Top tip. I don’t store my beans in the hopper. I have an air tight container stored in a cool, dark cupboard. I find the beans last longer this way. My routine then starts by weighing 18gms of beans out and putting that into the bean hopper. I find the loss on my machine is very minimal.
Great video! I just got the touch. Been a bit frustrating as I can’t seem to get it dialed in. I’m gonna try again tomorrow with making it more ground. I also think the beans (Starbucks) I have are horrible. I’ve watched 100s of videos that were all high tech and I think urs was the best at explaining so far.
Thanks for the tip with the sticking puck. I thought the coffee powder is too close to the shower and therefore tampered deeper. Then I went coarser due to another reason and now I know why it stopped sticking. I also agree that is it easier with the double shots. Keep up your good work!
Thanks Dave! I just bought this machine and made my first coffee a bit ago. I apparently was using far too fine of a grind and it was not evenly tampered. This is some great advice!
@@davewellscoffee I think they just assume people know the technical details required to make quality coffee. I kept my grind too fine, getting wet on top, cause the flow was too fast. I just run it for 26 sec instead of 30 sec. Perfect.
I just purchased this machine today, and I drink several cups already because I have been tested different settings. Lol. Your video is super helpful. I wrote down everything and I am sure I can fine tune this machine to make a perfect coffee of my liking. Thanks to much!
Massive thanks for taking viewers through this, another well followed coffee channel said that the brew time couldn't be adjusted so it's great to see a working example here while pulling what looked like an excellent shot. Thanks Dave!
My single espressos tasted much better than doubles, didn’t know why. From watching this it’s due to lack of dose, pucks were watery and getting stuck. Looking forward to trying-thanks for tips. And machine is great
Thanks for that clear explanation. I had a delivery of a Sage Barista yesterday and have not quite sorted the grind and extraction. Fingers crossed I will be able to tweak things after watching this.
Just got this same machine and finally found this video to answer exactly every issue I had with my brew, with great descriptions on what to do if the brew does x, y, or z.
Just a question if that’s ok? I’m using the double basket and have brew set to double shot. Do I need to press brew twice, or does the double setting brew that consistency? Hope that makes sense!
Great video, thanks for showing and explaining everything. I just got the machine 2 days ago and kept wondering why my pucks were so wet and not pulling a decent shot, now I have a guide to work with 👍🏻
Here I thought I was drinking a good cappucinno and now Ive come to find out I had all the settings off, not by TOO much but wow what a difference! Needless to say the cap is delicious now- thank you for the great tutorial! And did you all know that skim milk makes the best foam...I never knew that but it does make sense. I use 1% and it's perfect.
great video. still playing with my touch impress i got a couple of months ago. unlike high end machines i have found my touch is better when the grind is not to fine. but depends on coffee to i guess. will try your trick too. i went for touch impress for volumetric. but you cant go by 1 mil at a time. i am not sure what the custom ones are. but single is supposed to be 30 double 60 mm and lungo at 90mil. and you get 2 adjustments between each settingg.
Nice one thanks! Took delivery today - 250g coffee by 11am - buzzing but coming through on 5 second and watery even on finest setting. Had to take the grinder apart to adjust. Works better but more coffee calibration tomorrow.
Yeah mine was like that, I had to take the top burr down two notches to get it in the middle of the range when it arrived, but since then it’s been perfect. Must have got through a whole bag of coffee before it was just right. Once you have one coffee properly dialled in though you’ll find it’s much easier with others, it only takes small adjustments after that.
@@davewellscoffee Thank you for the video. I have mine since yesterday. I read that a lot of you changed the top burr. Can you explain how you are doing this? Thank you!
@@nickvanr3720 I’ll put up a video soon. Basically, take off the bean hopper (ideally empty, but the beans should stay in it if it’s full) by turning the locking piece in the middle anti-clockwise, brush out any residual coffee (use a hoover if there’s a lot) then lift up the little metal handle on the grinder and rotate anti clockwise. The whole top burr section will then lift out. Remove the metal handle by just pulling one side out, then you can rotate the inner section round. There are markings to show what setting you’re on; smaller numbers are finer, larger numbers are coarser. Try adjusting by just one or two notches, as each makes a fairly big adjustment. Then clip the handle back on, replace the top section, put the hopper back on, and voila! You have adjusted the whole range up or down.
Spot on! Thanks a lot. The 18 g grinded in combination with the handling into the basket in two steps - got it! First thing to try in the morning😊 One thing more; how do end up with your preferred steamed milk? Thanks a lot for a very fine tutorial☕️
Huge thanks for this video Dave. I've just started using the machine after upgrading from a Nespresso and the difference is night and day. Still getting to grips with getting the settings right for the coffee beans we like and this is a good way to keep the experiments semi-scientific! I'm trying to just vary one thing at a time until we get the kind of shot you're pulling here. Great idea to keep the coffee settings in a notebook - I'll be trying that.
Thank you Dave! I've had this machine for about 9 months and had started to fallout love with inconsistent brews. I've had loads of issues with the grinder jamming even on 9 on the dial (Various different bean), I had to take some beans back last week as even on 12 the grinder couldn't cope and they were not even small or high altitude beans. The first machine only lasted a month before the burrs failed. Finally properly played with it this am. Getting 18g grinds 38g final contents in a 30sec pour and a lovely crema. Now I just need to master the manual milk.
Glad you’ve got it sussed! The manual milk is not too hard, it’s just a case of getting the knack! I have another video which should point you in the right direction…
@@davewellscoffee I watched the other vid! Very helpful. I'm still occasionally getting the grinder make a horrendous jamming noise when getting my 18g. Currently it's set to 9. I've cleaned the burrs etc.. I'm not sure why it does that but its seeming to happen more and more frequently. This is exactly what happened to the first machine and then Currys replaced it. Have you experienced anything like that at all or anyone else?
@@leeeastwood7531 a horrendous jamming noise doesn’t sound right at all. I’ve never experienced this, and it sounds like a problem. First thing I’d check, is that the burr was fully locked in when you replaced it- if there’s any leftover coffee bits in the grinder, these can get in the way and prevent the burr locking properly when you twist it back into position. Whilst checking that, I’d also check that the metal handle which locks the position of the burr is inserted correctly. If something’s not locked in right, that could easily be the cause. Assuming that everything looks correct however, try to get a video of it occurring (which can be hard if it’s intermittent I know) and send it to Sage/Breville customer support. If you can’t get a video, I’d email them , describing it in as much detail as possible. If it breaks and it comes to getting replacements- going back to the shop where you bought it is always the easiest and quickest in terms of sorting it- they can deal with Breville on their own time. If you’re out of the time window for returns though, then the Sage/Breville customer service is the next port of call. Always worth a google search beforehand in case there’s a quick fix, but it doesn’t sound like anything I’ve seen I’m afraid.
Hi David, quite insightful. I’ve had my machine for around a month, really struggled with the dose to yield. Adjusted the grind, and reduced brewtime. Now at 6 on the grind, and 20s on the brew. Appears to be about 1:2, and tastes great. I’m at a loss of how to get a brew Similar to yours with a coarser grind you show, ends up around 5:1 yield otherwise
If it tastes great, you’re winning. You could maybe add an extra 0.5 - 1.0g to the dose; that would likely make the brew time take slightly longer. You could possibly go down another step on the grind size too - ideally, if you achieve your extraction in 25-35s, you’re likely to be getting a good balanced shot. In terms of your settings being different to mine, don’t pay any attention to that - each machine is different, and I had to adjust the internal burr setting on mine, so the numbers will be different to yours. If you’re getting a good brew ratio and it tastes good, you’re doing ok.
Amazing video! I just bought the machine this month and I’m going crazy and wasting so much coffee trying to get consistency.. I have many problems: 1. Grind comes out in cubes, I changed the burr setting inside to 4 and played with different grinds 2. Puck can be watery many times and won’t leave the portafilter in one piece.. I want a dry puck that’s easily jumps out I’m just all over the place at the moment
Hi Amr, there’s probably a few things going on here. 1. The coffee clumping together could be a sign that the grind is slightly too fine, but also some beans are just more prone to it than others, especially if they’re quite oily. You can get a needle distributor quite cheap on Amazon which will help break up these clumps. 2. Again, a watery puck could possibly be an indication that the grind is slightly too fine. How much espresso are you getting out, how much coffee are you putting in, and what is the brew time? You may want to reduce the grind size very slightly, possibly increase the dose slightly whilst trying to keep roughly a 2:1 brew ratio in a time of 25-35s. It is worth using Lavazza beans whilst setting up the machine in my opinion, as they’re cheap, consistent and not too oily. Once you’ve got them dialled in, it should only take small adjustments to get any other beans dialled in.
Many thanks for your explanation. For me, I am using Grind size 12 for 11.5 seconds and getting about 19g out (It does create large mountain!) . However the actual yield is around 48g in 30secs. What do you recommend I change? I would like get around 36g like you did. Thank you.
Make the grind slightly finer (smaller number)- you may need to increase the time to get the same dose. 11.5 seconds is quite a bit quicker than mine does it. It won’t take a huge change if you’re getting 48g in 30s to get what you want. When you’re near the 36g point, you could adjust the brew time by a second or two either way as well.
1. Don’t store the beans in the hopper. They go bad quickly. 2. Extraction time doesn’t include pre infusion time. Other than that use a wdt tool and a puck screen and the advice was good
1. True, but if you use them quickly, it’s often more convenient in the hopper. 2. This machine sadly doesn’t allow you to vary pre-infusion, and only shows the timer from the start. I’m considering another video about useful vs waste of money accessories, so might include a WDT etc in it. Thanks for the feedback 👍
Hi bro! thanks for the video! quick question, did u manually adjusted the grinder? not on the screen or with the wheel on the side but actully inside the grinder. seen ppl do it, did you?
Yes- I had to take the internal setting down 2 steps to get the grind fine enough. I did another video about how to do it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8E0YbBsqE6o.html
Thanks Doreen, glad it was helpful. I’m in the process of making a few more videos, it’s just taken me a while to get round to it. Next one will be specifically a flat white
Help! I have adjusted the grind level one by one and cannot get it to start brewing at 10 seconds. 7 seconds is as close as I can get. When I went finer for the grind, the yield was an ounce 20 seconds after the brew started. I've tried 18 and 19 grams of coffee. I'm Ready to throw out the beans and try a new bean lol. If there are any other ideas of how to slow down the beginning, please let me know. The espresso tastes very bitter. I'm using a bottomless portafilter and it looks beautiful coming out! Much prettier than the splatter that was happening before I watched your tutorial. lol. Thanks!
Great Video, looking forward to seeing your review of the auto steam wand. I have had this machine for a couple weeks now and have found it steams micro foam well on a diary milk however for non-dairy alternatives it struggles (which i am sure is just the down side for some non dairy milks)
Not sure if this helps but you can buy dairy free barista style milks now in the long life section. My local Morrisons has them. They don’t foam as well as the coffee shop ones but they do cream/foam better than the usual dairy free milks.
Hi everyone I fix my breville espresso issue. ( 1) griner number #6 20g and finish your grainer clean 👌 (2) 30 sec for extration but if you want more coffee you can make 50sec. (3) pick your favorite half and half milk Below first line and enjoy 😉.
Thanks for the great tips! One Question: You say that if the puck sticks to the machine's screen when the basket is removed, try adding a bit more coffee next time. That is counter-intuitive to me. Why would more coffee work better in this case?
You’re right, it is counter intuitive, and I can’t explain it except to say that it worked for me. It defies any logic I can think of, as less coffee ought to give more head space. If you’re having issues with it sticking, a filter (either a reusable stainless one or a disposable one from an aeropress) prevents this and also makes cleaning easier
I have the exact same machine in black and I tried these exact settings but the 19s grind time is far too much for me 😂😂 it results in a slightly foamy / bubbly crema which I haveto tap away but so far so good. Any tips would be appreciated!
Dial it based on your own results- each machine and each coffee is different. If you’re having issues, check out this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-r37xEmuFrX0.htmlsi=ZXAsb2tVFUvDGGZn
Great tutorial thanks. Probably the best I've found. I only got my machine yesterday but I'm struggling to get the same ratios as you. I need to grind the coffee for about 15 seconds longer to get 18 grams. Also I'm then ending up with almost 50 grams of coffee when brewed and not a great crema. What do you suggest?
Start by putting exactly 18g in the basket, set the brew time to about 50 seconds so it won’t automatically stop too soon. Then, with your cup on your scales, hit brew, and manually stop it by pressing the button again when you have poured 36g. *Note how long that took* However long that took, subtract it from 30 (so if it took 19s for example, that would be 11). Whatever figure this gives you, half it (so we’ll round to 6 in the above example). Reduce your grind size by this amount (or if it took over 30s, you’d add it- mostly it’s too quick though). So if you were using grind size 12, you’d adjust to size 6 in this example. Repeat with this new setting, noting that the time it takes to grind 18g will be longer at finer settings. This should take closer to 30s, so your next adjustment will be smaller. Once it’s taking between 27-33s to pour 36g of liquid coffee, you’ve pretty much got it nailed. You can then make minor adjustments through experimentation to achieve the best taste. Note that if you run out of room to make the grind size smaller or bigger, you may need to change the burr setting (see my other video on that). Once that’s done, If you’re not getting decent crema, it’s probably down to the beans- try some freshly roasted ones
Such a fantastic and educational video! Thank you!! Question- I learned quite a bit from you about how to pull a great shot; how do you go about the Americano?
Firstly, get your espresso nailed- you’re going to use the same settings for an americano. The ‘long black’ recipe built in is basically an americano; if you press and hold it on the menu, you can edit the parameters- set it so that they’re the same as your espresso. An Americano is traditionally about 2oz coffee (a double shot) and 2-3oz water. You can preset how much water will be added, so have a trial and error with the cups you’re going to be using. Make sure you leave room to add milk/cream if that’s your preference. Don’t be tempted to let the espresso run longer to increase the volume- you’re better adding more water. The latter part of the espresso pour is the more bitter flavours, and will overpower the drink if you run it too long
Great video Dave .... i have the same machine but been getting ER05 an issue with the temperature sensor which can only be repaired at a service centre
Apparently, that one is due to the milk temperature sensor. You might be able to fix it by switching the machine off, unplugging, making sure the milk Sensor is centred and vertical, the plug back in and switch on. Not had it myself, so can’t say for certain, but worth a shot before sending it away…
By far the Best explanation I’ve heard. Thank you. I find my espresso run out after about 5 seconds and I’m all the way down to grind size 3 (using exactly the same machine as you) what am I doing wrong here? Is it my tamping that’s too hard or what. Plz help 🙏🏻 I’m also struggling to get more crema
You won’t be tamping too hard, but if you’re applying a lot of pressure, be careful to apply it evenly straight down. A lighter tamp is better than a wonky tamp- the key is keeping it even. The crema could be due to several things, but by far the most likely thing is old beans. Try getting some freshly roasted beans and try them out within 2 weeks of the roasting date. The time it takes to start pouring isn’t as important as the ratio of weight out to weight in. Get a 2:1 ratio pouring in 25-35 seconds and you’ll be laughing.
I'm going to use your settings to get my espresso tomorrow, the beans I'm using, not light roast, if anyone already has a perfect setting, please help, thanks.
The settings vary machine to machine, with wear on the grinder and between different beans, so don’t expect a setting that works in one machine to necessarily work on another. Better to dial it in based on your own results
The grind settings are different depending on your machine, coffee type, age etc. so you should just dial in based on how your own machine behaves. In terms of the single shot, firstly dial in the double, as it’s much easier and more consistent- then try 10g in the single basket and stop brewing at 20g of espresso- make adjustments as required, but you’re aiming for a similar 25-30s time for the extraction.
Thanks for your help I seem to be getting better the only thing is I’m getting way move the 36 gm of coffee out more like 60 so not sure what to do now
Start by putting exactly 18g in the basket, set the brew time to about 50 seconds so it won’t automatically stop too soon. Then, with your cup on your scales, hit brew, and manually stop it by pressing the button again when you have poured 36g. *Note how long that took* However long that took, subtract it from 30 (so if it took 19s for example, that would be 11). Whatever figure this gives you, half it (so we’ll round down to 5 in the above example). Reduce your grind size by this amount (or if it took over 30s, you’d add it- mostly it’s too quick though). So if you were using grind size 12, you’d adjust to size 7 in this example. Repeat with this new setting, noting that the time it takes to grind 18g will be longer at finer settings. This should take closer to 30s, so your next adjustment will be smaller. Once it’s taking between 25-35s to pour 36g of liquid coffee, you’ve pretty much got it nailed. You can then make minor adjustments through experimentation to achieve the best taste. Note that if you run out of room to make the grind size smaller or bigger, you may need to change the burr setting (see my other video on that).
Dave, this was super helpful and allows me to start really geeking out :) Is it really a "problem" if the coffee begins to come out at closer to 5 seconds rather than >8? I have tried playing with coarseness etc and have followed your tips on measuring, and everything seems spot on except that the coffee extracts early.
In short, no, it’s not really a big problem. The reason it should be around the 7 second mark is due to the fact that you can’t vary the pre-infusion time on this machine (where lower pressure water is used to start the infusion before the full pressure is put through to extract the espresso). In all honesty, the most important thing is getting a good extraction ratio; dropping a second early won’t be the end of the world. That said, if you add an extra half a gram to your basket, you might just sort that out too.
Thanks you so much Dave, by far the best explanation I have seen on this machine. I tried you recipe and tips and didn’t get a good extraction. I’m learning how to tamp so that might be an issue, but my beans are stale, I need to order a fresh batch, do you think this might be the reason why I get no crema?
Lack of crema is vey likely to be due to old beans yes. Crema will get less significantly with age. Darker roasted beans also produce less crema, although there is nothing wrong with a dark roast - that’s just a taste thing.
@@davewellscoffee thank you so much! I will try that. Now if that doesn’t work would you recommend me to adjust the grind size to finer right? And what else?
Thansk for the great demonstration! I am still trying to find the best settings for my beans (kimbo premium selection), but struggling. Your double shot espresso seems perfect, do you mind sharing which beans you are using? And do you have optimized settings for a single shot?
I can’t quite remember what this one was- it might have been the Columbia el Carmen from Rave Coffee. I’m currently trying some local roasteries. The single shot is fiddly to keep consistent, as any tiny changes are a bigger percentage of the coffee, so it amplifies anything that’s wrong- the easiest thing to do for a single shot is to collect 2 singles separately from the 2 spouts. This can be wasteful of your only making one drink, so if you do need to use the single basket, make sure you have the double shot dialled in nicely, half the amount of coffee and add an extra 0.5-1g then use the same brew time. You’ll have to play with this a bit- as I said, it’s a fiddle to get it consistent, but it is less wasteful.
Thank you Dave! How often do you clean with the cleaning tablets and how often do you descale? My machine has never prompted cleaning so I’ve just been doing it periodically.
We’re lucky here to have really soft water, so scaling isn’t really a problem- never descaled it at all in its life. I do the cleaning tablets whenever the machine prompts me, which seems to be about every 30 months. I wipe down the machine, milk wand and wash the portafilter and basket after every use (if I’m making several coffee in one go I just wipe with a cloth between shots). I clean the drip tray every time I fill the water tank, which is every couple of days.
Getting the thing set up takes some work and wastes some coffee- there’s no 2 ways about it, and it’s nothing like a fully automatic machine. On the flip side, once you have it set up, you’ll be able to make much better coffee than cheap automatic machine. Once it’s set up, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to keep it producing good coffee.
Laelr Digital Coffee scales on Amazon. Costs £15, but on offer at the moment. Bargain! There are definitely fancier ones out there, but these are great value and work really well.
@@davewellscoffee thank you so much for your help! I saw several videos with those fancy and super expensive scales, which I consider a waste of money because if I would invest my money in something coffee related, with the same amount of money I would buy high quality coffee. If this one you suggested has the same precise weight of the more expensive ones, I’ll definitely give it a try
@@andrea2538 I haven’t tried it side by side with an expensive set, but it gives consistent measurements down to 0.1g. I’ve had them a couple of years and they have never let me down so far
very informative thanks. I'm still trying to get to grips with mine. One issue I have is with Long Black. Barely any coffee extracted, so I add a shot of espresso at the end with the same coffee in situ and it extracts fine. Don't understand why?
All the ‘recipes’ annoyingly use the same espresso settings, so if you dial in the machine on one recipe, the same grind and brew settings are carried across to others (just the milk settings, and in the case of a long black, the water settings vary between recipes). With that in mind, it’s easiest to adjust your machine using the ‘espresso’ recipe until you’re happy with it. Aim initially to extract double the weight of espresso as ground coffee in 25-35s. Then go back into your long black recipe. Set the water (which comes out before the espresso) so that it fills up your cup to the amount you’re happy with, leaving room for the espresso on top. What you’ve been doing so far, is essentially doing a double brew with the same coffee, which is actually fine, and in fact some people prefer a 4:1 or even higher extraction ratio in an americano. It would be better to do this by simply increasing the brew time rather than pouring a second shot through the puck, so you could just add 15s or so to the brew time. Bear in mind that the machine will carry that into the other recipes, so you will need to reset it when you make a different drink. Also bear in mind that extracting for longer will give more of the bitter flavours of the coffee. If you do want a longer extraction, you can reduce the grind size slightly (again, this setting does carry across into the other recipes), which will help reduce over extraction of pulling a longer shot.
Thanks for this Dave I see your setting is at 12 outside is your inside 4 from your other video. I just changed mine to 4 inside and going to try this machine again
Yes, that’s right- settings within +\- 5 from where you dial it in should be pretty much good. Although settings on my machine may not work the same for you- each machine seems to be different
What a brilliant tutorial for this machine. This is very helpful at dialing things in! I do have one question: how would you portion out ground weight and pull length to create a 200-300 gram coffee? Is that pushing beyond the limits of this machine?
There seems to be a lot of people recently with similar questions to this, making americanos . Basically, your best bet is to pull a good double shot and add water to bring it up to 300g. If you just keep pouring through the puck, you’ll end up with a really over extracted bitter coffee, which won’t be as well balanced. If you do want to make a bigger shot, can tweak the extraction ratio from 1:2 to more like 1:3 or even 1:4. I’d increase the grind size slightly if you’re going to do this. You’ll find some coffee beans work better in this lungo ratio than others, so it will be a bit trial and error.
@@davewellscoffee thanks for the detailed and quick response. The fun is in the trial and error and at this rate I should be awake for the next few days!
Thank you for this. I know people say it's not the best for espresso but I feel like this machine should be good as long as you have consistency and good fresh beans. Also did you have any issues with the 1:2 ratio with good flavor?
I like the 1:2 ratio. Any problems I have with flavour are almost always because I’ve allowed the ratio to change. There are better machines out there, but I still think this is a very good balance between cost, quality, automation and functions.
@@davewellscoffee I really want this machine to be really good plus I know in the settings, it has more options for optimal espresso like temps etc. But I seen some people say 18g isn't enough and that 1:2 on this machine doesn't get the best espresso. So just thoughts on it. Also with the steam wand people say it isn't that good manual or auto
@@devw4967 you can definitely get better machines, it all depends what you want to spend. With most machines you have to factor spending a few hundred on a decent grinder too. As with anything, you get what you pay for (sort of). The steam wand does a good job of streaming manually, although it is a bit underpowered. The auto function is great if you have users who don’t want to learn to do it manually too. If you are considering it, I’d advise trying to see it in action. The Touch screen looks cool, but IS probably a bit of a gimmick. The Barista Pro will do everything this does except the auto milk froth, so its worth considering. Alternatively, you can’t go wrong with a Gaggia classic and a separate grinder for a similar overall price- You just lose some of the automatic features.
Hi Dave Great video. Just wondering if you have had the issue of sour shots with this machine? I seem to be getting shots that are low in temperature also. Thanks, Luke
It’s a fairly common complaint- I’ve always found that, if you put a shot of just water into the cup to heat the cup (and the group head) when you switch the machine on, the temperature is good for the coffee. There is also a temperature setting in the menu, which will help.
I bought a Starbuck Expresso Dark roast, and I can't seem to get that brown shot with the crema. Every brew is very dark with barely any crema. Is it the type of coffee I'm using?
Crema on the coffee is fairly complex, and there is no easy setting to change. If you get roughly a 2:1 brew ratio, with a brew time of 25-35s, you should get a pretty decent crema- however, this is dependant in the coffee beans. Crema is a combination of the coffee oils and fats mixed with co2/air. Freshly roasted coffee will produce much more crema, as the oils are still fresh and it will still contain more co2. As it ages, this gas will be let off, and over time, you will get noticeable less crema. A very dark or very light roast may also give less crema. So if you get your brew ratio nailed- everything else should kind of take care of itself. Some coffees naturally produce less crema than others- a coffee roasted just less than a week ago will give you the most crema (although that doesn’t guarantee great flavour). Starbucks coffee isn’t awful, but I’d try some freshly roasted beans that have been roasted about 7 days ago if your not getting good results once you have your machine set up.
Hi Dave, Thanks for the video. I Just bought my Sage Touch and I have some trouble getting coffe Crema. What Burr setting (1-10) do you use with grindsize 12? Best regards Uffe
Each machine is different, so my settings won’t necessarily work for you. My burr is on 4, but the important bit is getting the size right for your particular coffee on your machine. Get it to a 2:1 extraction ratio and it should be good. The other thing that makes a big difference is how fresh the coffee is. Old coffee will not give you a decent crema.
Hi Dave, my coffee keeps getting stuck and stays in the machine, I thought that this was because there wasn't enough coffee grounds, but I definitely put more than enough in and use the razor to get the correct amount in. I also sometimes get a little water in the portafilter so it seems I am getting a few problems. I have recently cleaned the machine. Any tips? thanks
It’s not an uncommon problem- although I would say that it’s more of a pain in terms of cleaning, rather than a problem in terms of the coffee you produce. Despite having got the level right with the razor, increasing your dose by half a gram (and extracting 1 gram more) can help to reduce the amount the puck sticks. The other thing you can get quite cheap is a stainless steel puck screen- this sits on top of your tamped coffee and (1) prevents the puck sticking and (2) makes the shower screen much easier to clean.
Hah! Yep that’s me. Hope you’re doing ok. I I really like this machine- it is a complete cross between a fully manual machine and a super automatic. If you’re after just pressing a button and the coffee appearing, it’s not the best. But if you want to enjoy the process of making it, it’s really good for that. I’d be interested to know what you go for.
Hello Dave, thank you for useful video. I have a question do we set the brew to single shot or double shot and the shot you extracted is single or double shot? Thanks!!😊
Use the appropriate setting (single or double) for the basket you want to use. I always use double (which is what is in the video) because it’s a lot easier to get a consistent shot. Any slight changes are amplified when using the single shot, so if I need single for someone I tend to just make a double and catch it in 2 cups (one cup for them and a spare shot for me!)
This is very helpful and concise. I’m using a single shot basket and getting about 10g out with the grind level set to 8. It starts dripping at 4-5 seconds and brews for 25-27 seconds using the single shot preset, however my yield is 67g! Any tips on what I’m doing wrong? I’m afraid making the grind too fine will make it taste bitter, should I adjust brew time down? Thank you again, this is really helpful.
If you want a single shot, the easiest way is to make a double and collect half from one side of the spout. This is slightly wasteful- if you’re going to drink lots of singles I’d still set it up with a double, then half your dose, but then add about 1g as the single basket seems to hold slightly more than half (so your 10g is probably about spot on). It will start pouring at a different time with the single basket, the flow will be very slow and any inconsistencies will be multiplied, which is why I recommend going with the double, at least to start with. Don’t be afraid to adjust your grind finer- it varies between coffees, and I have had some good results at 25s, although usually a few extra seconds makes an improvement. You definitely don’t want to be taking any less than 20s or you’ll definitely be a bit under extracted.
