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I currently own this Breville espresso machine (or possibly an older model), and while it's been a trusty little thing, I'm still using a dumb blade grinder. As much as I'd like to spend a lot on a great quality grinder,  markup is a loving pain. The cheapest Rancilio I can find is here, and I won't even mention the Vario. But a while back, before finding this thread, I'd picked out this Breville grinder... (Yes, out of brand loyalty.  ) Would that be a decent compromise? Is it even worth it with my cheap machine?
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Feb 11, 2016 17:45
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 11:43 |
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Speaking of cold brew, how much does the coffee bean selection matter? A barista told me it didn't matter and any cheap decent roast would do. So I was thinking to just get some of the filter mix from a local roaster and grind that at home.
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May 29, 2016 20:53
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Well, I wasn't going to go for Folger's or anything that bad -- I was more thinking to use, say, "grocery store" coffee as opposed to hipster coffee. As for cold brew being bad, I find it helps to add just a bit of cane sugar. I guess if I'm at that point, then bean quality isn't that important.
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May 29, 2016 22:10
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I have never descaled my machine and I feel increasingly guilty whenever I pull a shot. Time to address this -- do I need Dezcal or can I get away with a vinegar solution? What's Cafiza for if not descaling?
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Aug 1, 2016 16:24
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Help me figure out babby's first descaling: The Dezcal schematic instructions seem to indicate pouring water directly in a boiler-looking compartment. Since I don't have an accessible boiler, I assume I should just put the solution in the water tank, pull a "shot" to descale the boiler and run hot water through the wand to descale that too? Then cycle water a few times through both?
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Aug 9, 2016 16:12
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bizwank posted:What machine do you have? In a typical single-boiler home machine, the descaler goes into the water tank and should be run out through the steam/water wand about a cup at a time, pausing for 10 min or so between cycles, then rinse with a full tank of water once done. Running it through the BH doesn't matter as all the water comes from the same boiler, but on a dual boiler or HX machine it's going to be different/more complicated. Ah, I should've been more precise in this thread of all places. Yeah, it's a single boiler thing, pretty much exactly this or an older model. I ended up running just 4 cups of water with Dezcal, then rinsed with 2 full tanks. I threw a Cafiza in the portafilter for half of the second rinse while I was at it. It looks cleaner, I guess? I'll see tomorrow morning.
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Aug 10, 2016 04:04
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I dusted off my partner's unused Breville Cafe Roma and brought it to the office. Went through the motions of descaling, rinsing and backflushing (even though there's probably nothing to backflush in the first place, without a 3-way valve). Unfortunately, we don't have a grinder. I do have a grinder at home, however. I also have my old unused blade grinder which I could bring to the office. Which is the best compromise? A proper grind done in advance, or a fresh blade grind? The grounds from the blade grinder would occasionally choke my slightly better home Breville, so I somewhat doubt this entry-level machine would fare much better.
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Aug 15, 2016 19:03
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bizwank posted:Chewing the beans in your mouth and washing them down with hot water would be far more pleasant and rewarding then using a blade grinder to try to make a decent espresso. That's fine, I don't even like my coworkers that much.  I picked up some Black Cat and had it ground, I'll see if I can get this Roma to pull something worth drowning in milk foam. Thanks.
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Aug 16, 2016 14:55
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I can't find it again but few pages back, one of you guys explained why it's better to steam milk before pulling a shot for certain machines -- I believe it was single boiler ones. Why is that? Does this still apply to a thermoblock machine like my Breville 800ESXL? When I tried it, the only difference it made was I had an annoyingly scalding shot of espresso.
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Aug 22, 2016 21:21
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bizwank posted:I don't know what's going on inside the Breville, we don't work on them. They're quite a bit more complicated then your standard semi-auto though so I'd follow the manual in regards to brewing/steaming order. Your scalding espresso is probably because it didn't cool back down from steam temp before brewing though. I watched this video when I was wondering WTF is a thermoblock, I found it quite interesting! I didn't pop my machine apart to confirm that this is the case, but from looking at repair pages for my model, it seems to be the 2-part one shown in the video. Since it's not an actual boiler, I guess point #2 is moot. I'm guessing that yeah, that big chunk of metal will take a little while to cool down from steam temperature. The manual does say to extract the shot before steaming, though they are sure to mention the steamer having "auto purge" functionality to dump out the overly hot water before pulling a shot. So I guess it's supported but not recommended. I'll give it a shot with a bit more cooldown and revert to my routine if it doesn't make much of a difference.
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Aug 22, 2016 23:36
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I visited Blue Bottle's café in Palo Alto while I was there and got some Hayes Valley espresso. They advise a 1:1 (20g grounds for 20g espresso) extraction in ~30s, but I'm having a bit of trouble dialling that in. 2-3 notches away from the lowest setting on my grinder, I can get it to extract in around 30 seconds, but it seems to pump it out in spurts rather than a constant stream. I'm actually surprised that fine of a grind doesn't choke the portafilter outright. But as long as the pump isn't completely blocked, it should be fine if it struggles a little, right? e: For reference, I'm still using this cheapo Breville. Jan fucked around with this message at 16:08 on Sep 9, 2016 |
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Sep 9, 2016 16:06
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Mu Zeta posted:How does it taste? You might actually like the taste better if it's just a normal volume double shot instead of being to restricted. Clearly between your grinder and the breville something is struggling a lot. Personally I find Blue Bottles recommendations are on the extreme side. For example for their normal drip coffee they use 30g coffee beans for 300g water. That's an insane 10:1 ratio compared to the industry standard 17:1. It tastes delightfully non-acidic, it's actually one of the rare times I've pulled straight espressos using my equipment that I didn't ultimately want to mix with milk foam. I'll try a 2:1 extraction just to compare (for  ) -- it might just match or surpass Barn as my favourite so far. But it's probably even harder to find in my area.Scaramouche posted:Doin my part for the environment: Convinced the owner to completely remove the K Cup/flavia/capsule stuff from our Office Coffee Service. After doing some research it was kind of horrifying, I knew it was bad, but not how bad. Not accepting new customers, and phasing out old customers onto things like ESE pods instead. I try to be mindful about waste, packaging and that sort of thing in general. The fact that K-cups became so intensely popular just reminds me and saddens me that we basically have no chance as a species to not destroy our planet out of sheer laziness/selfishness. Using cups in a shared/office environment especially makes me cringe. But then, I can't convince my office mates to use a plate to get their food from the bistro inside our own building instead of spending a styrofoam tray every time. 
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Sep 10, 2016 04:25
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When I got my burr grinder, I did not RTFM, put coffee in there and got brewing right away. I am still alive to tell the tale.
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Oct 2, 2016 05:41
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porktree posted:AND, his wife has decided to send the Macap back because the grinder (whirly blade) that they have is good enough. (this is the horror part). They haven't even unboxed the Macap.  This is grounds to  .
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Oct 4, 2016 20:10
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How much difference do coffee beans actually make when it comes to grind size, shot regularity, etc.? I feel that depending on what brand and roast I have, it can take vastly different grind settings to pull the same double shot in 30 seconds. The Blue Bottle that I had recently was setting 3 on the grinder, whereas I'm struggling to get decent flow at setting 10 with some Phil & Sebastian. I'm still more convinced that it's my mid-range consumer Breville machine that might be getting clogged by old grounds, but I'm careful to always run the pump with no portafilter, and then through the portafilter to rinse out any residue... Or maybe my grinder isn't that regular. All I know is it's making me very sad in the morning when I try to pull a shot and only get some weak, choked droplets. 
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Oct 17, 2016 20:19
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bizwank posted:What kind of grinder do you have? The beans make almost all the difference; different roast levels require different grind settings to achieve similar extraction rates. Generally the darker/more oily the roast, the coarser the grind, but you basically need to dial your grinder in every time you change beans. Stick with roughly the same roast level (or the same bean!) and you won't need to mess with it as much. Okay -- I have been writing down settings for each roaster, without actually distinguishing between roasts/beans, so that information's not super accurate I guess. I'll refine my notes because I do enjoy changing beans, roasts and roasters every time.
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Oct 17, 2016 21:11
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Also quite satisified with my Breville so far (8 months). As I brought up earlier in the thread, it takes a bit of fumbling around whenever I change bean type, but then I assume that's a problem with any grinder.
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Nov 14, 2016 21:22
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Frankston posted:Anyone here use the V60? Everything you need to know about brewing with a V60. e: vvvvv that one looks serious, though.
Jan fucked around with this message at 06:03 on Nov 16, 2016 |
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Nov 16, 2016 05:40
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TheDarkFlame posted:Question about cafetiere coffee, or rather, cleaning up: My flatmate seems to think that basically any amount of coffee grounds will clog our pipes, and I don't blame him for thinking that because we live in a cheap flat on the 5th-storey of a lovely concrete block that was meant to be cheap (and possibly temporary?) naval accommodation when it was built like 50+ years ago. But I admit I don't actually know how big a deal is it, and I've never thought to throw the entire contents of a used cafetiere down the sink to find out. So is this a big deal, and what's the best way to clean a cafetiere? I quite like being able to make a good flask of coffee before work and if I can do so without pissing off my flatmate then so much better. ...dump coffee grounds in trash, wash cafetiere? 
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Dec 2, 2016 17:21
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Gaspy Conana posted:What's the best low-effort and/or quick way to brew? Espresso. 15 seconds to grind, 28 seconds to pull, and you're done. 
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Dec 18, 2016 18:31
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By now pulling a shot is so ingrained in my morning ritual that I could probably do it while hungover on less than 6 hours sleep. I did, however, get a V60 for Christmas and once tried making pour over while hungover on less than 6 hours sleep. I thankfully managed to remember that this isn't a French press and took the coffee grounds out of the carafe and into the filter before I started pouring. 
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Jan 18, 2017 22:55
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Wachepti posted:wtf is that??? A Coffee Dalek, obviously.
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Apr 25, 2017 01:06
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ILikeVoltron posted:Taste is right, but it's a little too much work per shot to clean. I'm spending three times as long cleaning the machine as I am making my coffee, turning the whole ritual into a 15 minute thing 3-4 times a day. Worst case I can live with it. How is cleaning taking you so much time? Dump out espresso puck, put portafilter back on, flush out for a few seconds, and you're done. 
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Jun 5, 2017 23:32
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Scaramouche posted:Also in other depressing news Nestlé has purchased Chameleon Cold Brew, bringing their scalps up to two companies this year, the other being Blue Bottle. I did not know this.  Hope my subscription remains untouched.
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Nov 7, 2017 00:16
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Dramatika posted:There's plenty of great subscription coffee services out there just in case. I'm using Amaya roasters out of Houston, and it's amazing. They roast on Monday, and it arrives in the mail on Tuesday. The beans are drat good as well. There's bound to be someone close that's offering a subscription these days, and you can support local roasters I try more local roasters from time to time, but I'm never able to get as consistent results as with Blue Bottle, even though shipping + customs processing makes it arrive 2-3 weeks after roast date. Maybe if I had better gear and practice I could dial in a better shot from the local stuff, but as it is, I'd rather go with the reliable option than end up going through a bag of lemonade. 
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Nov 7, 2017 16:01
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I gave my Breville 800ESXL a thorough descaling and cleaning because the steam wand pressure was getting really low. For the first time, I noticed I can easily unscrew and remove the brew head screen, so I decided to take a look at it. It turns out there was a layer of coffee gunk accumulated through basically all of it except a small area of a dozen holes at best. No wonder it was squirting horribly even without the portafilter on.  Kind of wish I'd taken a picture, but I gave that a much needed cleaning as well. That said, it didn't make much of a difference. I've been having trouble dialling the grind down to finer sizes and extraction because the machine would just choke before reaching the desired ratio. I was hoping I'd be able to pull a nicer shot with a finer grind, but it just choked as always. At this point, I think I'm basically constrained by the pressurised portafilter. But I'm reading about it and it seems I could just replace the pressurized basket with a non-pressurized one (like this). I always thought the pressurized portafilter was a limitation built into the group, could it really as simple as changing the basket after all? I suppose at that price point, I don't have much to lose.
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Dec 28, 2017 04:28
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rockcity posted:My wife hates the smell so there so is no way I can roast inside regardless. Dude. Disliking roast coffee smell?
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Jan 3, 2018 17:36
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rockcity posted:Dual boiler machines have separate boilers for the espresso grouphead and the steam wand. Single boiler units have one boiler that runs both. The two function at different temperatures so if you have a single boiler you either have to steam first, then purge the boiler to get the temp down or pull your shot first, then wait for the machine to heat the boiler up to steam temps. A dual boiler you can go back to back immediately or even do both at the same time. Dual boiler units are generally a whole lot more money and aren't too common in consumer level machines because of that price delta. So, looking for a machine recommendation, what about heat exchangers? I just moved across the country and didn't feel like packing my trusty old Breville thermoblock machine (an older version of The Infuser), as I figured it'd be an excuse to splurge on a new machine as a housewarming gift. Now, I was considering going all the way and getting a dual boiler, but from what I'm reading, heat exchangers perform have their own upsides and downsides? I don't mind needing more control over the brewing variables, I'll be sure to get a good, consistent grinder to go with. The Breville I had didn't have PID or pressure information of any kind, and my biggest gripe was I had absolutely no way of getting consistent steam output for frothing milk. So a PID would be aces. I was looking at the Rocket Giotto, but I'm not sure what's the difference between the Type V and the Evoluzione R. There's also the Rocket R58 if I do go for a dual boiler... Breville also seems to have some pretty aggressively priced machines with those features, and they've been treating me well, but I don't have aboslute brand loyalty either. My budget sweet spot is ~$2000, though I could extend to $3000 if it's really worth it.
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May 5, 2018 21:43
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On the subject of filtered water, I actually just got my Rocket Giotto today.  I still need to get some practice, especially for steaming/frothing milk, but I can really feel the difference compared to the Breville I was using.I also would like to minimize my need for descaling, and since the water in San Jose is hard as gently caress, what's everyone recommendation for filtering? Is there a simple solution like those things that attach to the tap, or are those not efficient enough?
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Aug 5, 2018 05:17
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DangerZoneDelux posted:Water hardness is pretty complicated. I need to fork up the money for a softener for my home since it's eating my fixtures. This pdf goes in-depth on options for water in your home espresso machine http://users.rcn.com/erics/Water%20Quality/Water%20FAQ.pdf Yeah, whole house is not an option since this is an apartment unit. I don't know how serious Rocket's recommendation against descaler really is - Breville had the same thing but I still descaled my Infuser every few months. Of course, that was Montreal water which is completely soft, so maybe it was just a psychological thing... 
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Aug 5, 2018 15:47
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bizwank posted:Descaling your portafilter ("infuser"?) does nothing for the inside of the machine. Infuser is just the model name for my previous Breville. I was descaling it by filling the tank with a Dezcal solution and then alternating water through the brew head and the steam/water wand. I've been researching, and it looks like San Jose well water is well within the 250-350 mg/L hardness range. If I'm reading that water FAQ correctly, I'm basically murdering my boiler (at a rate of 1g scale per 2 2L tank refills) by using that water in it. On the other hand, San Francisco water comes from a natural reservoir in Yosemite and averages 50 mg/L hardness... So yeah, either I start smuggling water from work or buy bottles of filtered water. I just hate contributing to the bottled water cartel. Ultimate Mango posted:Part of my question was more how often I should purge the boiler, and if I should do it totally or just pull off some amount off the hot water side every so often? I know that since I don’t really use the hot water side, if I only used the steam side eventually there would be scale building up in the main boiler (steam is basically pure water, leaving the minerals behind in the water, building up over time). I’m not worries so much about the group and portafilter since that gets used multiple times a day and is showing no signs of build up or scale. But I can’t see inside the boiler. And I wonder how often I need to purge, or if I just need to pull off a cup or two a week to keep the boiler tank fresh. If I'm understanding this correctly, it doesn't matter whether you use only the brew head or not, since the boiler runs at steam temperature anyway, with the heat exchanger bringing it down to brewing temperature. So unless you've been manually turning down the PID to 95C, you're still cycling 125C water through that boiler every time you brew.
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Aug 6, 2018 04:44
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Ultimate Mango posted:Water for espresso doesn’t mix with the water in the boiler, just goes through a pipe that goes through the boiler to heat it up. Separate path as far as the water is concerned. Ahh, I was under the impression that HX controlled temperature by mixing boiler water with reservoir/line water, hence "if I'm understanding this correctly". My bad.
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Aug 6, 2018 05:50
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Keyser_Soze posted:That is brutal. Are those San Jose stats from here: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=3893 I believe those numbers are from San Jose periphery areas which are served by San Jose Municipal Water System. We're based in central San Jose, which seems to be supplied by San Jose Water Company -- their latest quality reports are here but also pretty extreme at 190 - 470 range for groundwater. It's unclear whether we're supplied by well water or by the Santa Clara valley water department, but given the ridiculous rate at which our kettle accumulated scale, I'm pretty certain it's the former. With daily usage, it gets a solid coat of white minerals within a week, and those start peeling within 2-3 weeks. 
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Aug 7, 2018 01:34
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I'm having a hard time settling on a grinder. I had a Breville Smart Pro before, but decided not to move it because I felt it was a little too inconsistent. (Though that may well have been my espresso machine.) Now that I have a fancy Rocket, I need an equally fancy grinder to go with... I'm looking for something that will work well for espresso but is also usable for pourover or French press. I've been looking at the favourites that come up in the thread and from what I'm piecing together between different reviews, the Rancilio Rocky is more solid than the Baratza Vario, but isn't quite as consistent? I was also looking at the Barataza Sette, which besides looking like a prop from the Jetsons, Seattle Coffee Gear advises against for non-espresso?
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Aug 23, 2018 08:17
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Ultimate Mango posted:What’s your budget? I went through 5 Settes and gave up. When they worked they were good but jet engine loud. Noise-wise, supposedly the latest/current Sette Wi (vs. W) model is better? But yeah, durability is one of my concerns (more than budget). I could spring $600 on a grinder, not so much if it breaks within a year or two. As for manual grinders, I can't say I've tried many of them, but the ones I have felt like it took 5 minutes to grind a a double shot. 
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Aug 26, 2018 21:54
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HappyHippo posted:So why not start draining sooner? It's pour-over, it's always draining. e: I missed the clever coffee dripper half. Yeah.
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Oct 9, 2018 04:54
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One thing that annoys me when getting a fresh bag of beans is dialling in the grind for espresso. But not so much that I have to dial it in as much as the fact that it seems to change in the first few days. I'll pull a good shot at, say, 13 seconds on grind setting 6, then the next day that same setting will pull too fast and I have to tighten grind size down to 4. Rinse and repeat 3-4 times each bag. Is this a normal part of the process? Should I be scrubbing out my grinder more often?
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Nov 10, 2018 20:22
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Yeah, I definitely wait for a bag to degas, usually 5-7 days after roast date. I'm not familiar enough with different roasts and blends to adjust that period so I wait this out by just trying to time a replacement bag 5 days before I'll need it... For my most recent one, this happened earlier than usual at just 4 days. I guess fresh roasts extract slower and that speeds up as the beans dry/air out?
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Nov 11, 2018 00:05
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https://bluebottlecoffee.com/store/third-wave-waterquote:
But is it organic!? heeeere, millenial, come and give us your money 
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Jan 25, 2019 22:12
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 11:43 |
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Tippecanoe posted:Their marketing is awful but I genuinely think the product improves the taste of my coffee. It's cheaper to make it yourself by buying minerals but it's such a pain and it works out to only a few cents per cup with third wave water. They always send me discount codes too. iospace posted:This is a thing in homebrewers. They'll buy salt packets in hopes they can recreate the water of a specific region in the world. Yeah, I initially misinterpreted the product and thought it was some homeopathic bullshit like alkaline water. Give your water the health benefits of a well brewed third wave coffee! Given that distilled water is bad for brewing and most tap water also is bad, I get it. After reading the essay on water that was posted in this thread, I get Crystal Spring bottled water for the espresso machine.
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Jan 27, 2019 02:20
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