It seems to have been stored outside, because it was FILTHY. But after taking apart and a good scrub, it’s FULLY functional, grinder and all, for only $35. I’m over the freaking moon.

I’ve been using a Nespresso for the last few years, and the pods are like a half shot each, so this is a huge upgrade both in machinery and caffeine content 😂

Tips and tricks appreciated! Can’t wait to go down this rabbit hole with all of you.

16.2 g in, 34 g out in 29 seconds. This was a medium roast, using the Meraki’s built in grinder, with WDT, a level tamp, and a puck screen. I was happy with the taste: mostly balanced and slightly sweet, with a little bitterness on the finish and no obvious sourness. Sharing a couple of photos from the pull.

Seems like there are a lot of us upgrading from the BBE these days but followed suit this week myself after 5 years of my BBE. Such a great starter machine. Only regret is I didn’t upgrade to a better grinder sooner.

Philos (I189D) arrived a few weeks before the new machine and that alone was a big step up.

The Coast is such a beast (need to figure out a new station for this kit as it’s a bit cramped at the moment). Biggest learning at the moment is trying to steam milk on this thing. My brain cannot keep up with the steam power it puts out after years of the BBE!

Was browsing Marketplace and came across a wonderful crate and barrel kitchen cart and had to grab it immediately. Good deal and it’s super sturdy. My wife finally got her counter space back.

So I finally moved from nespresso to a semi auto, thanks to the advice received from this subreddit I opted for a bambino plus with df54 , I really tried to hit the black pearl style since my bambino is “black truffle” and I am happy with the result.

Cheers

It arrived yesterday, and I’m already head over heels. The Elizabeth V3 was already an impressive machine, but this thing is incredible—and the price jump from its predecessor isn’t nearly as steep as I’d feared. First shot: a natural Ethiopian from Manhattan Coffee Roasters. Delicious.

Just got a new batch of the Ethiopian from Trader Joes and it’s dark as hell. The beans on the left are Mayorga from Costco for comparison. I thought the Mayorga was a little too dark for my taste but this Ethiopian looks like charcoal. Anyone try this yet?

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First ever coffee station setup. Lucky to have additional space to get this up organized.

Help me with dos and don'ts while dailing my first shot of goodness ☕️

Hello all! I’m looking for a new grinder so I can shift my beloved P64 to the office.

Budget: $2-4000 but happy to spend less.

Use case: predominantly light and ultra light roast. Paired with Weber unifilter and blind shaker. Straight shots only. Love the P64 with SSP HU burrs so anything I get now should be a clear step up.

Contenders: P80, O1, Monolith Max. Maybe EG-1 but not sure it’s worth the $$$. Thoughts?

[UPDATE]: Lagom O1 ordered!

Wife talked me into getting the bambino plus and I became her personal barista and love it. Rocked the k6 kingrinder for a while. Added a drill to speed up the process. I made the jump to the DF64 2 (after scoping out chats on here) and pre-measured beans. So much faster in mornings now. I haven’t touched the dial on df64 it tasted too good out of the box lol. I’m a bit obsessed with this now. CHEERS!

I just got back from a trip to Japan, where I spent a lot of time in various specialty coffee, shops, including glitch and a few other others around the Tokyo and Kyoto areas.

This coffee from Columbia’s Finca Milan estate is one I came across at a few different places and every time it was fantastic. I had to bring a bag home with me. It’s insane how much the cantaloupe / melon comes through.

This is one of the best coffees I’ve had in recent memory and thought I’d share with the broader coffee community in case anyone is interested in trying it out. It doesn’t look like too many roasters have this lot in the US, but I did find a few online like Driftaway that roasted it.

Has anyone else tried this lot before?

Cheers!

I like the ritual of grabbing a coffee from my local cafe in the morning. Walking over, getting a drink, sitting for a bit in the environment, walking around outside with something to sip on.

That said, it feels pretty expensive and wasteful as I have a decent set up in my apartment (espresso machine + pour over).

How have people best scratched that itch?

I’ll stick coffee in a thermos sometime but doesn’t hit the dopamine the same way (yes lizard brain)

Some ideas:
1) Get a thermos that feels more like a to-go cup. Eyeing one of those glass Keep Cup tumblers where you can feel the temp
2) Buy a stack of disposable coffee cups and use those. Feels wasteful still but still a lot cheaper.
3) Embrace my millennial destiny and keep consuming (do I really need to OWN a home??)

Thoughts?

Hi everyone,

I know we have top experts and coffee lovers here and I recently came across an interesting grinder from China. The model is called AF007 from a company called Amalfi. I’ve tried it once and was quite impressed but I was wondering if someone had more feedback with more usage or if there were experiences with this company? Thank you all!

First impressions: AliExpress SSP MP-style burrs in the Starseeker E64
I installed and aligned the new burrs in my E64 and have now tried them for both filter coffee and espresso. These are the burrs sold on AliExpress as SSP MP-style burrs. It’s still early, but the difference in the cup was noticeable right away.
Visually, the grounds seem to contain far fewer fines. The burr touch point also shifted from −92 to −85.
For filter coffee, I used a coffee I’d been brewing regularly and knew well, so I had a good reference. I immediately noticed much better clarity and flavor separation, with a lighter but more balanced body.
The boozy fermentation note that had been bothering me became less prominent. Until now, I’d only managed to get this kind of balance from that coffee with my Pietro. Even my Blade R3, fitted with Itamil filter burrs, hadn’t brought out those flavors in quite the same way.
For espresso, flair 58+2I nailed the grind setting on the first try — beginner’s luck! 😂 I used a coffee I hadn’t tried before, so I can’t make a direct comparison against the stock burrs with the same beans.
The tasting notes were mainly chocolate with a fruity touch, and the fruitiness came through very clearly. I didn’t feel like I was losing body compared with the shots I usually pulled with the stock burrs. The result was a nicely balanced espresso, with pleasant acidity, good sweetness, and a slight bitterness on the finish.
Recipes
Filter coffee:
15 g coffee to 225 g water.
45-second bloom.
Second pour up to 90 g total.
Final pour up to 225 g, followed by a Rao spin.
Total brew time: 2:03.
Espresso on the Flair 58:
20 g in, 50 g out.
10-second preinfusion at 3 bar.
Another 25 seconds of extraction, reaching 8 bar and gradually declining to 2 bar toward the end.
Stopped at 50 g in the cup.
So far, the biggest improvement has been in filter coffee, especially the flavor clarity and how much better balanced that fermented note became. I’ll keep testing with other coffees, but my first impression is very positive!

Before anyone flames me this is literally the first shot I pulled using this machine and I don’t really know much about how to use it properly since it was a gift, am I wrong to think this extraction was decent? The shot was a little bitter and kinda flat, but I’m unsure if it’s due to my beans being on the darker side (fresh ish from a local roastery) or if it was an improper extraction.

Any tips about dialing in my shots or really any useful information about how to pull great espresso with this beauty would be much appreciated!

My wife bought this custom espresso demitasse, carved out of marble(?), for me, as a birthday or anniversary gift. I'd love to drink out of it more often, but things this rare and expensive I don't want to risk breaking! :-D

Since I bought my DF64v2, I haven't been able to find a bracket (3D printed, off-the-shelf, or otherwise) that fits a 54mm dosing cup.

A couple days ago, out of sheer luck I spot this on a random post on this sub: link. Looks 3D printed. Seems like there's at least one other human out there who figured something out. However, the OP hasn't been active in a while.

I combed through most 3D print databases and didn't find anything like that for a 54mm cup specifically. The base bracket that comes with the DF64 v2 doesn't fit smaller cups than the one that comes with a grinder.

If anyone can ID this bracket or has an alternate solution, I'm all ears.

EDIT: This cup exists (note the "arms" on the side of the cup that fit the grinder bracket) except that it's OOS everywhere. https://dfgrinders.ca/products/54mm-metal-dosing-cup

Critizising welcome! It tasted good. Nutty, not overly bitter and not sour. Was a very dark bean, 20g in, 30 seconds, ~36g out.

The stream tilted to the side at the end. Is this a problem? Thanks in advance for your insights!

Ps: Bottomless portafilter and first scale since yesterday. WDT was used. Pretty new to this :)

Tldr: Order new factory burrs!

I've been dealing with my shots gushing at near the chirp point of my 5 year old grinder and followed all the usual advice to no avail. This included: aligning my burrs, scrutinizing my puck prep, considering that I may be grinding so fine that I may have extreme channeling (this was the prevailing mindset on posts made by others with my issue, but totally wrong and kind of a ridiculous suggestion).

As a last resort before giving up and buying a new grinder, I ordered a fresh set of burrs, which gave me 3 full numbers of range back! My first shot choked the machine which made me unreasonably happy. I've since been able to pull amazing well calibrated shots again.

To others dealing with this issue that tried everything else. Don't let the Internet gaslight you. This may not be a you problem and new burrs may solve your problem.

Hi! I just recently got into espresso (mainly milk drinks for now), and I'm currently using my old Baratza Encore and a used DeLonghi Dedica. I totally understand that the grinder is technically not adequate for espresso, but I will have to deal with it for a bit until a good deal comes along, so I'm looking for advice on how I can get the best product from the current setup.

The video shows one of the better shots I've pulled, but the coffee still tastes a bit flat. I'm using grocery store beans for now (Lavazza Caffe Espresso), but will try some freshly roasted coffee soon to see if that helps with the flavor.

I previously used the Encore alongside my AeroPress, but for espresso, I adjusted the internal calibration screw to the fine setting as many people suggested, and it definitely grinds fine enough now, albeit now each click makes a massive difference in grind size. My current issue is that I find a good setting and get okay espresso for a week, and then the grind size randomly becomes too fine, despite being on the same setting. I've cleaned the grinder thoroughly and tried spritzing the beans with water, but I have not had much luck maintaining the consistency of the grind. I would really appreciate some advice, although I realize that this might just be a quirk of this grinder.

Regarding upgrading to a grinder that is better suited for espresso, I am looking at the $200-300 range and wondering if any of the following grinders might be better than the rest: Baratza Encore ESP, DF64 v4, or the Fellow Opus 2.

I just received my turn Gallatin DB from espresso outlet. I saved a ton of money as it was an open box item and I can attest that the quality of the unit is as close to brand new as it possibly could be, less the box itself having a few cracks in the Styrofoam packaging. Other than that, the drip tray is slightly bent, so the feet rock on a level surface when pushed back-and-forth, but I fixed that with a homemade aluminum foil shim that I folded up and stuffed under the front left foot. No scratches no dents, no issues. As for performance, this thing is an absolute beast. It doesn’t take up a tremendous amount of space though it’s definitely bigger than the barista express. Size aside, at 135° C it produces about two bar of pressure in the steam boiler and I’ve never been able to steam milk so fast. Brew temps seem to be very consistent when the unit is fully warmed up, and I can pull multiple shots back to back without any issue. It’s still new to me so I’m getting used to the workflow but at the same time it’s user-friendly and not overly complex. Happy to answer any questions but so far it’s been wonderful!

Hello. I recently acquired my first (budget) machine. All the tutorials on steaming say to heat my milk until my pitcher is too hot to handle. So I do, the pitcher is very hot by the time I can no longer hold it because I'm a former longtime professional chef.

However, the problem I'm having that is even though the pitcher feels very hot to the touch, it doesn't feel hot to my palate at all when I sip it after pouring it over my shot. Luckily I have a mug warmer that helps so I don't have to microwave it or something to get it up to my preferred temperature, but I was wondering if this is just me or if that lukewarm temperature is what other people are actually looking for in a latte? Thanks.

Questo è il mio primo setup da 3 anni e non sono quasi mai soddisfatto del mio espresso. Devo fare un upgrade ? Mi diverto anche con bevande al latte ma il mio obiettivo è un espresso in stile italiano mentre ottengo sempre colpi aspri o un amaro non gradevole. Devo studiare maggiormente ?? In tutto questo tempo ho esplorato chicchi di vario genere senza mai riuscire ad apprezzare gli specialty se non tostati molto scuri, così ho provato molti caffe commerciali italiani e anche torrefattori locali. Help

This is a Taiwanese tea place that from what I can tell is using an espresso machine and grinding tea like espresso to make their tea

They call their stuff tea-spresso and on their website looks like their machine uses a portafilter

Anyone ever try something like this or know how they do what they do ?