This'll make you laugh... I spent a couple of weeks trying to dial in my espresso when I first got my Duo Temp Pro and wasn't seeing much change.... then I realised I had the pressurised filter fitted - doh!
Enjoyed this. I'm currently tossing up between improving my grinder, or buying a cheap espresso machine and this was very helpful. Seen good reviews for the Beko CEP5152B espresso machine at £80. Budget is tight, so can't really go above £100. My current set up includes an Aeropress and I have two Hario hand grinders (Skerton & Slim Pro) which I use to make my "espresso" shot each morning.
After doing more research and reading reviews, I've gone for the Brevile Bijou Espresso Machine in a Black Friday Deal for £99 (£100 off). Fingers crossed I've made the right choice.
"Fingers crossed I've made the right choice" Not to sure I have. A few days of trying, dialling in with all size of grinds. Tried both the grinders I have, tried two different coffees. Hard tamp, soft tamp and no tamp, I just can't get a decent shot out of this thing. The shot either races through in about 10-15 seconds, or it just slows to a drip and the unit times out. Finding a sweet spot is driving me nuts. It may be heading back to Amazon in a few days time. What's is good news (or bad depending on your point of view) is that I get a far better flat white using my Aeropress (with Prismo) and a small French Press to aerate the milk. I haven't made anything that comes close to the taste of it yet with the Brevile.
thanks man, I thought I had been ripped off, no holes out the bottom of the filters, I thought is a Chinese factory second, with useless filters, no where was this concept touched on in videos or manuals. I was going to return it.
New subscriber here , loving your approach and enthusiastic delivery Kev. Top content. I work for Breville in Australia so have been very interested in your reviews of the Products I work with every day ☺️ Hey where abouts in England are you from? I’ve been guessing in my head for days! 😂
Ok, I have a good dark roast coffee and nice grinder with which I grind 14 grams worth as measured by my fairly accurate scale. Then I put it into a non pressurized basket, break up the clumps with a needle, tamp it to exactly 30 lbs, flush the filter and run out 30 grams of coffee in 25 seconds for a 1:2 ratio. With this method I've had a lot of consistency... my shots all taste like tar & extremely bitter. If I go one grind coarser I'm getting into the drip territory. I'm using a fairly nice Breville machine. Any ideas?
Un petit bonjour de France, j'ai une Delonghi dedica, je suis passé rapidement a un porte filtre sans fond pour panier classique, mais tous tes conseils restent valables, café fraîchement torrifiés, réglages de la mouture, préchauffage du porte filtre, etc..👍 Pour l'instant je ne ressens pas le besoin de passer sur une machine plus haut de gamme.😉
Is it possible just to swap out the baskets and portafilter on cheaper machines to get a better result as well? As long as you find something compatible for the fit of course. Like swapping to try a bottomless basket/portafilter on a "old faithful" cheaper machine you want to give new life too.
You mentioned specialty coffee. As I'm thinking about getting a Sage Bambino, but can't afford the grinder together, I was thinking that for the first couple of months I could buy from a roaster nearby and ask them to grind for espresso. Wouldn't that be enough to use a non-pressurized basket while you don't have a grinder at home? Thank you!
Hi Rodrigo, when you're buying pre-ground it makes more sense to ask the roaster to grind on the coarse side for espresso (just explain that you're using the dual walled baskets on the Sage machine and they'll get it) and use the dual walled baskets. Pre-ground for standard baskets is difficult, as you can't dial in the grind, so for example you could find that it's too fine and chokes the machine, so that's an entire bag you can't use, or you may find it's too course and under-extracts. If you're going for pre-ground for standard baskets I'd ask the roaster to go on the coarse side simply because under extracted espresso is better than no espresso (which is what will happen if it chokes). Cheers, Kev.
@@Coffee_Kev thanks for getting back to me! Gaggia classic I got it second hand but can’t work it out!! The sticker underneath has 08/2018 serial number Nr. TU901808014607 on it but it’s all metal drip tray no solenoid that I can see old plastic steam wand and no pipe for pressure release I was thinking maybe 2015 but when I try to look it up I can’t see one like it!!
I think you are so EXCELLENT at explaining stuff you should teach Drivers Education without a car…just like you did here without even touching your machine you think watching your face is helpful 😂😂
Hi, Kev. Why is it that when I pull shot on my bambino plus using the standard basket it finishes only 16-18seconds and when I pull shots manually for 25-28seconds, i produce a lot of coffee like half full of my mug?my grind size is already at number 3 using the smart grinder pro. any tips?
Hi Joey, is it relatively freshly roasted coffee, and an espresso roast? If so, it just sounds like it needs a finer grind, in which case you may just have to take the internal grind settings on the top burr of the grinder a notch finer, if it's at the factory pre-set just try dropping it down one setting.
