinders like the Encore which is a good entry level grinder, of the Sette 30.

I *think* the grinder mechanism in the Barista Express is the same as the Dose Control/Smart Grinder Pro. But I don't think you have to grind into a portafilter so means probably not suitable for you if you want to use it for filter/french press.


Edit: If you're serious about looking second hand - take a look at coffeeforums.co.uk as you'll find better stuff than on eBay.
 
the fred in that offer is the mc2 in a different shell, not sure if the machine is any good either tbh but your better going with separates if you can. the Silvia isn't a bad choice but can be prone to rusting, the gaggia classic isn't a bad starting point either.
 
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