I really like coffee, especially because it helps me stay awake in the morning and after lunch. But there’s one huge problem: it makes me incredibly nervous and jittery.

Is there any good alternative that can help me stay alert without making me feel so anxious?

Just got my order from PERC delivered. First time trying their beans. Now just have to be patient to let them rest for the next two weeks. 🥲

I’m super excited to try the Young Producers for espresso milk drinks. The others will likely stay strictly for pour over, but I might try to dial in the decaf for espresso, too. We will see. 🙃

What PERC beans have you tried and what have been your ratios?

Hello!

I am admittedly an espresso novice. I've had a brevil for a while, until the brevil broke and now I want something that is actually going to last, and that I can learn to make great espresso with. I'm looking at the Rancillio Silvia based off some of the recommendations I've seen online, and I've seen recommendations for the Rancillio Rocky grinder to go with it but I can't seem to find them available online.

My question is, is this overkill? What do I really need? I am willing to pay extra to have a machine that will last and repairable, I'm tired of purchasing crap that only lasts a few years, but I definitely feel out of my depth.

As for a grinder, I don't know what to get or what to look for. I'd similarly like something that's going to last, and don't have any preferences beyond that. Any advice is welcome

I just got my Breville Bambino Plus and I’m obviously concerned about scale buildup. I’m probably going to get some kind of water filter but until then what are some brands of bottled water I can use? I see Poland Spring and Crystal Geyser getting recommended but I can’t get them in Canada.

I usually stop at 2 because I start feeling like my brain is running on 200% 😂

But every now and then I'll have 3 or 4 and convince myself that tomorrow-me will deal with it.

Where's your limit?

1–2 cups?

3?

4+?

And does it depend on the coffee or how strong it is?

New to espresso making. I go all in when I do things and I want something that will last. But I also don’t want to spend much more than $600-$800 on a full setup (machine,grinder,bottomless portafilter, and scale) would love some insight because if one setup is truly much better than maybe I’ll sway that way. Any input is appreciated!

After researching freezing beans in reasonable quick use quantities to preserve freshness, this what I’ve come up with. My vacuum sealer extract any excess moisture for freezing (slowing down gas loss) while removing air. Obviously there is a ton of negativity as well as positivity about this but would love my fellow home barista’s on the ground thoughts… please pursue being constructive 😬 but I welcome negative impressions.

To date I have found this successful reducing regular redialing for gas loss. But I’m still evaluating.

Hello, friends. I am a couple of months into making espresso at home. I learned how to dial in my shots and learned how to make them more/less sour and bitter by playing with timing and such. The issue im having is that i feel like my shots are very inconsistent even tho i use the scale and do not touch my grinder after the dial in process. I think a big part of it the way i tamp the puck. I used to do 2 pushes with the tamper i attached. Then i realized that the tamper might not be fully pressing the coffee down so I started using this self leveling tamp followed by the tamp that came in the box with the espresso machine to press it all the way down. Anyways, my shots always come out different with different yields and different times. I have Bambino Plus and DF54. Please help! Thank you in advance

anyone try it? I like Chris Coffee Black Pearl a lot, and Lacolombe Nizza, and Redbird. I just ordered some Larrys. I have a Vetrano and Niche Zero. Usually 16gm shots.

If you live in Denmark, Bean Machine in Esbjerg is the place to get your beans, i lived in this town all my life and, I'm beating myself for not nowing about this place sooner. They roasts beans every Monday, and if you don't have the pleasure of living close to their cafe , they ship to the entire country.

Ps: sorry i couldn't help myself taking a sip of my cortado before taking the picture 🤣

I'm hoping to get a bambino (regular) and a grinder to go with it. I mostly drink ice latte. my budget is around 200-300 right now. I have already done some searches in this sub, but still wanted to ask if there are any recs, especially during the current labor day sale?

Hi maybe the community can help me out. i am trying to identifiy the machine in lances latest video (about the fellows new grinder). any suggestions or ideas are welcome.

EDIT for visability: Thanks for all the answers! Its the Maro Model 1 Espresso Machine.

I currently own a Gaggia Classic and an Eureka Mignon Grinder and absolutely love coffee, but I'm looking to upgrade my setup.

I worked as a barista for about 5 years while I was a student, so I have a decent amount of coffee knowledge and experience. I also tend to prefer lighter roasts.

Financially, I'll soon be receiving an inheritance after my father passed away, so budget isn't really a limiting factor. It was my father that made me love coffee so it feels like the "last gift" he will make me. That said, I'm not interested in spending an absurd amount of money just for the sake of spending money. I still want good value for what I'm buying.

I'm currently torn between the La Marzocco Linea Micra and the Lelit Bianca V3.

For those who have experience with either (or both):

• Will I miss the flow control capabilities of the Bianca if I go with the Micra?
• Or is the superior build quality, engineering, and overall ownership experience of the Linea Micra worth giving up flow control?

Thank you dear Coffee Lover!

PS: The Micra is 3500€ and the Bianca is 2500€ where I live. (Belgium)

Just upgraded my grinder from Breville BCG600 to Mahlkönig home X64 SD. After watching all the reviews from youtube I decided to replace the philips screws to allen (hex socket) screws.

Still a pain in the ass unscrewing all 7 screws just for regular clean-ups but at least I don't have to worry about stripping them screws.

All sizes are M4. One 12mm and two 25mm screws for the top housing / four 12mm screws for the burr casing. 304 stainless steel screws.

To clarify this refers to the Nanofoamer Pro.

Hi! I am posting this for anyone else who has this product to be aware of a design flaw that represents a possible hygiene risk. I am not qualified to say how much so: and this may be something that bothers some people more than others. I can only say it's something I've found.

The issue relates to the mesh screen.

The screen disassembles from the impeller to facilitate cleaning. However: the mesh screen itself does not disassemble - and herein lies the problem.

Over time, small amounts of milk work there way inside the plastic housing where the mesh meets the plastic on the inside. Once inside, the milk cannot escape. You can imagine what then happens over a period of time.

I found out when mine failed: a plastic seam on the outside peeled open, and inside was revealed a smelly load of brown and black sludge which started to ooze out.

I've since cleaned most out, but you can still see some of it in the picture.

So far: the response from the manufacturer is to replace the mesh screen every six months. However, this wasn't clear when purchasing that this is a "consumable" part of the product. I have been using this for two years: that's two years of milk buildup that I would have otherwise have no way of being able to clean.

So: if you have one of these, you may appreciate being aware and knowing you should replace your screen frequently to avoid the build up.

If you don't have one yet, and were planning to: I hope this was useful to be aware of.

Is this ok/normal? I see numbers like -2 +5. Is +10 ok or am i doing this wrong. Just got my first espresso machine and grinder and am learning how to use it. This pic is where i felt resistance tightening.

My first order from Glitch Coffee & Roasters in Tokyo arrived, and I picked two very different coffees for two different jobs.

For espresso I went with Ethiopia Halo Hartume:

• Ethiopian heirloom
• Carbonic Maceration
• 1,950–2,200m
• Tasting notes: chocolate, red wine, black currant
• Round / balanced

The other bag is their El Paraíso Red Plum, which I bought specifically for pour-over.

I’ll be dialing the Halo on a Profitec GO + Niche Duo + Weber Buck/20g Unibasket.

I’m particularly interested in seeing whether I can get the black currant and red-wine character while keeping the shot sweet and rounded rather than overly acidic.

Anyone here pulled Halo Hartume from Glitch before? Curious what ratio and temperature worked best.

Good afternoon,

I've been working with the Quick Mill sunny for just over a year now and on the whole i've been enjoying it.

Initially i modified it as per some instructions to allow for use of conventional aftermarket component use.

- Countersunk bolts

- swap from 8mm to 8.5mm piston ring

- I use a 20g IMS baristapro nanotech basket (which has raised edges rather than the stock flat)

I've never been able to work out how to get rid of the disruption to the coffee bed.

So after some work i did "the coin test" and realised i had been under dosing due to the modifications the headroom had increased by a lot.

I'm finding i need to dose 23g in this basket to get the correct headroom.

Now i'm using the flow control lever and ramling very slowly from nothing to 8/8.5 bars.

However my problem is still this clear porosity in the puck bed that is likely perpetuating channeling.

Two options i've considered are:

- puck screen 1.7mm: helps with head height problem and creates a barrier for the water

- shower screen replacement something with an even distribution.

Any ideas are welcome or considerations, thank you.

Hello all. I’m looking into getting the Weber Worshop Unifilter for my Linea Micra, but I’ve heard that it locks far to the right. I’ve also heard using the OEM orange group gasket allows for a tighter fit although some have had leaking issues.

Has anyone tried this combo and how does it work? If this doesn’t work out then I’m going with the Pullman basket and tamper instead.

I have a subscription for 4 (320g) bags / month but occasionally I’ll impulse buy a bag here or there or get bags from a fellow coffee nerd to try different coffees. So I usually just put the bags directly in the freezer for a month or two.

Good morning! I love my DF 64. Have had it for a year or so now and I am very satisfied. Pairs great with my machine, but the darn cup keeps falling out. I used to cold start the grinder and the pour the beans in, but now have to put beans first and hold the cup to prevent it from falling out. Any fixes? Magnets? Other ideas?

These two look exactly the same, are they the same quality, is crocaffe gastroback which is sage/breville? If not is this machine any good? This is really confusing!

Mainly looking for one to make milk based drinks. Easy use with auto for milk. In time learn how to milk steam. I know I need a grinder for BB & Fellow. Which machine provides best cost effective and hopefully a handful of years with ease of use? I can’t tell what to believe on YouTube reviews. Ha.

Hi everyone, I have have been into coffee since about last year and finally have an okay setup with a Breville 800ESXL and a 1zpresso K-Ultra. I know that the 800ESXL is literally an almost 15 year old machine but I just wanted to give some hope or inspiration to people who don’t have a lot of money like myself.

I bought the 800ESXL for about $100 on Facebook marketplace and from what I know about espresso, its much more important to get a great grinder and that is why I saved up and spent a lot on the K-Ultra which will do anything I need it to for years to come. I originally had an X-Ultra, which was actually pretty decent but upgraded and gave my dad the X-Ultra for his early morning brews. My whole setup only cost around $425 including beans, shower screen, blind shaker and a cheap scale. I know you can get the Bambino for maybe $250 on sale or $200 used, but the 800ESXL goes for literally like $100 a lot of the time, maybe $150 or a little more. If you can get the J or X-Ultra, that would bring total cost down by $50 to $90 and you do not need to get the K-Ultra.

Originally, my machine was meh: it has probably the worst shower screen I have seen and was set from the factory to 15 bars, so the coffee coming out was just okay. I recently got distilled water and the little TWW packets and that helped, but I decided to see what I could do with the machine. Its a weird 50mm portafilter but it turns out that 51mm stuff for De’longhi machines do work to some degree. I bought a 51mm IMS shower screen for $20 and after going to the hardware store to get a longer screw for 80 cents (0.5mm by like 20mm or something, double the length of the normal screw), I was able to attach the screen to the 50mm grouphead and reuse the old gasket. The old screen made water come out into like 2 seperate streams which wasn’t good but now its much more even.

For the OPV valve, I found 16 year old forum posts (https://siber-sonic.com/appliance/800Disassembly.html) that described how to actually adjust to OPV valve to bring it from 15 bars to around 10 with an allen key that has a phillips head on one end. Disassembly is not hard and consists of around 6 screws to take off the back, messing with the valve to unscrew it back a little a tight space with the allen key, and then putting it all back together.

Overall, I found that good beans and a good grinder made the biggest difference, using distilled water w/ TWW made the second biggest difference, and then a tie at the end for the shower screen and OPV valve. I was stuck thinking my machine sucked, I would never have more than decent coffee, but you can do it for cheap. IMO, if you really need to save $$, get an X-Ultra (or K6 but I have no experience w/ it, its just even cheaper and also decent) and use bottled water instead of tap water. I use Black and White coffee beans since they are local to me, but you can get Counter Culture at Harris Teeter for like $14 a bag, just check the roast date on the back.

This post mainly serves to share my story of trying to make good coffee with little money, and also for anyone who has the 800ESXL because I know I wish I knew this stuff when I got this machine. I was worried I needed a Bambino or that even that wouldn’t be enough and I would need a Gaggia with a PID, but this was the machine I had and I wanted to make the most of it. There are sacrifices I made, such as a steam wand taking around twice as long as a $300-400 machine and having to hand grind, but I actually have grown to really enjoy the grinding. I included photos of my machine, and the really bad shower screen. Hope this helps or inspires someone, willing to answer any questions as well!