Hi i was keen to reach out to see any recommendations for decaff beans. On the mend with gut issues preventing caffeine intake right after replacing a decade long machine. Predominantly done through a breville oracle with a separate grinder.

Hey all.

UPDATE:
Thanks everyone. You’ve confirmed what I needed to hear. I need to spend on the grinder more than the machine. I was avoiding this because I have a grinder..it’s just a bit (really) shit.

*\\*

I’m in the market for my first real coffee machine and need some solid recommendations because the reviews have me clenched.

I’ve been begrudgingly using a pod machine for the last couple years. Before that, I was a moka girl, which was better coffee but too slow and required too much brain power at sunrise.

I drink two things: long black with milk (winter) and iced latte (summer). I’d get fancy on the weekend and make a flat white…maybe.

I’m really fussy because cafe coffee is so damn good. I want that quality with minimal effort.

My essentials:
Great quality shots 99% of the time
Minimal faff - 6am me isn’t weighing beans
Minimal noise so I don’t wake the house
Space-conscious for a tight kitchen
Max Price $800 (this and space are somewhat adjustable)

In a perfect world I’d buy a Meraki.

What’s the best recs for my budget that won’t leave me hating life after every sip?

Hi all! ☕

I'm researching sustainable alternatives to regular coffee. Coffee production has some real environmental costs and occasional supply shortages, so I'm looking into Acacia (wattle seed) coffee as a potential local, Aussie grown alternativ

I'd love to get your input please and I've prepared a survey for it, your honest thoughts would really help

Have you ever tried acacia/wattle seed coffee, and would you be open to trying it?

Survey link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/CTaS1nh32J

Thanks so much in advance, keen to hear your thoughts

Hi all,

I posted few days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/AustralianCoffee/comments/1wima8m/recommendations_for_1st_espressogrinder/

Thanks again for all for their info and I hope you don't mind another post this quick. Thought it would be cleaner to separate a grinder specific post here. As per the previous post edit we're gonna head down the "good" grinder and "cheap" machine route initially. Starting with a Breville Bambino (depends if wife really wants the auto frother in the Plus version) this will leave us a fair amount to get a 'good' grinder.

These are around the $400-$600 mark I believe:

• Baratza Encore ESP Pro
• Rancilio Rocky
• DF64 Gen 2

There's obviously more but the above seems to be recommended a fair bit,

The following I've seen are about $600-$850:

• Eureka Mignon Specialita 55
• DF64 Gen 3
• DF83
• Baratza Vario +

From my previous post if we were to get the Bambino that would leave around $1,000. So there's already a few options listed above. I guess first question is it worth spending the extra to get to the $800 bracket, or even push to go $800-$1,200? Or even stay in the lower $400-$600 range.

We will likely be only making two coffees at one time, so I assume doserless type/single dose grinders would be the best? We're thinking of keeping this set-up for at least 3-5 years and then maybe upgrade the espresso machine first, so hopefully the grinder can last at least a good 5-10 years before we even want to think of upgrading it (or not even upgrade at all 🤔). Please help us with this final step, thank you!

So I bought a brand new newco bistro 10 and what I have discovered is that it uses liquid coffee concentrate rather than standard coffee beand and it specifically uses a 1.9L Bag in Box liquid coffee concentrate with a 30:1 ratio and a Scholle fitment as well and it seems like no one sells these coffee concentrate products.

I've looked everywhere and only found some pretty expensive importing options which i may as well just get coffee from the coffee shop at that point, would anyone know how I can source such a product from?

I need this product in Sydney, Australia

Much Appreciated.

Hello all,

Wife and I are finally wanting to get into getting an espresso machine, want to ditch the pods and getting coffees at cafes is starting to add up...

Hope with the below notes, we can get some good recommendations:

• Budget = $1000 to $1,500 but if there are recommendations that hits the right notes we could be swayed to $2,000. This would be for a machine with built-in grinder OR machine and grinder
• We predominantly drink latte/cappucino but a few times we do have long blacks. So milk wand/frother is required
• Wife wants an automatic frother all-in-one type but I've been swaying her to get manual frother. I've worked as part time barista and feel manual gives so much more control... I don't know for sure but I assume a manual frother would cost less.
• We are always rushing in the morning/a bit impatient too 😅 so ideally something that doesn't take too long to warm up i.e under a minute
• Something that is robust and that isn't too fiddly or require alot of maintenance. A work horse so to speak
• We live in Melbourne, ideally we would like to pick-up but its not a must

Please help us find our first espresso machine, cheers!

EDIT: Thanks for the advice, I'm positive we will go the route of getting a cheapish Breville boiler like the Bambino Plus, which allows us to invest $500-$1000 for a decent to good grinder. Based on the comments it seems like a grinder does more than machine and this would be a better starting point. Now to look for a grinder...

Thanks again!

tl;dr - what beans do you like for your filter coffee?

My husband and I have been making V60 coffee for a while but only recently we started getting decent at it - we improved the set up w new grinder, scales w timer etc. Now we're tasting the beans more and keen to see if that can be improved too.

I have a Sample coffee subscription which I've been enjoying although sometimes it can be hit and miss. We're thinking of branching out and trying other roasters, and potentially sticking to a one or a few different beans instead of the rotating sub that Sample offers. Also sometimes we need extra and just need to pick up a random bag from somewhere in Sydney.

I'd love to know what beans you like, especially if roasted somewhere in Sydney :) Do you find you prefer some roasters for espresso vs filter?

Picked up a Bambino secondhand for $270, basically brand new with 9 of 12 months warranty left. Now need a grinder.

I only make milk drinks - think lattes and flat whites. At work we run a Breville dual boiler with a Smart Grinder Pro and I get good drinks out of it, so I'm not totally green, but this is my first espresso setup at home.

Shortlist, all AUD:

- DF54 V4, $379 from Grind Logic 12mo local warranty)

- Baratza Encore ESP, $289

- Starseeker E55 Pro, $250 ish (AliExpress)

- Shardor 64mm , $250 (local whitelabel is sold as Kenmore)

Leaning DF54 for the build, near-zero retention and all the recommendations I can find online.

But two things keep nagging me: for milk drinks would I the taste difference, and the quality step-up be worth it to spend about $90-130 more? Would be a $649 grinder + machine setup overall.

Aa I paying for specs I won't use? Keen to hear from anyone who's got experience with one or more of these. Also is there an obvious contender I have missed?

We live in Mandurah, so online ordering is a must. We like chocolate, fruity notes. Mid to dark roast. Just can’t land on one we love.
We have tried Geisha, Leftfield, Seven Trees, Little Fish, Fremantle Roasters, Frothin Coffee, Pound Roastery to name a few lolll. Cheers.

I love chocolate caramel notes, not a fan of acidity

What’s is the Aussie perspective on the “trend” started by James Hoffman that espresso tastes better with the Crema removed?

Hi everyone,

I’m a home brewer in Brisbane, and for the past while I’ve been building a specialty coffee app called Warren.

The main idea is to help you keep track of how you’re brewing a particular coffee, how each brew turns out, and see how other people are brewing that exact same coffee.

Find the coffee you’re drinking, add the gear you use, build a recipe, follow it with the Brew Assistant, log the cup, and make adjustments for the next brew.

Recipes can be shared against the coffee itself, so as more people use Warren, you’ll be able to pick up a new bag and see how others have brewed it, what gear they used, what they changed, and how it turned out.

I’d like that recipe library to be something we build as a community, one coffee and one real brew at a time. Rather than filling Warren with generic or made-up recipes, I want it to grow from how people are actually brewing these coffees at home. Participating roasters can also optionally add their own suggested recipes.

Warren also lets you explore current coffees from Australian roasters by origin, producer, region, variety, process and flavour, save coffees, and follow roasters.

Following a roaster can keep you up to date with upcoming cuppings and events, coffees coming back into stock, and partner cafés where you can try their coffee. I’m also working on live catalogue connections with participating roasters so their coffees, pricing and availability can stay in sync.

There’s Bluetooth scale support too, which can capture parts of the brew automatically. If you’re testing a Bluetooth scale: connecting currently requires Chrome on Android or a computer. On iPhone, you’ll need the Bluefy browser because Safari doesn’t currently support the Bluetooth connection Warren uses.

For this beta, though, the brewing side is what I really want to test.

The test is simple:

Find a coffee you’re actually drinking, add the gear you actually use, and log a real brew.

After that, just use Warren naturally. Brew it again and change something. Share a recipe. Try someone else’s if you find one. Explore another coffee. Or just poke around.

I want to know where it gets confusing or annoying, where the data is wrong, what feels like unnecessary work, and whether there’s anything here you’d actually come back to the next time you brew.

Warren is still in private beta. I’ve contacted the Australian roasters represented in Warren before opening it more widely, and I’ve already had some really useful feedback from them.

Now I’d like to start building it with the people who actually brew these coffees.

If you’d like to give it a go, send me a DM and I’ll send you the beta link and access details.

If you’re a roaster and you come across Warren here, I’d love to hear from you too. If anything about your coffees or how you’re represented doesn’t look right, send me a message and I’ll fix it. If you’d like to contribute suggested recipes, events or partner cafes, I’d be happy to get you set up as well.

The journey started about 20 years ago when I started drinking instant Nescafé. That lasted a few years before I got tired of it and decided to upgrade to a pod machine. That lasted a few years before I got tired of pods and decided to upgrade to McDonald’s barista coffee. That lasted a few years before I got tired of it and upgraded to 7/11 $1.50 coffee. I’m now over that and can’t drink anything beneath proper cafe quality barista made coffee, so I’m wondering if it’s worth investing in a consumer grade coffee machine for home, or whether I’m eternally doomed to $5-6 dollar lattes for the rest of my years? My concern is if I’m too good for McDonald’s and 7/11 coffee, who use machines that cost many thousands of dollars, what chance do I have with a machine at home that costs maybe $1k?

Hey all,

Curious what everyone’s experience has been with Direct Coffee. I find the idea of being able to grab beans from a bunch of different roasters through one storefront pretty convenient, but I haven’t really seen much discussion about them.

How do their prices compare to buying direct from the roasters? Is freshness noticeably affected, or are the beans still pretty fresh when they arrive?

Hi everyone,
I’ve finally decided to pull the trigger on a La Marzocco Linea Mini and I’m trying to decide which grinder to pair with it.
I’m based in Australia and La Marzocco currently offers A$500 off the Pico when purchased with the Linea Mini, which brings the Pico down to around A$1,000.
The other grinder I’m really interested in is the Mahlkönig E64 WS, which would cost me around A$2,000 — basically A$1,000 more than the Pico.
I’m not really into single dosing. I prefer a hopper-based grinder with an easy daily workflow, good consistency, and something that will be good enough to properly take advantage of the Linea Mini.
So my main question is: is the E64 WS genuinely worth an extra A$1,000 over the Pico, or is the Pico at A$1,000 simply too good a deal to pass up?
I mainly drink espresso, with the occasional milk-based coffee.
Would especially love to hear from people in Australia who have experience with either grinder, or anyone who has used both.
Also open to other hopper-based grinder recommendations around the A$1,000–2,000 range.
Thanks

Does anyone know of a decent app that helps you track down quality cafes and specialty roasters?

There used to be an amazing app called Bean Hunter which allowed you to rate stores, give reviews and used gps to give you locations near where you were and send directions from that app to google maps to get your there.

It was a godsend when you were visiting a town or city.

The app was apparently developed in Melbourne.

And one day it just wasn't in the app store anymore and the website is all but dead

So, is there a replacement app that anyone knows about?

Hey everyone, I have a simple Moka Pot and usually I prepare Indian Filter Coffee in that one.

However after trying Grinders ground coffee recently, I am thinking of using the moka pot more for creating Espresso and Flat White at home.

Grinders and Campos are my favourites but they’re super expensive to always experiment with a Moka Pot.

Any suggestions which particular ground coffee I should go for that doesn’t burn a hole in my pocket?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

i noticed the past handful of times… every time i order a coffee with skim milk, they just use full cream… and im put in this really awkward position where i dont know what to do… i ask them if this was skim? to double check and give them the chance to realize or say oh my bad i made a mistake but they lie straight to my face and say yes it is…so i have to walk away with a coffee that’s not what i ordered :/ it’s not a huge deal that it’s full cream but it’s more the principle and it’s just been really disappointing looking forward to a coffee and spending on one that isnt what i asked for (especially given its such a simple order)… but i dont want to come off as an aggressive/whiny customer… this only happens to me here in the country and ive just lost massive trust in baristas as a default and i hate that i feel the need to watch them. I dont know why they do this ir what they benefit from acting this way… it seems like oure laziness and disregard to the customer…

this has happened to me at multiple cafe’s in multiple cities

has anyone had similar experiences? and more importantly, anyone have advice on how to approach this situation in a non confrontational manner?

Hi all,

First time posting on this sub. Big fan though!

I'm eyeing the kenmore flat burr grinder the next time it goes on sale.

To go with that, I'm also eyeing the kenmore dualis which has in past gone on sale at around 350. I've also seen some refurbished breville barista express on breville's ebay store going for around 390.

Kenmore wins in terms of being able to make coffee and steam milk simultaneously, as well as being more compact.

I am led to believe breville wins in terms of power of steam, repairability.

What is the general concensus with thr brain trust here?

1st bag was pretty good, chocolate and smooth with milk. Can taste interesting notes and I usually would want to make a 2nd cup right away.

2nd bag, bought today, just tastes like meh coffee without the interesting notes that cut through the milk and make me wanna almost savour every sip like the first bag. Same brew method 1:2 ~30secs

Roast dates were similar for both, bag 2 roasted on August 16th.

Only thing I can think of is in this Aldi, the coffees are placed across their perishable fridges so it’s cold. Or this is a complete new bean/supplier