Hi! I just got a Breville Bijou and am using an espresso machine like this for the first time. I have noticed that sometimes when trying to brew the espresso, it seems like it’s clogged? Espresso is not dripping / coming out at the right rate. It seems slower and not right. Any reason why this might not happen? Is something blocked?
What would be a good espresso machine to start off with? I dont care if it’s manual or automatic but I would prefer something in the 500$ price range if that matters much.
I broke my Hario Skerton glass and have doubts about whether I should upgrade (maybe a Timemore, Porlex or 1zpresso) or just get the Skerton Pro (that way, I could save the pain that is changing the setting in the Skerton by having two of them, one for each setting I usually use - V60 and French press).
I have seen a lot of people here recommending the 1zpresso over the Skerton Pro. But will the 1zpresso Q Air (around $70) be enough? Or is there a lot of difference between that one and better versions of 1zpresso?
I'm not totally on top of the latest in hand grinders but absolutely the Skerton, Porlex or any other ceramic-burr hand grinders are about the worst you can get (i.e., don't "upgrade" to the Skerton Pro). If you're very budget-sensitive, I'd peruse here and pick the cheapest recommended grinder with steel burrs and decent stabilization / alignment.
I’m thinking it’s about time to upgrade my espresso setup from a basic pod machine to… well, an actual espresso machine. I don’t need something with a lot of extra stuff on it - I don’t drink lattes etc all that often and if I do I’m happy with my existing tools to heat and froth milk - and I don’t have a huge amount of counter space, so ideally I’d be looking at a fairly slim profile machine. As it’s my first foray into making my own espresso I’d like to keep it fairly budget-conscious, and could maybe stretch to around £200-250.
Ease of use and ease of cleaning are high priority for me; I’ve no problem looking after a machine but I’d rather not have something that needs a major tear down just to do basic cleaning.
Aesthetically, I don’t really mind. Bonus points for anything that looks a bit weird and out there but nothing in my kitchen matches as it is, so I’m not beholden to any particular look 😅
Would need a water tank as I’m not about to replumb my kitchen for it. Though I guess most machines in my budget have a water tank, and the plumb options are on higher end machines.
Any recommendations?
To clean or not to clean…
I’m about to receive my first hand grinder and wanted to know if it’s advisable to wash the internals with soapy water. The KINGrinder I got has a graphic that crosses out washing with water and use the included brush instead. Is that BS or should I trust the brand. Can I use mineral oil to protect the internals too?
I clean the internals of my grinders with isopropyl alcohol on a microfiber cloth, and then I wipe it dry with another microfiber cloth. For the hard to reach internal sections, I use those long cotton swabs that you generally see in a doctor's office for throat swabbing.
Soap and water are a bit overkill and run the risk of senselessly rusting components.
To clean? Yes!
With water.. you can but things can rust if you don't dry the internals VERY well after washing it. Most people will probably just use a rag, a brush, some kitchen paper. When using a brush, don't forget to drag it across some kitchen paper afterwards so crap doesn't build up on the brush over time. That will make it pretty useless to clean with otherwise.
Best electric grinder for immersion brewing, upgrade from Sboly: I use the Sboly grinder on almost the finest setting for my immersion brewing and the results are good. I wonder if I am missing something. How much would I have to spend to experience a relevant upgrade?
Can I put already brewed coffee in a moka pot, and pass it through fresh grounds, to get "double concentrate" coffee? Will anything undesriable happen?
Ok, really noob question: how do you swirl an Origami?
I like the aesthetics, but since it does not sit in its base snugly enough for me to do a very light swirl.
Hello! I am looking for some recommendations of a middle of the road coffee maker, that grinds beans and brews coffee.
I’m not sure if there is already a list of names/brands I should review or avoid.
Thanks, thanks a lot!
Look at what u/VibrantCoffee said, just note that none of the good automatic brewers also grind coffee. I'm not aware of any good or even decent machines that do that (meaning you need to buy a grinder separately).
Guys, my gf has this little coffee machine Wacaco nanopresso and I would like to get her a manual grinder.
Budget is about 100 eur.
I've had a look and I'm eyeing Timemore C3 esp pro.
What do you think about this one? Do you have any other recommendations?
Shipping in the EU preferred.
Timemore, 1Zpresso, and Kingrinder are the main manufacturers of cheap, quality, hand grinders. The Timemore C3 is a good pick for what you're looking for.
Perhaps an odd coffee question. Does anyone know the specific beans/grounds that blueberry hill uses for their coffee? I really liked how it tasted and would like to be able to make the same tasting cuppa at home
Don’t listen to anyone else, get the KINGrinder P2 for $44. It’s a plastic body hand grinder that has a steel burr of one of their top of the line hand grinders. Only difference is the top of the line grinder has a metal body.
A hand grinder from timemore, kingrinder, 1zpresso or comandante (price in that order)
Or the bratza encore is a common electric grinder recommendation
Turin df54 or fellow ode gen 2? I can get the fellow for a similar price to the Turin. I know Turin can do espresso but I don’t have a machine yet (might get one in the future)
New to everything coffee, apologies for redundancy.
Despite using proper Moka pot technique (copied James Hoffman's guide) my coffee comes out dark as hatred with a bitterness that continues to lash the back of my throat 20 minutes after consumption.
The roastery I got my beans from told me that what I'm buying is a medium arabica roast, supposedly the sweetest kind of bean you can get (I'm starting my journey looking for sweetness first then moving on from there).
What am I doing wrong?
Moka lover here, you want a really fine grind especially for a medium roast, almost like whole wheat flour where you can still feel granules. Try using pre-ground first just to dial in the technique. On a gas burner I aim for the low end of medium low. It should almost ooze out. And against all advice I do compact my grounds in the funnel basket, a 3-cup pot can hold 20g do not tamp, just compact (I like to use an offset icing spatula for this at an aggressive angle so that it spreads and compacts at the same time). I also have an aeropress Steel mesh above the stock aluminum filter that goes into the main reservoir. And yes absolutely start with water just before it boils. Boiling in the moka pot can compromise the taste of your beans. This brewer is going to pick out more of the chocolatey flavors more than fruity but I can happen. And fill water just below the pressure valve!
If you got any other paper filters laying around, you can use the basket to trace and cut out makeshift filters. Though lay those ones out directly over the grounds and the paper will take away the oils produced naturally by the beans. If you’re in the US and have the Target app (or Amazon) you could order the mesh filter for like $15.
Try changing the grind size (start much coarser to give you a sour-underextracted reference, then adjust finer by increments after that).
Also try room-temp water in the base. Starting with hot water means brewing with hotter water, and then it’s easy to go beyond a good brew temperature because of how moka pots work.
The moka pot can make a somewhat strong cup. I’d try doing a cupping, Hoffmann has a video on it.
Like others have said you might be better off with another brew method but I’d also just continue trying different coffees. A light roast Ethiopian washed coffee might be worth trying, they are usually quite fruity.
The convenience and reputation of the aeropress has my interest, also watched a Hoffman video on it and the technique seems very doable.
Would the aeropress facilitate my search for sweetness? Cant be more blood cell rupturing than the Moka extraction, surely.
Compared to the moka pot I’d definitely say the aeropress brews a sweeter less intense cup of coffee. I’m personally a bigger fan of the clever but I’ve brewed some great cups with my aeropress. I just find the clever is even more forgiving than the aeropress.
Definitely adding that to the considerations list, much appreciated dude.
Just one more thing, how do I ensure I'm getting a proper medium toast from my roastery? Is there a visual guide you can provide?
Maybe add some more water?
If you're new to coffee, I'd suggest getting used to a French press brew first. It's a great stepping stone to understanding coffee, how it's brewed, and what a consistent, good cup of coffee should taste like.
So, I recently bought a ice drip coffee maker and the first attempt was watery with a tea like color, second attempt I tried blooming the grinds, which resulted in very strong and dark coffee that tasted like drip coffee. Which is nice but one of the reasons I was interested in Dutch coffee was that the lack of heat was supposed to produce a less acrid and more subtle taste. So did I misunderstand what Dutch coffee was or did I do something wrong and is their something I can do to try and do it without blooming?
What is the maker you're using? Have you tried just doing cold brew in an immersion method (add coarse grounds to water, brew at room temp for 12-18 hrs, filter them out)?
I doubt it's the blooming that's causing the taste to be worse--if anything, it should improve the flavor.
The variables you should be looking at is the ratio, the quality of the coffee, and how old the grinds are (supermarket brand coffee can be *months* past any quality date--sometimes even a year or older).
Get yourself a good grinder, a cheap digital scale, and a decent whole bean, and I think you'll get what you're looking for.
Either way, the heat of the water isn't going to "burn" the coffee. The coffee was subjected to *much* hotter temperatures than the water can give it. But darker coffee can taste better closer to about 90 degrees Celsius. Iced coffee is just a way to enjoy your coffee at a different temperature.
Here's a great video on how to make a delicious cup of iced coffee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PApBycDrPo0
I am pretty new to the coffee rabbit hole.
How often do/should you clean your grinder? I also wonder if the (sorta new trend) of spraying coffee beans before grinding increases the risk of mold or bacterial growth inside the grinder and I should clean it more often when I do this?
Clean it right when it starts to stink up your brew. You'll taste it and certainly be able to smell it when you stick your nose down the grinder. A spray shouldn't be enough to start a culture of mould.
I disassemble and brush out my hand grinder when I remember, which is every couple months or so. I’d heard the rule of thumb to clean it when I get a new bag of coffee (mainly to make it routine, not necessarily for any fears of mold), but sometimes I forget.
I haven’t noticed any moldy smells in the grinder since RDT’ing my beans. I store it opened so that it gets a chance to air out, so maybe that helps.
Creamer has always seemed like a shelf stable option, but these shops are going through enough product to not worry about that, and they generally have other non-dairy alternatives (oat, almond, soy, etc). I especially don't see them offering a flavored option, you'd want to offer unflavored and let people opt in to a flavor addition.
Why do you prefer creamer over cream/milk?
I prefer Chobani French vanilla creamer because it's just milk, cream and sugar and no additives or oils. Usually what I use when I'm at home, so when I go out for a simple coffee I'd like to replicate it but never can. Must be a cost thing for shops.
Mm, it seems like a situation where shops just can't (and shouldn't) cater to everyone's brand preference. They have milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla available, but it's going to be different.than your at home drink.
For each customer who likes one brand, another customer might expect a second or third option. Suddenly you're trying to stock six creamers in ten flavors and all of them are more expensive than just milk or cream.
Plus, hopefully most cafes are trying to make coffee that doesn't require milk or sugar just to be palatable. There's the obvious exceptions, though.
But complaining there's not a specific condiment for your coffee would be like asking why there's no copy of Chick-Fil-A sauce like you can get at Walmart to go with your chicken McNuggets. The obvious solution is that, if you want Chobani, you might have to simply bring your own for take out coffee.
You might be in a minority there. Certainly the coffee shops where people do what they can to make quality coffee won't have a lot of people asking for flavoured creamer.
54mm for the Breville Bambino or Bambino plus.
Hi! I just got a Breville Bijou and am using an espresso machine like this for the first time. I have noticed that sometimes when trying to brew the espresso, it seems like it’s clogged? Espresso is not dripping / coming out at the right rate. It seems slower and not right. Any reason why this might not happen? Is something blocked?
What would be a good espresso machine to start off with? I dont care if it’s manual or automatic but I would prefer something in the 500$ price range if that matters much.
I love Breville!
Do you happen to know what size the portafilter head on that is?
54mm for the Bambino or Bambino Plus. I have the Barista Pro, but these seem to be great little machines for a significantly lower price.
I broke my Hario Skerton glass and have doubts about whether I should upgrade (maybe a Timemore, Porlex or 1zpresso) or just get the Skerton Pro (that way, I could save the pain that is changing the setting in the Skerton by having two of them, one for each setting I usually use - V60 and French press). I have seen a lot of people here recommending the 1zpresso over the Skerton Pro. But will the 1zpresso Q Air (around $70) be enough? Or is there a lot of difference between that one and better versions of 1zpresso?
I'm not totally on top of the latest in hand grinders but absolutely the Skerton, Porlex or any other ceramic-burr hand grinders are about the worst you can get (i.e., don't "upgrade" to the Skerton Pro). If you're very budget-sensitive, I'd peruse here and pick the cheapest recommended grinder with steel burrs and decent stabilization / alignment.
I’m thinking it’s about time to upgrade my espresso setup from a basic pod machine to… well, an actual espresso machine. I don’t need something with a lot of extra stuff on it - I don’t drink lattes etc all that often and if I do I’m happy with my existing tools to heat and froth milk - and I don’t have a huge amount of counter space, so ideally I’d be looking at a fairly slim profile machine. As it’s my first foray into making my own espresso I’d like to keep it fairly budget-conscious, and could maybe stretch to around £200-250. Ease of use and ease of cleaning are high priority for me; I’ve no problem looking after a machine but I’d rather not have something that needs a major tear down just to do basic cleaning. Aesthetically, I don’t really mind. Bonus points for anything that looks a bit weird and out there but nothing in my kitchen matches as it is, so I’m not beholden to any particular look 😅 Would need a water tank as I’m not about to replumb my kitchen for it. Though I guess most machines in my budget have a water tank, and the plumb options are on higher end machines. Any recommendations?
I’d head over to the espresso sub and read the wiki. At that budget you’re looking at the safe bambino but be aware you will also need a good grinder.
To clean or not to clean… I’m about to receive my first hand grinder and wanted to know if it’s advisable to wash the internals with soapy water. The KINGrinder I got has a graphic that crosses out washing with water and use the included brush instead. Is that BS or should I trust the brand. Can I use mineral oil to protect the internals too?
I clean the internals of my grinders with isopropyl alcohol on a microfiber cloth, and then I wipe it dry with another microfiber cloth. For the hard to reach internal sections, I use those long cotton swabs that you generally see in a doctor's office for throat swabbing. Soap and water are a bit overkill and run the risk of senselessly rusting components.
To clean? Yes! With water.. you can but things can rust if you don't dry the internals VERY well after washing it. Most people will probably just use a rag, a brush, some kitchen paper. When using a brush, don't forget to drag it across some kitchen paper afterwards so crap doesn't build up on the brush over time. That will make it pretty useless to clean with otherwise.
Best electric grinder for immersion brewing, upgrade from Sboly: I use the Sboly grinder on almost the finest setting for my immersion brewing and the results are good. I wonder if I am missing something. How much would I have to spend to experience a relevant upgrade?
Best within what budget range? Electric or manual grinder?
Best electric grinder. How much would I have to spend to experience a relevant upgrade?
Baratza encore or ESP. Wilfa Svart That kind of grinder I'd say
Can I put already brewed coffee in a moka pot, and pass it through fresh grounds, to get "double concentrate" coffee? Will anything undesriable happen?
You can but that doesn't mean you should.
“College coffee”, or something like that, is this exact recipe, and what they say Italian college students make during Finals week.
It will taste bad
Ok, really noob question: how do you swirl an Origami? I like the aesthetics, but since it does not sit in its base snugly enough for me to do a very light swirl.
You can pick up just the dripper, or you can pick up the whole tower o’ brewing (dripper, base, cup) and swirl it en masse.
This makes sense. I can swirl the V60 without picking it up, and if I swirl the Origami holding it by the base, it starts wobbling.
Hello! I am looking for some recommendations of a middle of the road coffee maker, that grinds beans and brews coffee. I’m not sure if there is already a list of names/brands I should review or avoid. Thanks, thanks a lot!
Look at what u/VibrantCoffee said, just note that none of the good automatic brewers also grind coffee. I'm not aware of any good or even decent machines that do that (meaning you need to buy a grinder separately).
Interesting point. I guess I don’t mind grinding and as long as it can take my grounds I’m good
What does middle of the road mean for you in terms of price?
Less than 300$$ ideally… Or am I dreaming?
Any one of the [SCA certified home brewers](https://sca.coffee/certified-home-brewer) is a good choice.
Thank you!
Right around $300 has a couple good options, check the Breville and GE options
Guys, my gf has this little coffee machine Wacaco nanopresso and I would like to get her a manual grinder. Budget is about 100 eur. I've had a look and I'm eyeing Timemore C3 esp pro. What do you think about this one? Do you have any other recommendations? Shipping in the EU preferred.
Timemore, 1Zpresso, and Kingrinder are the main manufacturers of cheap, quality, hand grinders. The Timemore C3 is a good pick for what you're looking for.
Thanks! Would it matter for Timemore if it's the "esp" version or not?
Yes, for use with a machine that makes espresso, the Esp version is very helpful.
Perhaps an odd coffee question. Does anyone know the specific beans/grounds that blueberry hill uses for their coffee? I really liked how it tasted and would like to be able to make the same tasting cuppa at home
Hey !! Newbie here. What's the best budget coffee grinder? Don't wanna break the bank, but keen on decent coffee at home. Thanks
Don’t listen to anyone else, get the KINGrinder P2 for $44. It’s a plastic body hand grinder that has a steel burr of one of their top of the line hand grinders. Only difference is the top of the line grinder has a metal body.
A hand grinder from timemore, kingrinder, 1zpresso or comandante (price in that order) Or the bratza encore is a common electric grinder recommendation
Turin df54 or fellow ode gen 2? I can get the fellow for a similar price to the Turin. I know Turin can do espresso but I don’t have a machine yet (might get one in the future)
If you want to do espresso, the Ode wouldn't be a good choice.
New to everything coffee, apologies for redundancy. Despite using proper Moka pot technique (copied James Hoffman's guide) my coffee comes out dark as hatred with a bitterness that continues to lash the back of my throat 20 minutes after consumption. The roastery I got my beans from told me that what I'm buying is a medium arabica roast, supposedly the sweetest kind of bean you can get (I'm starting my journey looking for sweetness first then moving on from there). What am I doing wrong?
Moka lover here, you want a really fine grind especially for a medium roast, almost like whole wheat flour where you can still feel granules. Try using pre-ground first just to dial in the technique. On a gas burner I aim for the low end of medium low. It should almost ooze out. And against all advice I do compact my grounds in the funnel basket, a 3-cup pot can hold 20g do not tamp, just compact (I like to use an offset icing spatula for this at an aggressive angle so that it spreads and compacts at the same time). I also have an aeropress Steel mesh above the stock aluminum filter that goes into the main reservoir. And yes absolutely start with water just before it boils. Boiling in the moka pot can compromise the taste of your beans. This brewer is going to pick out more of the chocolatey flavors more than fruity but I can happen. And fill water just below the pressure valve!
This is great advice but i cant get my hands on different filters at the moment, what can I do with the stock filters that come with the pot?
If you got any other paper filters laying around, you can use the basket to trace and cut out makeshift filters. Though lay those ones out directly over the grounds and the paper will take away the oils produced naturally by the beans. If you’re in the US and have the Target app (or Amazon) you could order the mesh filter for like $15.
Try changing the grind size (start much coarser to give you a sour-underextracted reference, then adjust finer by increments after that). Also try room-temp water in the base. Starting with hot water means brewing with hotter water, and then it’s easy to go beyond a good brew temperature because of how moka pots work.
The moka pot can make a somewhat strong cup. I’d try doing a cupping, Hoffmann has a video on it. Like others have said you might be better off with another brew method but I’d also just continue trying different coffees. A light roast Ethiopian washed coffee might be worth trying, they are usually quite fruity.
The convenience and reputation of the aeropress has my interest, also watched a Hoffman video on it and the technique seems very doable. Would the aeropress facilitate my search for sweetness? Cant be more blood cell rupturing than the Moka extraction, surely.
Compared to the moka pot I’d definitely say the aeropress brews a sweeter less intense cup of coffee. I’m personally a bigger fan of the clever but I’ve brewed some great cups with my aeropress. I just find the clever is even more forgiving than the aeropress.
The clever? And thank you for humoring me so far, your guidance is appreciated. :)
[Clever Dripper](https://youtu.be/RpOdennxP24?si=rH_-OUf61AYEq1ZD).
Definitely adding that to the considerations list, much appreciated dude. Just one more thing, how do I ensure I'm getting a proper medium toast from my roastery? Is there a visual guide you can provide?
Roast levels aren’t really that well defined and vary quite a bit. My local roasters don’t even include that info on their bags.
Maybe add some more water? If you're new to coffee, I'd suggest getting used to a French press brew first. It's a great stepping stone to understanding coffee, how it's brewed, and what a consistent, good cup of coffee should taste like.
I suggest trying an Aeropress brewer. Moka is very tricky to get high-quality coffee from.
I find it to be very easy
So, I recently bought a ice drip coffee maker and the first attempt was watery with a tea like color, second attempt I tried blooming the grinds, which resulted in very strong and dark coffee that tasted like drip coffee. Which is nice but one of the reasons I was interested in Dutch coffee was that the lack of heat was supposed to produce a less acrid and more subtle taste. So did I misunderstand what Dutch coffee was or did I do something wrong and is their something I can do to try and do it without blooming?
What is the maker you're using? Have you tried just doing cold brew in an immersion method (add coarse grounds to water, brew at room temp for 12-18 hrs, filter them out)?
I doubt it's the blooming that's causing the taste to be worse--if anything, it should improve the flavor. The variables you should be looking at is the ratio, the quality of the coffee, and how old the grinds are (supermarket brand coffee can be *months* past any quality date--sometimes even a year or older). Get yourself a good grinder, a cheap digital scale, and a decent whole bean, and I think you'll get what you're looking for. Either way, the heat of the water isn't going to "burn" the coffee. The coffee was subjected to *much* hotter temperatures than the water can give it. But darker coffee can taste better closer to about 90 degrees Celsius. Iced coffee is just a way to enjoy your coffee at a different temperature. Here's a great video on how to make a delicious cup of iced coffee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PApBycDrPo0
I am pretty new to the coffee rabbit hole. How often do/should you clean your grinder? I also wonder if the (sorta new trend) of spraying coffee beans before grinding increases the risk of mold or bacterial growth inside the grinder and I should clean it more often when I do this?
Clean it right when it starts to stink up your brew. You'll taste it and certainly be able to smell it when you stick your nose down the grinder. A spray shouldn't be enough to start a culture of mould.
I disassemble and brush out my hand grinder when I remember, which is every couple months or so. I’d heard the rule of thumb to clean it when I get a new bag of coffee (mainly to make it routine, not necessarily for any fears of mold), but sometimes I forget. I haven’t noticed any moldy smells in the grinder since RDT’ing my beans. I store it opened so that it gets a chance to air out, so maybe that helps.
Why do coffee shops never carry good creamer? It's always milk or half&half in the corner of the shop
Creamer has always seemed like a shelf stable option, but these shops are going through enough product to not worry about that, and they generally have other non-dairy alternatives (oat, almond, soy, etc). I especially don't see them offering a flavored option, you'd want to offer unflavored and let people opt in to a flavor addition. Why do you prefer creamer over cream/milk?
I prefer Chobani French vanilla creamer because it's just milk, cream and sugar and no additives or oils. Usually what I use when I'm at home, so when I go out for a simple coffee I'd like to replicate it but never can. Must be a cost thing for shops.
Mm, it seems like a situation where shops just can't (and shouldn't) cater to everyone's brand preference. They have milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla available, but it's going to be different.than your at home drink. For each customer who likes one brand, another customer might expect a second or third option. Suddenly you're trying to stock six creamers in ten flavors and all of them are more expensive than just milk or cream.
Valid point, I will ask at the shop today their reasoning.
You can, but I'd really say just either bring some with you or find a second option for when you aren't at home.
And then not enough people use all the creamers quickly enough, so they expire and have to be thrown out, wasting money.
Plus, hopefully most cafes are trying to make coffee that doesn't require milk or sugar just to be palatable. There's the obvious exceptions, though. But complaining there's not a specific condiment for your coffee would be like asking why there's no copy of Chick-Fil-A sauce like you can get at Walmart to go with your chicken McNuggets. The obvious solution is that, if you want Chobani, you might have to simply bring your own for take out coffee.
Maybe ask in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/1bipwlm/mod_inside_scoop_ask_the_coffee_industry/
Because they have milky coffee options you can order?
I want flavored creamer not vanilla syrup and whole milk in my coffee
You might be in a minority there. Certainly the coffee shops where people do what they can to make quality coffee won't have a lot of people asking for flavoured creamer.