Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

think you'd just gunk up bean path, and potentially rust your burrs -
I only use beans at room temp after defrost first in fridge, and then bringing to room temp - day each - before then re-opening self-seal bag for first time.
 
Cadder said:
Out of curiosity, has anyone made an espresso with beans straight from the freezer?
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Fine to do. Pretty sure Some studies have shown it improves grind size uniformity but over time will wear the burrs more. Some top European cafes do it for grind uniformity and it allows them to stock wider variety of beans.
 
There is zero issue with using beans from the freezer directly into the grinder. Plenty of us use a water spray on beans before they go into the grinder and thats fine too. There is actually some findings that giving your beans far more moisture before you grind them will help uniformity and extraction and the researchers didn't have any issues with rusting or humidity as a result.
 
Just to add to Fez's post, I also spritz my beans before grinding them to reduce any static clumping and have had zero issues in doing so, so can't see frozen beans being problematic from that angle. Also, beans are quite fragile, so I can't see that there would be any real-life difference in the wear of the burrs, as the water content is so minimal that it's not like it's going to be grinding huge chunks of rock-hard ice!
 
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In a pro situation with large throughput on big low speed burrs I can see it/frozen wouldn't be as bad;
I don't have static from the rocky grinder, & sounds like a palaver spraying them (when/where?)

also if you are opening a pack of beans straight from freezer you are condensing moisture onto those that remain too
 
It’s usually single dose grinders that suffer from static. I used to have a mythos pro which had no issues with static but the P64 I have now definitely benefits from a spritz on the beans.

As to when you do it: just after you have weighed the beans you spray them and shake to distribute and then straight in the grinder.
 
I'd go hand grinder tbh. Check out Lances big comparison video and get one of those. I have a 1zpresso kplus for all my manual brews but there are other options
 
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Ayahuasca said:
I’ve decided to stick with an aeropress as I pretty much always drink my coffee black these days.

I need a grinder though, what’s the I can get for <£200?
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I started with a Timemore C3 and then bought a 1zpresso X-Pro, the extra cost was absolutely worth it. The taste is a lot less muddy and you can dial in grind size a lot more due to it having a much finer adjustment per click.
 
For around a £500 budget, what are the best bean to cup machines I should be considering, I’ve used search on here a couple of times but 488 pages is a bit of a task to get through
 
ristac said:
For around a £500 budget, what are the best bean to cup machines I should be considering, I’ve used search on here a couple of times but 488 pages is a bit of a task to get through
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Do you want a machine that will fill a traditional portafilter with grounds before pulling an espresso shot - something like the Sage Barista Express?

Or are you looking for something where you press a button and get a “coffee” a bit like the De’Longhi Magnifica or Dinamica?

I have a feeling that most people ITT would say that for £500, you would get much better coffee spending most of that on a decent grinder and whatever’s left on a non-espresso coffee-making device e.g an Aeropress, V60, Moka Pot, Chemex, etc.

Of course, it won’t be as convenient as a bean-to-cup, but that convenience at that price-point comes with sacrifices in quality elsewhere.

If you’re after espresso, you’ll probably have to up your budget or be prepared to upgrade things fairly soon after you’ve got started.
 
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Irish_Tom said:
Do you want a machine that will fill a traditional portafilter with grounds before pulling an espresso shot - something like the Sage Barista Express?

Or are you looking for something where you press a button and get a “coffee” a bit like the De’Longhi Magnifica or Dinamica?

I have a feeling that most people ITT would say that for £500, you would get much better coffee spending most of that on a decent grinder and whatever’s left on a non-espresso coffee-making device e.g an Aeropress, V60, Moka Pot, Chemex, etc.

Of course, it won’t be as convenient as a bean-to-cup, but that convenience at that price-point comes with sacrifices in quality elsewhere.

If you’re after espresso, you’ll probably have to up your budget or be prepared to upgrade things fairly soon after you’ve got started.
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Probably something like the sage, would this be a long way short of the grinder espresso option
 
If I had to start again, knowing what I do now I'd probably go for a Sage Bambino with a Eureka Mignon, but you'd really be pushing the £500 budget to do that. However, even the Sage Barista Express is around £600.

Depends on how much counter space you have, what look you want and whether you think it might turn into a hobby. The Sage Barista Express has been brilliant for me, but it comes with the downfall that the grinder cannot be upgraded. A separate espresso machine and grinder gives a lot more freedom for tinkering.
 
We have owned our Sage BE for over two years, purchased for just under £480. I've seen a few deals at around that price on the unit recently too, it may be worth waiting until another deal comes along. The accessories will take you over the £500 budget. It may be worth taking them into account prior to purchasing the machine.

I have been after a better grinder for a while now. The Sage BE grinder is quite limited with certain beans, even with the burrs adjusted. Once I have the new grinder I'll then be looking for a new espresso machine, a step up from the BE. It has served us really well over the past 2 years but we now want to step it up a level.

What I have found is that the Sage BE is a reliable machine, pouring typically 4 double shots a day. We buy fresh beans too, which makes the biggest difference to coffee quality, in my opinion.

However, we go through phases of preferring a pour over, so use our V60 instead of the BE. There were days going by where I had only used the grinder on the BE, for my pour over.

We've been enjoying using a Moka pot while on holiday recently so will be looking for one of them too. A half-decent grinder and V60/Moka pot would be cost-effective and with fresh beans can make an amazing coffee, unless of course espresso is truly essential.
 
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ristac said:
Probably something like the sage, would this be a long way short of the grinder espresso option
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As the other two posters above have said, the issue with the Sage BE (or frankly any B2C machine), is the grinder. And because it’s integrated, your options for upgrading are limited.

I agree with @Stellios, a really good grinder and something like the Sage Bambino would be a decent entry point, but I expect you would likely want to upgrade the Bambino fairly soon. You could always look at second hand machines around the same price point as the Bambino that would be a bit better, something like the Gaggia Classic. But you’re going to stretch that £500 budget.

I’ve given up on the idea of home espresso for the time being. I’m about to upgrade my grinder and I’m going to stick with an Aeropress/V60.
 
I'd get a delonghi dedica < £200 over a bambino ... the controversial thermojet in the latest sages doesn't give as good temperature stability (like older duo-temp pro)
it's like the new gaggias, with poorer build quality too (no 3 way valve is it - or opv)
used to be able to get good sage refurbs on ebay too.
... it's all back down thread.

can mod the sage/BE grinder for stepless too.
 
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