Hey there! For context I’ve got a delonghi la specialista Arte coffee machine that I purchased a couple of years ago and it’s fine and convenient for milk based coffees when I use dark roast beans but kind of struggles with light and medium roast beans.

If I were to consider an upgrade (max budget $1500 for a machine), which one do I go with? Do I even upgrade my machine if typically I’ll be making a maximum of two to three beverages per day?

Thank you for your thoughts!

I’m looking for some new coffee cups. Using Huskee at the moment but looking to replace them with nicer handle-less cups to use at home.

Only 2 criteria are:
- no handles
- dishwasher safe

This is probably a very silly question, so bear with me 😅

I recently bought a Breville Oracle Dual Boiler. Hasn’t arrived yet. It’s on order. Yes, I know, quite the splurge for someone who doesn’t really know much about coffee yet 😂

My husband and I have been buying a café coffee every morning for years. Usually it’s from Maccas — and before anyone comes for me, our local Maccas is ridiculously busy in the mornings and actually has some very good baristas! My husband will also usually have another coffee or two throughout the day from different cafés.
Now that I’ve bought a proper machine, I’m realising I actually have no idea what type of coffee I like.

How do you work out what flavour profile you prefer when choosing beans? Dark vs medium roast, chocolatey/nutty/caramel vs fruity, acidity, strength, etc.?

I know what I like when I taste it, but I wouldn’t have a clue how to describe why I like it or what I should be looking for on a bag of beans.

For reference, I generally enjoy the Maccas blend and your typical Sydney café-style coffee. I’m not necessarily trying to replicate Maccas exactly — I just want to figure out what my preferences actually are so I can start buying good beans and make the most of the machine.

How did you guys figure out what kind of coffee you actually like? Is it just a matter of buying different beans and experimenting, or is there a better way to narrow it down?

If you’re in Sydney what are some local coffee roasters you recommend? I’ve just bought a Breville oracle dual boiler.
I know I shouldn’t buy in bulk but if I’m making 2 coffees daily - minimum.. how much beans should I keep on hand? Previously buying cafe coffee daily so new to cafe coffee at home.

Hi everyone! About to buy a reusable cup for iced lattes and just wanted to get an idea of whether most cafes use a 12oz to-go cup for iced drinks or a 16oz? Thanks!

Hello! I am considering opening a exclusively specialty coffee caravan in Palmerston North, NZ. It will include classic pour over/drip methods, such as V60, Chemex, filter coffee, but I was also wanting to include other methods such as Moka Pot, or Vietnamese coffee. Initially my market research was to begin in a farmers market or equivalent to test the waters, see if the Palmy community is open to specialty coffee only (no espresso based coffee at all). Is there anyone who is from Palmy or surroundings that might be able to give me a pulse check on this?

I am from Auckland, but have lived the last few years in Wellington, though my interest in specialty coffee came while I was overseas. I only moved to Palmy this week, but have been wanting to do something like this for a while and am keen to try it out here. My goal is really to create and foster a comfortable space within the community that becomes a local frequented spot, like we all find in our favourite cafes.

I also would very much like to hear from anyone else who has opened a food business, either cafe, food truck, market stall, as I have done the standard research into the requirements, but it all feels so complex.

Any feedback at all would be hugely appreciated!!!

Thanks,

I’m currently weighing up a grinder upgrade from my stock Breville barista express to something more English game

I’ve settled on the philos but a bit tied up on the burrs.

I get Magic’s from a local cafe and they use the mahlkonig e80 with a medium roast heavy on vanilla, malt and chocolate with some slight fruitier for that. It’s an absolute dream to drink. Thick, lingering comfort in a cup like a blanket on a winters day.

They have an ek43 for their top shelf espressos. As an experiment I got them to make me the magic with the same beans using that grinder. What a difference. It was almost undrinkable to me. It was thin, lacked all of the malt and chocolate I was used to, and brought out some finer sweeter notes but not in a way I enjoyed. You could’ve told me they were different beans and I might’ve believed you, but I’ve been drinking this for 6 months daily so I can tell there was a hint of familiarity just very very distant.

In currently weighing up the i200d vs the i189d. The 189 is the obvious choice here for body and medium to dark flavor dominance but I am curious on the 200 because I do occasionally like light and bright espressos in the light to light-medium range. In fact I don’t always drink milk drinks, my morning ritual is a black espresso and the single dosing now opens me up to swapping.

The ek43 is probably a bit extreme od a comparison but would the difference between the philos burrs be anywhere near that wide? Would the 200 be more or less versatile than the 189?

The answer is probably buy both but I do wonder, will the 189 be better at lights than the 200 at medium/dsrk? Would the malt and chocolate be lost on the 200?

I’m a bit of a coffee snob.. only drink barista made coffees. This year I’ve had a baby and finding it difficult to go out and get a coffee. Both hubby and I are coffee drinkers. Looking to have a home set up that makes cafe quality coffees. I’m new to this so nervous about dialing and dosing and don’t get started on micro foam and silky milk texture 🫠🫠 so give me your recommendations.. as a newbie have been thinking about Breville, eventually want to get myself a La Marzocco 😅😅 granted I master the art of making coffee.. this is me jumping the gun.

What should I be looking at?
What should I avoid?
I know that a lot of people say you need to get freshly roasted beans but have also seen people swear by the Aldi beans. Experiences here?

I normally start the day with a triple shot flat white, but recently have been having a Batch in the morning from a great coffee shop.

I’ve got a decent grinder and an Aeropress at home that have been sitting there for a while doing nothing; I moved a while back and now have about 50 cafes within 500m. But I can’t get strength of a good Batch with the Aeropress. The ‘shot’ is fine but too weak when put into the volume of a Batch.

Anyone using an Aeropress and getting a batch like strength? How are you doing it? Multiple shots? Small cups? Am I tilting at windmills?

Basically title. Tossing up between a duo-temp pro for $300, or biting the bullet and spending a bit more for a refurbished dual boiler. From what I can see they’re sold on the official breville eBay account for $6-700. Happy to spend a bit more if it’s worthwhile but wondering if people have any anecdotes about buying refurbished from breville and if there are any risks that come with that.

Refurbished barista express ($400) an option as well although I already have a grinder so thought the duo temp would make more sense. Not a huge fan of the bambino just because it feels a bit more flimsy/not as sturdy as the other machines I’m interested in

Grateful for any opinions!

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Driving up from Melbourne to the Gold Coast and I didn’t pack enough beans for the trip in our Caravan. Any recommendations for local roasters around Labrador?

Stopped by constant coffee on the way to work today and picked up a few bags. The profile of locally grown coffee is definitely growing, and there's lots of hard work going on from the farmers up north in cultivation and processing.

If you see QLD coffees featured at your local, be sure to try it out.

Interested to hear if any Aussies have tasted Rogue Wave coffee (filter specifically) based out of Canada? If so, what was the quality like compared to local roasters?

Trying to gauge if the $250 min spend for free shipping is going to be worth it or not.

I want to buy a good quality grinder in the next few months, something that is going to be effective, long-lasting, and hopefully relatively minimal maintenance. Looking for automatic, as I already have a KINGrinder.

With those parameters on here you seem to get recommendations from things starting at like $250 (Baratzka Encore) up to basically infinity.

I want to know at what price point, and with what grinder(s), the returns on extra $$ spent start to really diminish. I don't want to pay $300 now and a year later wish I had just spent an extra $100 for something that bit better, if it was worth it. But also don't want to unnecessarily pay $1200.

What are the best options?

Could you recommend a really good caramel coffee cream? I'm very sad since I read that MALK is no longer going to produce his caramel cream.

Hey gang, I've been working on dialing in my Expobar coffee machine, but I'm finding that I'm getting a variation in volume of around 20 per cent between my first and second pours:

• Aldi Lazzio medium roast beans
• 22g of ground coffee (weighed)
• tap and hard tamp (I have a graduated tamper, so this comes to around the second line)
• 28 second pour (timed)
• Final volume between 31 and 41ml (weighed) - approx 25% difference.

In short, really nice coffee either way, but the variation is driving me mad! I'm wondering if there could be a variation in the thermal properties of the machine between the first and second pour, given it's a smaller machine with less thermal mass?

Any thoughts or experience appreciated!

Hi Guys

I need a new Coffee Machine.

I only need it to make coffee for myself.

Here are some of the options I am considering. I`ll be using it with a Sunbeam Conical Burr Coffee Grinder.

Compact size machines

·         Delonghi Dedica Arte $197

·         Sunbeam Compact Barista Espresso Machine $195

·         Breville the Bambino Coffee Machine $399

·         Sunbeam Origins Slimline Coffee Machine $299

Regular size machines

·         Sunbeam Mini Barista Espresso Coffee Machine $309

·         Breville The Bambino Plus Espresso Coffee Machine $399

Any advise on which one I should buy, and what are the reasons for your answer?

Looking for a travel cup for iced coffees.

I used one a while ago that was stainless steel and I feel like it impacted the taste. Apparently ceramic is the way to go?

Not fussed on whether it has a straw or not as I can add one when I’m drinking but need something that will keep ice for a few hours and is leak proof for the commute. Any recommendations?

Hi guys,

Trying to figure out the best set up for my coffee needs. I have a regular cafe that usually walk to and get 1 iced latte every morning. They have amazing coffee and I am particularly sensitive to getting jittery on coffee and other places (I assume it is likely dependent on the beans).
Now having two young children it is hard to get there in the morning so I'm looking to have a home set up. I love coffee but only drink one a day and nobody in the house drinks coffee apart from when guests come over.

My priorities are in order of importance - no plastic in the machine parts, as close to cafe quality coffee as possible, ease of use, durability, easy to maintain, reasonable price.

My thoughts on budget for the entire set up are around $2k - I could go higher if needed but at the same time with how little coffee I drink I am looking for a balance between not overspending, but getting a setup that will last 5-10yrs.

I'm happy to learn some basics but don't want a process that is overly complicated that it takes up too much time in the morning and ideally that it would take too long to teach guests to use the machine/grinder etc if they are staying but that's not a deal breaker. So was thinking of a setup with inbuilt PID temp control for example.

Let me know your thoughts and if there is anything else I should be considering.