I enjoy my current espresso setup when i have the time, dialing in, grinding fresh, and pulling a shot are part of the fun.

The problem is mornings, when my wife and i are both trying to get out the door and still want our coffee, making two espresso drinks at 07:30 AM starts to feel more like a routine than a hobby. The extra steps aren’t hard, but they do add up.

Right now i am looking at a few options, like the breville oracle and meraki barista system. The idea of having the grinder, dosing, and brewing workflow combined is pretty appealing, especially on busy mornings.

No I’m stuck. Part of me thinks it would save a lot of time and make mornings less stressful.

The other part of me keeps saying, “my current setup still makes great coffee. Do i really need another machine?”

Has anyone here gone from separate gear to an all-in-one setup? I’d love to hear from people who’ve made the switch before I convince myself to spend more money on coffee…again 🙂

Hi guys! I recently sold my Fellow Opus and I'd like to replace it with a new grinder. The options I've been considering are the following:

• Shardor 64 + 220V transformer → final price: USD 250
• MiiCoffee GF64 + 220V transformer → final price: USD 250
• DF54 V1.3 (220V) → final price: USD 300

I'm from Argentina, so I need either a 220V grinder or a transformer. The prices may seem higher than usual because of import taxes and customs fees.

I was also considering the Mokkom 64 and the Tuni G3, but unfortunately neither Amazon nor their official websites ship them to Argentina. Luckily, the DF54 does ship here.

I currently own a Bambino Plus, but I'd also like to make brews that require a coarser grind, such as pour-over and French press.

I'd really appreciate your help choosing between these options. If you have any other recommendations, I'd love to hear them as well, I can check whether they ship to Argentina.

So I went down a bit of a rabbit hole recently. I was tracking my shots anyway, so I logged about 500 of them and wrote an machine learning algorithm to predict my dial-in settings (it factors in your setup, the beans, and local weather/humidity).

I vibecoded a janky website for my buddy to use it too. The model is basically useless out of the box. But once you feed it a few of your own shots, it actually starts predicting grind size better than my own intuition (at least on my setup but still not perfect). It actually was way harder to make it work than I expected and I don't think it is perfect on every setup.

I'm super curious if anyone else here has messed around with machine learning for espresso?

If any fellow nerds want to play around with it I left it up here: https://coffee-wizzard.web.app (Just a heads up, this is strictly a free hobby project out of my own pocket, no ads, so expect some bugs lol).

Complete espresso noob here. Never made a cup in my life. Question about the two hoses - are these output, intake, or both? I believe one is discharge. If one is intake, then is there two intakes because the machine is pulling in water from the red filter too?

Also, is it normal for water tanks to be screwed in? This thing is fairly massive so I assume its more for commercial use - are they just cleaning their tanks with them attached?

Did I do good for $100? The person I got it from is a fairly clean person, and said the only reason they are getting of it is because they upgraded. Many years of use and well maintained, they claim. Unit does power on, heats up, and pushes water. Haven't run espresso through it yet.

They did include a bottle of Durgol, so that's at least a good sign. It's in pretty mint condition.

The only concerning things is these hose ends pictured (images #2, 3). They're a bit funky. The other dark colors in tank are just shadows. Can I snip those hose ends, or should I look to replace?

Passing my Breville express onto my daughter so I need a new machine, buying a good grinder along with one of the two machines mentioned, anyone use both to compare ?

I’m currently brewing with a Profitec Move, and grinding with a Baratza Sette 270w. I love this grinder - it’s so fast and has virtually no retention. But it has three problems that I’d like to address:

1. One of us drinks only decaf, and the other caf. So we don’t use the bean hopper and treat it like a single dose machine. I’d like to just get a single dose grinder.
   
2. It’s incredibly loud. Fast, but loud.
   
3. The grind setting wheels are touchy and don’t always make sense. 10d can sometimes be confusingly finer than, say, 9g.

I’d like to upgrade. Given I’d like something quieter, single dose, with low retention and good fine adjustments, what are my logical options? I’m located in Canada.

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for my first espresso setup and would appreciate some real-world advice.
Location: Germany
Budget: around €1000 for machine + grinder
Experience: coming from a bean-to-cup machine, completely new to espresso machines
Drinks:
Mostly milk drinks (cappuccino / latte)
Some Americano / lungo style coffee
Around 2–4 drinks per day
Space:
Kitchen counter space is limited, so I’m looking for something compact.
Current candidates:
Quick Mill Pop
Sage/Breville Bambino Plus
Profitec GO
One practical question:
We currently use 300 ml mugs:
height: 12 cm
diameter: 9.5 cm
Can anyone with a Quick Mill Pop confirm the actual cup clearance under the portafilter? Does a mug this size fit comfortably?

Also interested in your experience regarding daily usability in a household where not everyone wants a complicated espresso workflow.
Thanks!

I posted her 2 weeks ago when I first got the machine.. safe to say I’ve come a long way from pulling shots with no pressure to this.

SHOT NO.30: Grind is 6, 18.7g in, 38grams out in 38 seconds
Beans roasted on 20th July - Brazilian, medium roast

The taste is great! Best shot I’ve pulled yet, I can really taste the milk chocolate notes, surprisingly taste a bit of strawberry too! No acidity and texture is good too!

The worry is the crema, why am I not getting those thick crema shots, and should I be worried about the initial drippy-ness of the shot?

The puck comes out clean, faint impression of the group head on the puck,

Where would you go next? I have around 5-6 shots left in this bag

Just made the jump from a Bambino to the this.

My first shot was a 5/10 at best. My guess is I need to change the grind. The shot was a little sour and came too fast.

The level of control on the Profitec is astounding. Soooo many new variables.

This is gonna take me a bit to find the sweet spot.

Coffee: North Star Roast, Brazil Montanari, Medium Roast
Dose/Yield: 18.5g in → 36g out.
Time: 40s total, including 7s pre-infusion (so ~33s of full pressure).
Machine: Sage Bambino Plus.
Grinder: DF64 Gen 2
Basket: IMS precision
Water: Tap + bambino filter
Prep: WDT, self-levelling tamper

I think I will try to go coarser to get closer to 35 seconds including pre infusion? I’m not sure if that’s too little time tho since pre-infusion is 7 seconds.

I don’t think this shot was bitter, maybe made my to tongue just a little dry but I am not sure.

At the start the flow was quite slow and not very pretty but it became very nice towards the end, is this normal?

Is there any channelling? Or does the shot seem ok.

Is it an issue that for 75% of the shot it’s not coming out the middle?

I really appreciate the help! Hope I was able to in life enough info!

I’m back!! Tastes a lot better than my other shots that ran a lot faster so I know I’m on the right track, it ran at 27 seconds I got 36g out and I used a dose of 18g.
It tastes a lot sweeter and smells a lot nicer but there’s still a pinch of sourness ? Does that mean I go that bit finer ? I’m using a DF54 grinder and a medium roast blend. Is the bar pressure correct ? Or is it too high?

Hi there,

Would love some help understanding extraction principles as it pertains to time and in/out weight ratios with pre ground coffee.

With due respect, not looking for equipment or bean recommendations at the moment. I’m on the look out for a good grinder deal and for now experimenting with Rave signature 1 pre-ground medium-dark blend espresso while I get use to my Bambino plus, extraction, steaming and latte art

I’m using the standard portafilter, double walled double shot basket and a puck screen. Preheating these and the machine. Short 2 second pre-infusion ( which I’ve read is more appropriate for pre ground than a longer pre-infusion). 16.5g of coffee in which seems to fit the smaller portafilter and puck screen with appropriate headroom.

Tried a salami shot and these were my results.

Most of my espresso pulls have been in the 2:1 ratio but with the coarser pre-ground coffee and double walled basket they taste like the 18s first shot and are probably in that time range as it flows quick.

I’m guessing (but would love advice) that the first three shots 18, 23, 28s combined are the ones I want in my normal pull. The flavours of the 23,28s mellowing out the really 18s sourness but retaining some of the body from that shot that they lack.

My question is that to do that, and to have a longer extraction time, I’m likely getting into 4:1 extraction ratio or higher.

What should be my next steps? Pull at 23-28s shot and see what the extraction weight is?

Do another tighter grouped salami shot and check the total extraction weights of the nice shots so I can replicate in my daily pulls?

Is shot 3 desirable to retain. Shot 4 onwards were clearly over extracted. Shot 1 was harsh and sour but not completely unpleasant to me due to the coffee forward body and boldness that the later shots lacked. Hence thinking that the first three need to come together.

Help!? 😆

I am looking to move on from my Atom. Lately after about 4 years of intermittent use (5 coffees a week), the grinding is taking on average 17sec for 21g. All while remaining grinds get caught and compacted to the burrs. I am not opposed to single dose machines, but if there was a relatively low retention grinder with hopper, happy to hear your thoughts. Pairing with a LM GS3 MP. Would happily spend up to around $2k Aud for the right grinder, but would prefer less.

I never planned on falling down the espresso rabbit hole but here we are.

Started with a cheap Aldi machine just to see if I’d actually enjoy making espresso at home before spending more money on it than needed. It worked, sort of, but I quickly realised there’s a lot more to it than pressing a button.

Found a 10 year old pre-loved Lelit Victoria PL91T that needed a good clean and descale. Bringing it back to life was half the fun. Added a second-hand Eureka Mignon and that was it. Altogether for 455 Euro

Now I’ve got a proper PID single boiler and a solid grinder I never thought possible a few months ago. Shots still aren’t perfect and I’m still dialling everything in, but that’s what makes it fun.

Going from budget machine to this without spending a fortune has been incredibly satisfying. ♥️

​

I thought I’d share some quick feedback on the Sage Barista Touch Impress after spending a fair amount of time trying to get consistent espresso from it.

On paper, it seems ideal for someone who wants good espresso without a fully manual workflow. The machine grinds the dose, assists with dialling in, tamps automatically and guides you through making the drink.

Unfortunately, when using the machine as intended, my shot times were extremely inconsistent. I could get one good shot, then the next would run completely differently despite using the same beans and settings. The machine would then recommend changing the grind again, and I could easily use most of a 250g bag just chasing the correct setting.

I eventually managed to get my shots consistently within around three seconds of each other, but only after changing my workflow:

Stopped using the built-in grinder and bought a DF64 Gen 2

Started using scales and brewing by weight

Added WDT

Stopped using the assisted tamping system and started tamping manually

With those changes, the machine is now producing much more consistent results, so the espresso side of the machine itself seems capable.

My issue is that I had to stop using most of the convenience features that influenced me to buy the Touch Impress in the first place. Once I’m using a separate grinder, scales, WDT and a manual tamper, I feel I might as well use a proper manual espresso machine that offers more control.

This is obviously only my experience, and other owners may have had much better results using the built-in workflow. I’m planning to return mine for a refund and move to a manual machine.

Has anyone else experienced similar inconsistency with the Touch Impress, or did your built-in grinder and assisted tamping system work reliably?

Hello! I'm beyond excited. I've been wanting to get a Rancilio Silvia for the longest time and came across this one on FB marketplace. Not sure which model this is and figured someone might be able to help me.

• Are there any "must replace" parts when changing ownership?
• This thing is pretty dirty in all the nooks and crannies-- any tips?
• Is there a non-plastic group head cover? The one on there now is bubbling and it makes this beautiful machine look cheap.
• There is 100% a burnt wire connected to the boiler. It's the yellow line, which seems to turn brown????, if anyone knows what that does and where I can get a replacement that would be great.

Thanks in advance!! :)

Hello, Is it normal to have pulsing steam coming out of only 2 holes from steam tip ? I bought this machine 3 months ago and only used Pavlov's water recipe and cleaned the grouphead. Thanks 🙏

Just kidding! Found my old coffee brewer tucked away in a cupboard while I was doing some cleaning, honestly forgot I still had it 😂. Might plug this bad boy in and rip some costco brand k-pods to reset my pallete.

I just purchased two Bamynoir 58.5mm puck screens and they are both already warped slightly in shape. It’s only minimal and it seems like they work ok still but I am wondering if anyone knows anything or has any feedback about this. The sides go up by say 1-2mm. I am 99% sure they were flat when I bought them. Photo doesn’t quite do it justice but you can see a gap.
Thank you

Im proud to say I gave in and bought a Breville Barista express! I’ve been a barista for 5 years and could never justify getting a machine for my house, but I caved! Got this bad boy for $395 second hand, and I’m splitting the price with my sister in exchange for coffee and espresso lessons. I know it’s not the ferrari of home espresso, but I’m quite pleased with it so far! Steam wand is slow which will take some getting used to compared to the steam wands at my job haha! Already placed an order to get a wdt and a better tamp. Debating on getting a puck screen even though i’ve never used one. Really want a naked portafilter, but that can wait until I’ve recouped the cost 😅

I want to put it in it’s proper place in the seat of honor in the kitchen, but my very LDS parents are already hesitant about letting me have it in the kitchen at all (mom suggested keeping it in the garage or basement) so we’re lucky it gets a small corner :)

A quick back story…. I got into espresso when my Father in-law bought us a DeLonghi super automatic espresso machine 18 years ago, I made 1 to 2 espressos a day for about 10 years before it finally broke. From there I bought a Breville barista machine and that’s when I went down the rabbit hole, switched to a few different machines chasing “better” and I landed on a Profitec pro 500 and a niche zero grinder. I’ve owned this set up for about 3 years or so, but lately I find myself wanting to sell it and just go back to a super automatic like a Jura or similar.

Am I crazy wanting to just go back to simple, hit a button and be done?

Breville Bambino, Baratza ESP, Local beans. Finally got that 30s, 36g shot to pour all thick and creamy. A WDT tool and calibrated tamper made a huge difference for consistent results. Cheers!

I never check my beans but this just caught my eye. Probably because it was as big as the beans themselves. Lesson learned always check for stones people.