Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Hello, I’m considering getting another espresso machine after having had one a few years ago (work leaving present). It was only a cheap and nasty Krups but I did manage to get some fairly decent coffee out of it eventually.

I have an Ascaso iMini Steel grinder which I generally use with a Bialetti, Chemex and Aeropress at the moment. I’d be looking for a compact machine to pair with that, ideally something robust for light use (1-2 times a day) in a very hard water area. Don’t really need bells and whistles. Would be interested in any recommendations around the £3-500 mark. Thanks :)

edit - forgot to mention, I mainly get beans from Hasbean, as I enjoy a lightish roast.
 
arty said:
Hello, I’m considering getting another espresso machine after having had one a few years ago (work leaving present). It was only a cheap and nasty Krups but I did manage to get some fairly decent coffee out of it eventually.

I have an Ascaso iMini Steel grinder which I generally use with a Bialetti, Chemex and Aeropress at the moment. I’d be looking for a compact machine to pair with that, ideally something robust for light use (1-2 times a day) in a very hard water area. Don’t really need bells and whistles. Would be interested in any recommendations around the £3-500 mark. Thanks :)

edit - forgot to mention, I mainly get beans from Hasbean, as I enjoy a lightish roast.
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https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/rancilio-silvia-e-espresso-machine.html

Is the Rancillo Silvia still the go-to at this price range? Personally I don't think it warrants the £200 extra from the Gaggia Classic myself.

Or the Grace?

https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/lelit-pl81t-grace.html

I know the Mara gets a lot of love. I have notice the Grace has a 57mm portafilter which is annoying. The Mara has 58mm and most machine uses 58mm.

I think your biggest hurdle is your hard water, if you can get filter (Brita) or last resort, bottled, then the coffee will taste much better, as well as not clog up your machine, because no matter what machine, hard water is going to eventually clog it up.
 
I do have a Brita filter, but although it improves the water it doesn’t remove all of the scale at all, sadly.

I actually have a decent 58mm tamper knocking around somewhere, so it would be nice to able to use it :) thanks for the reply.
 
arty said:
I do have a Brita filter, but although it improves the water it doesn’t remove all of the scale at all, sadly.

I actually have a decent 58mm tamper knocking around somewhere, so it would be nice to able to use it :) thanks for the reply.
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I am not 100% up to date on what is current but my go to is the Gaggia as an entry level machine with the 3 way valve, 58mm portafilter, solid internals and plenty of easy to get parts should it break down. Then I would skip all the £500 machine range completely and go up to a £1k range should I upgrade. I feel like the £500 range is in this weird segment that's just too expensive and not enough to be massively improved over the Gaggia for almost double the money.
 
In preparation for my new coffee machine coming I bought a bag it citric acid on amazon.

I used it on a kettle that has years of limescale in it. Wow. Its like new !
 
I stick with Cafiza, you can pick it up on Amazon.

Backflush it once a month or so get all the coffee residue out. Put a bit in a bowl of warm water and soak the shower screen and portafilters in it for a few minutes.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I am not 100% up to date on what is current but my go to is the Gaggia as an entry level machine with the 3 way valve, 58mm portafilter, solid internals and plenty of easy to get parts should it break down. Then I would skip all the £500 machine range completely and go up to a £1k range should I upgrade. I feel like the £500 range is in this weird segment that's just too expensive and not enough to be massively improved over the Gaggia for almost double the money.
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Thanks for those thoughts - I certainly have nothing against the Gaggias so I’ll look into them too. Also happy to spend less, I just want something reliable I can get a decent espresso out of.

I use those Oust descaler packets every month or two on my hot water boiler.
 
arty said:
Thanks for those thoughts - I certainly have nothing against the Gaggias so I’ll look into them too. Also happy to spend less, I just want something reliable I can get a decent espresso out of.

I use those Oust descaler packets every month or two on my hot water boiler.
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FYI, I have had my Gaggia for like 13/14 years, although i live in a really soft water area with no limescale.
 
My Delonghi arrived today. I've been trying to get espresso grind dialed and drank too many of them. Bouncing off the walls.

The machine is nice though. Works well and I'm happy with it. Gonna take a bit of practice mastering milk wand I think.
 
arty said:
Having looked into it a bit more, I’m now being tempted by a MaraX - call it coffee scope creep :D
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its known as upgraditis, very contagious and potentially fatal to the wallet :)

Make sure you budget for a good grinder, in-fact do that first - for a MaraX you'll want to spend around £400 at least, probably either a Niche or Eureka Mignon Specialita (have just ordered myself one infact). **edit - just seen you have a Ascaso i-mini, that'll probably work pretty well for the classic but may hold you back later down the line...

If you don't want to blow £1500 to start with i'd suggest a second hand Classic (maybe ask Raymond nicely) and the grinder, get good on that first then upgrade when your happy with it (and have saved up some more money / self justified the upgrade ;)). If you look after it you shouldn't loose much (if anything) on the classic.

Worth also looking at water on the MaraX, hard water means you need to descale yearly at least and its not really recommended. Your best off buying either buying bottled water or getting RO water and adding specific minerals back in to avoid scale build up entirely, but thats another rabbit hole!
 
Siliconslave said:
its known as upgraditis, very contagious and potentially fatal to the wallet :)
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That’s what a quiet Friday afternoon waiting for deployments will do to you...

Make sure you budget for a good grinder, in-fact do that first - for a MaraX you'll want to spend around £400 at least, probably either a Niche or Eureka Mignon Specialita (have just ordered myself one infact). **edit - just seen you have a Ascaso i-mini, that'll probably work pretty well for the classic but may hold you back later down the line...
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Yeah, I was doubtful that I could get away with the Ascaso for a higher-end espresso machine, hence my original budget of up to £500. I’m not averse to upgrading the grinder though. My only real issue is lack of space in my kitchen. Any grinder recommendations for pairing with the MaraX, out of interest? EDIT sorry didn’t see your recommendations, d’oh, Friday brain.

If you don't want to blow £1500 to start with i'd suggest a second hand Classic (maybe ask Raymond nicely) and the grinder, get good on that first then upgrade when your happy with it (and have saved up some more money / self justified the upgrade ;)). If you look after it you shouldn't loose much (if anything) on the classic.
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Yeah it sounds like I should go for an entry-level machine or go big, without too much middle ground, as Raymond suggested.

Worth also looking at water on the MaraX, hard water means you need to descale yearly at least and its not really recommended. Your best off buying either buying bottled water or getting RO water and adding specific minerals back in to avoid scale build up entirely, but thats another rabbit hole!
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I have a water softener in my new kitchen but annoyingly it doesn’t produce drinking water. Bottled seems a bit environmentally unfriendly so it might have to be the Brita.
 
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You have lots of options.

You can go the cheap but hard work with hand grinder and Mara.

Or go expensive, fast and tasty like a Sette 270i and Mara.

Or go expensive, not as fast as the Sette but still fast and very tasty with the Niche Zero and Mara.

Or go moderate everything with something like a Eureka Mignon and gaggia Classic.

Or mix and match of the above.

BTW, a Niche Zero with a Mara takes up less space than a Sage Oracle. So going separate does not have to be large
 
Watched some James Hoffman videos on YouTube and his channel is good but I'm starting to wonder what I should be looking for in espresso.

Most of the ones I've had seem fine to me. I'd love to be served a crap one and the best one side by side so I know what I'm doing lol.
 
Hedge said:
Watched some James Hoffman videos on YouTube and his channel is good but I'm starting to wonder what I should be looking for in espresso.

Most of the ones I've had seem fine to me. I'd love to be served a crap one and the best one side by side so I know what I'm doing lol.
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Pull a few espressos one after the other with slightly different grinds so longer and shorted pull times. Taste them side by side.

You'll notice a big difference. Too short and they'll be thin and sour, too long and they get bitter and muddy. Get it right and you'll get lots of different flavours coming through, depending on the bean!
 
Raymond Lin said:
You have lots of options.

You can go the cheap but hard work with hand grinder and Mara.

Or go expensive, fast and tasty like a Sette 270i and Mara.

Or go expensive, not as fast as the Sette but still fast and very tasty with the Niche Zero and Mara.

Or go moderate everything with something like a Eureka Mignon and gaggia Classic.

Or mix and match of the above.

BTW, a Niche Zero with a Mara takes up less space than a Sage Oracle. So going separate does not have to be large
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This will make you all laugh.

My extremely tentative 'upgradeitis' shopping list currently consists of:

- Osmio Zero, because I'm fed up of my horrible Brita and manky water
- Lelit MaraX
- some grinder, but I'm not 100% sure which yet - need to do more research as I'm a bit fussy about them
- a countertop knock-box, not even started looking for this yet but it'd be helpful

What is that, something like £2k's worth of stuff? Talk about blowing my original budget :p
 
Theres defiantly a point where it just clicks - you go from it tasting of coffee to tasting of all sorts of different things.

Mid_Gen is right - try and get an extraction hitting the magic 1:2 (may vary depending on the coffee) in around 25 seconds (again depends on the machine and any pre-infusion) so 18g coffee in to 36g of espresso out, then immediately do another shot but turn your grinder up or down a turn or two and see what you get in 25 seconds.

Note down the ratio you get and taste them (remember to stir in the cream) try and thing objectively about which one you prefer, what sort of flavours you find in there - is it fruity, chocolatey, sweet, sour, bitter, bright (?!?) etc. Read the pack notes and see what its suggesting you'd taste. How does it feel in your mouth, is it thick, thin?

The coffee i've just had apparently has "Tropical fruits, brown sugar, rum" i can still taste the brown sugar on my pallet, not got any rum but there is a light fruity flavour to it, almost pineapple.

Theres no right and wrong, but just think about it and see if you agree / disagree with flavour notes & work out what you prefer :)
 
arty said:
This will make you all laugh.

My extremely tentative 'upgradeitis' shopping list currently consists of:

- Osmio Zero, because I'm fed up of my horrible Brita and manky water
- Lelit MaraX
- some grinder, but I'm not 100% sure which yet - need to do more research as I'm a bit fussy about them
- a countertop knock-box, not even started looking for this yet but it'd be helpful

What is that, something like £2k's worth of stuff? Talk about blowing my original budget :p
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No regrets for the ~1600 I spent earlier this year. Of all the things I've spent money on, this is by far the best value £/enjoyment....as I'm sitting here with a nice double shot of Peruvian single origin :D

I went Mara + Eureka Mignon Silenzio + Eureka Mignon Filtro.

I have the polished steel Motta round knockbox which is v nice.

Only thing I regret buying is a levelling tool. Totally pointless.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I am not 100% up to date on what is current but my go to is the Gaggia as an entry level machine with the 3 way valve, 58mm portafilter, solid internals and plenty of easy to get parts should it break down. Then I would skip all the £500 machine range completely and go up to a £1k range should I upgrade. I feel like the £500 range is in this weird segment that's just too expensive and not enough to be massively improved over the Gaggia for almost double the money.
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Which is hard for an upgrade for a gaggia owner, as I paid £100 for mine. To upgrade, as you say, I really would need to spend close to £1k! I don't think I'll ever do that, so I'll probably end up keeping the gaggia until it breaks (if it ever breaks, and can't be fixed).
 
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