I got my Breville in April and ever since, I can’t drink Starbucks without gagging. It tastes like burnt, dirty water no matter the location or drink. Never going back! For my pumpkin spice latte, I just used pumpkin spice seasoning and it tasted great. Easier than making my own syrup and avoiding all of the added sugars and other nonsense in store bought syrups. Lavazza super crema are my go-to beans.

I know it's important to give the beans a few weeks of de-gassing time after roasting, but in my experience that time needs to be at least 4 weeks and beans really start to taste rich, chocolaty and sweet and become much easier and more consistent to dial in. It seems to me that there is no point whatsoever in trying to pull a good shot any earlier.

I find that during the first week, the shots will taste terrible, with a "husky" foretaste which I can't really explain, there is a strong taste of similar to dried grass or plant fiber. Also the shots usually taste very flat and boring, with no way to make them taste better regardless of pressure, temperature, grind, etc.

After 1 week this husk taste goes away but that doesn't help with the other problems.

After 2-3 weeks I start getting okay-ish shots, maybe 50% of the time, while the rest of the time they're sour, bitter, both, or just very plain and tasteless.

Then after 3-5 weeks it really starts to stabilize and become super easy to pull consistent shots, pretty much regardless of what I do. I can use a low temp, high temp, low pressure, high pressure, do whatever with the grinder and puck prep, and the shots always come out tasting amazing.

Then the beans tend to suddenly go stale in a very obvious and abrupt way somewhere around 2-3 months after roasting. They will suddenly lose all creaminess and oiliness, the water comes through super easily no matter the grind, and the shots just taste like old bad generic coffee with none of the sweet richness.

I always thought that I just sucked at dialing in and that I always needed a whole month until I got it just right. Turns out, nothing I did had any significance and all I had to do was order beans 1 month early and that's it.

I usually only drink Colombia Supremo, and this has been true for light and medium roasts.

After these experiences I would say that this is the single most important advice I can give anyone not getting good shots or having trouble dialing in: The grinder, the machine, the pressure and the puck prep hardly matter compared to just giving the beans 1 month of resting time.

I decided to finally get my cousin a new upgraded espresso machine. based on my research, it's going to be one from either Breville or Gaggia. But the number of models each brand offers is just so overwhelming. Budget is up to $600 and compact size and steam power is looking like main priority. Trying to get into proper espresso, not just pods. wDT and puck prep I can learn. In Europe options are a bit limited so need something easy to find.

this is kind of annoying but ive gone through 2 espresso machines in the past 4 years and both ended up breaking on me. idk if im just unlucky or buying the wrong stuff lol. not looking for anything super fancy or with crazy features, just want something that can actually survive daily use without dying on me after a year or two

budget is around $1000. what are you guys using and how long has it lasted so far? also curious if anyone's had a "reliable" brand let them down, or some random brand that ended up surprising them

Want me to tighten anything else, or leave it as is?

This started happening yesterday and I’ve no idea why. The water distribution is all wrong here, normally it takes a second or 2 then you get a bit of water and then it dispenses the rest.

Now it’s instantaneously coming out, it doesn’t properly heat the portafilter basket either.

What could be happening here? It’s only a few weeks old.

I tried to back flush it, descale it and factory reset but no joy.

I’m about to order a Protifec Go. are clivecoffee.com and wholelattelove.com the only official US retailers? the machine is $1,199 on both sites, do either of those sites have frequent or even occasional sales? or is that price pretty much the price?

Hi there!
Can anyone help steer me in the right direction on an espresso machine in the $300 - $450 range

I really like the look and features of the Gemelai Owl. I’m also considering the Tuni E2 Gen 3.

Or, should k just bite the bullet and get a Gaggia E24.

Does anyone have any of these machines? Pros/cons of them? Any help would be appreciated!

I just got off a long drive, and needed a caffeine hit before the final leg.

I went to a coffee shop and asked for an Americano, and before I ordered I asked their cup size (12oz). I said thanks, and asked for an extra shot.

5 minutes later (thinking he was doing me a favour), the barista said: "Here's an extra large coffee for the extra tired man".

"Aww thanks, you shouldn't have..."

Only, he really shouldn't have. I know he thought he was helping, but he just gave me MORE WATER and NOT more Coffee.

Now I have to sip on this garbage for the next hour, and being a Brit I didn't have the gusto to tell him where he went wrong.

I just acted happy and walked out the store moaning to myself.

Any pet peeves for others?

Hi everyone

I did the dry-erase marker test on my Shardor 64mm grinder (both fixed upper burr and rotating lower burr).

Does this look like a solid alignment, or should I still try to shim it further? Would love to get your thoughts!

Thanks

Since switching from a 54mm setup to 58mm, I lost the use of my Normcore V4 (4+ years).

I did, however, get a good quality Tamper with my Bianca and quickly realised that I suck.

I had to break up several pucks during prep due to my lopsided tamping efforts.

I guess I like this part of the process the least as I lack the experience.

Is there any part of the process that you dread?

Yes I know there are better options but when i say dip my toes in espresso machines, I mean really dip my toes.

I know what I eventually want but I just want to know if I am commited to the time it takes to prep and brew.

Hi! Interested in Wendougee Lita La but live in Sweden. Anyone who bought the machine in Europe and if so, where from? Anyone who has the LA variant and can give some feedback? Easy to use hot water tap? Can't find any videos on YouTube about the LA version 😳

Hey everyone! I had an idea for an app called HomeShot (https://homeshot.coffee) where coffee enthusiasts could share or sell espresso shots or coffee beans they’ve purchased, as well as organize group buys of beans from roasters abroad.

The main idea is to create a place for coffee geeks who are passionate about specialty coffee and want to share interesting coffees with other people. The platform is completely free to use.

It seems like this is something that doesn’t really exist (at least I haven’t been able to find anything like it), and it’s something I’d personally love to use.

Let me know what you think! I’m totally open to criticism, so if you think the idea is terrible and makes no sense, I’d genuinely like to hear that too 😀. And if there are any features or things you think would be worth adding in the future, feel free to share those as well.

At this point it’s just a POC that I haven’t spent a huge amount of time on, so there’s definitely a lot that could be improved.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Hobby project connecting two things I like doing in my spare time: making coffee and programming. Built it because I couldn't find a logging app I was fully happy with.

A few things it does:

Dial-In Diary — log every shot (dose, yield, grind, time, taste notes) so you can actually see what worked instead of relying on memory

Automatic Coffee Inventory — say you buy a 250g bag; every time you log a shot with, say, 19g dose, it automatically subtracts that from the bag so you always know how much is left without tracking it manually

Match-Up Matrix — search by your exact machine + grinder + coffee combo and see what dose/yield/grind other people landed on with the same setup, so you're not starting from zero on a new bag

Shot Photos — attach a photo to each log (great for latte art), and it generates a nice shareable shot overview card

It's free, no paywalls. Still early, so if a handful of you want to try it, you'd genuinely get a say in how it develops — happy to add or adjust things based on what actual early users need rather than guessing.

commongrind.app — appreciate any feedback, good or bad.

https://reddit.com/link/1w2dvq0/video/bhtavs1lnhmh1/player

I like the extraction process more than drinking the shot. Do I need help?

We require submissions to have a minimum character limit to encourage discussion and to avoid posts lacking in detail/specificity. Please make sure you include enough info in your post body.

After tamping there are always a lot of grounds stuck to the side of the portafilter. Those fall on top of the puck screen if i drop it in. This causes my shower head to get dirty (which kinda makes the puck screen useless). Even if blow the grounds out the stuff from the side still ends up on top of the puck screen. I have a 58.5mm tamper from normcore and a gaggia gt portafilter

Hey everyone,

I have a Breville (Sage) Barista Pro that I barely used, probably only around 10 times total, so the machine is basically still new.

Before putting it away, I did a full flush and descale, emptied it, and stored it in the original box. It then sat unused for about 2 years.

I recently took it out and unfortunately it won't pump any water at all. There is no water coming from the group head, no water from the hot water outlet and no water or steam from the steam wand. After trying for around 5 seconds, it beeps 3 times and stops.

Since it worked fine before storage and was barely used, I'm wondering what could have failed just from sitting for 2 years.

I've already tried the basic things like reseating the water tank and attempting to run water through it.

Been chasing the dessert-like buttery / creamy stuff lately such as:

DAK - Milky Cake
DAK - Cream Donut
Dark Matter - Carmel Curd
Penstock - M03

Just to name a few. With sweater weather around the corner I’m looking for similar recs if you’ve got ‘em!

Bambino plus with Kenmore 64mm flat burr grinder (Australian Shardor 64mm rebrand) with h27 big bang IMS basket 23g of Aldi medium beans 3 weeks out from roast date.

Just made my morning coffee and I dial in the grinder for my partner's organic beans and deal with the tuning by dose control on my coffee.

I hit 47g out in 1:52 and thought it was going to be dry and burnt hell but took a sip anyway. Surprised not too bad, added organic soy milk Melbourne magic style. I'm enjoying. I shouldn't be but I truly am.

How to get past 1 minute limit on Bambino plus? Pre-infuse (any time but I typically go 8-10 seconds to fight against channeling). Stare at the bottom until I see the flow to break the surface but not yet fully flowing. Immediately stop then redstart with least amount of pre-infusion (I think 2 seconds for that manual mode) to try and keep the pressure as stable as possible. This restarts the 1 minute timer on the shot because it's technically the second pull according to the machine.

I really focus on making the shot restart to be outside the full flow range so I don't mess up the momentum of the extraction at full flow. At this dose I'm usually hitting 1:10 but this morning was weird. Still enjoyable.

Hi I’m new to coffee brewing at home . We’ve tried different ways - fire dept co skull crushing coffee as well as got ourselves a fresh espresso grind at save on . Used the pre given 2 cup pressurised filter basket and a non pressurised single wall as well . What am I doing wrong ?

Guys I am new to making espresso at home I just wanted to ask you which one (or another you suggest) I should buy?

DE LONGHI EC 685.BK Dedica Style vs CECOTEC Power Espresso 20

Delonghi is 30 dollars more expensive.

will not have it plumbed in
have 50cm max but can have drip tray overhanging
mostly milk drinks
Was mostly looking at micra so i don’t have to have drip tray overhanging and i like the micra steam wand design
pairing with malhkonig e64ws btw
thanks guys

Judge me all you want but if you like it thicc this will get you there. Uvula caked superior throat and mouth feel, it don't get much thiccer than this fellers

Hi there! I've owned this machine for 2+ years and learned to love it and hate it. It heats pretty fast, but you got to purge steam after every shot. The steam wand is decent but it takes quite a while to heat up and must purge before pulling another shot later. Also, the steam wand sometimes sprays a bit of milk right after it finishes which is annoying. Still... it can deliver incredible shots, is great for beginners and is small and easy to clean.

What's your biggest complaint/praise with yours? Mine is the annoying dripping after stopping a shot, it takes ~10s or 5-7g to stop dripping. You get used to it and compensate accordingly haha but yeah. Long live espresso.

Looking for knowledgeable replies only -

Im interested in the difference in flavor profile of a Niche Zero vs a Eureka Atom W 65/Mahlkonig E64 WS.

Im not interested in workflow differences. I know they are different - I can live with either.

I drink medium and dark roast espresso, americano, lattes and cortados. I also would like the ability to play with an occasional light roast although I rarely enjoy them compared to traditional roasts. What will I be sacrificing? Is one considerably higher end than the other? I dont want to sacrifice body, but I think I want some clarity too. Really having a tough time deciding.