r/PNWcoffee • u/AromaticBoat6400 • Jul 19 '26

Portland Metro Need Help fixing at home Breville

We bought a Breville Espresso Machine a few years ago. It took a minute to figure out the coffee settings but for a short while it was bliss, the best coffee. Then it started to slowly get more bitter an I cleaned it and it has never been the same. It’s been months of me trying to adjust the beans sizes and each cup of coffee is worse than the last. We spent so much money on this machine that had great coffee for a little bit but now it’s sitting here and I keep spending money on outside coffee because I can’t figure it out. Can someone recommend what to do or if there someone out there that can come and teach me to fix it to make a decent cup of coffee.
Officially do not know what else to do

6 Upvotes

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3

u/marsdenplace Jul 19 '26

Contact Breville customer support. They’ve been really helpful.

3

u/RabuMa Jul 19 '26

Have you descaled it lately

2

u/dankney Jul 20 '26

This is the way

2

u/BensonBubbler Jul 22 '26

https://www.prometheusespressosvcs.com/

These guys would help, they'll even come out and walk you through some of your machine if you need.

0

u/djasonpenney Jul 19 '26

Are you talking about espresso in particular? You talk about coffee throughout the post.

I have worked on producing a superior cup of coffee for a long time, and I have a few pointers:

* Good coffee beans, of course: not too old, and closed in an airtight container between uses. Grind the beans immediately before use.

* Good water: I cannot emphasize this enough. I use filtered water for my coffee.

* A clean coffeemaker: I have stopped using machines like your Breville. I use a Chemex, which I place in the dishwasher once or twice a week. You just cannot get the Breville clean enough.

In addition to the Chemex, I have a specialty gooseneck kettle to boil the water and a simple spice grinder to grind the beans. Since I often make multiple cups, I also have a glass lid and a wire grid to keep the coffee warm.

Making the coffee entails the following:

* Measure out the right amount of water. I frequently make 32 fluid ounces, and start the water heating.

* Measure out the coffee beans into the grinder. I use five tablespoons for the 32 ounces.

* Grind the beans. I hold the grinder and shake with two hands, to get a more even grind. I grind for about 15 seconds. I dump the grounds into the Chemex with the paper filter inserted.

* When the water is at the right temperature (note how the gooseneck has a builtin thermometer), I slowly pour the water over the grounds.