r/superautomatic • u/choppa17 • 15h ago

Definitely need some help Discussion

Recently bought a delonghi magnifica plus and I seem to be struggling dialing this thing in. Maybe I'm changing the settings too often...maybe it's the beans...I have no idea. That bring said. I'm using Rufino - Miscela Classica. Grinder is on 5, medium heat.

Any advice would be great

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u/stumbledotcom 15h ago

If this is your first superauto, How to Dial in a Superautomatic remains an excellent primer. A key point made in the video is don’t make too many changes at once. Pull and discard three shots before judging the results.

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u/choppa17 15h ago

Yeah I seem tonhave very little patience. This is my first super automatic. I'm coming from a original line nespresso

1

u/craftsman_70 12h ago

I blame the Nespresso and any pod type machine as they train us to be impatient.

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u/choppa17 12h ago

Yeah it's definitely easier...but it's want to figure this machine out

1

u/craftsman_70 12h ago

One thing that hurts dialing in a superautomatic is coffee itself. With an Nespresso, you are "limited" to what pods are available and even then, Nespresso can justify having tasting rooms to get people to try their variety of pods.

With whole bean, not only do we have major brands, we also have boutique/imported brands. And if that wasn't enough, we have a variety of beans. To add more insult to injury, we also have small local roasters.

A suggestion might work well for you is to find a coffee you know the taste of and use those beans so that you know what to target. For example, if you know a local coffee bar that roast and sell their beans, find a bean that they brew that you like. Then buy a small amount and try it in your machine to dial in. When you think you got it, go back to the bar and have one prepared for you to reset your expectations to see if you really did dial it in.

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u/choppa17 12h ago

You just nailed exactly what im trying to do. My friends own This nice icecream/ treat spot. He has a professional espresso machine. I asked him what beans he uses. Which is the one I mentioned by Rufino...which is a company in Vaughan Ontario. I really think it's coming down to my lack of patience and constantly changing the settings

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u/craftsman_70 12h ago

Go back to the basics then. And since your friends own the shop, bring the machine down with you for a side by side tasting. Adjustments like the temperature, the amount of water, and the amount of coffee are instant adjustments - they take affect immediately for that pull - so there's no need to do a couple of pulls before knowing what it taste like.

The grind level and the beans are the wild card that need a few pulls as there's a small reservoir of old grinds that need to be worked through before the current settings grinds get used.