Bean to Cup - trying to get best espresso settings

J_E

Hi all,

I use a Siemens bean to cup machine (Pictured here) that has been in the house for ages but only started to get use when I got more into coffee. With the steam wand I'm able to make a decent latte but I feel the espresso shot that comes out of it is inadequate and stopping me from making some really great coffee. I know this machine is never going to do the same job as a manual machine with a portafilter but I'm just trying to figure out how I can get the best out of it before I move up to a Rancilio Silvia.

There aren't many configurable settings and certainly nothing for extraction time. I'm able to choose 3 temperatures, 3 grinds, a 'mild' to 'very strong' bean icon (no idea what that means) and coffee size from 'Small Espresso' to 'XXL Coffee'. There are settings for 2 espressos also, that seems to take longer but more comes out.

It takes about 10 seconds to pull a shot which I'm sure is too fast. There is a duct for ground coffee which I haven't tried - whether that allows me to use that for espresso I will have to investigate into.

I ignore the 'large coffee' settings because all they do is pull a pretty bad long coffee. I'm able to set 3 grind settings (coarse, medium, ine), which I have on fine because that makes the most sense. The 'bean icon' which again, I am not sure what that does, is set to Very Strong because I hardly want a weak espresso, right? It has a bitter, acidic taste a lot of the time. I'm pretty sure it is not supposed to be that way. Of course making it a latte gets rid of that but it's sort of missing the point and it is never a really great latte like I have in cafes.

So what are generally good settings for an espresso given what I have here? I can't set the extraction time unfortunately - maybe that will be the killer for me. I know this isn't ideal, but maybe there is something I can do to improve it Any owners of machines like this who could give me advice, that would be greatly appreciated.

alec76

Surely u can set extraction time by choosing the right coffee bean ( full body , high density bean will increase extraction time )
Ps. "Bean icon" does regulate amount of coffee in espresso shot
2 espressos probably mean Double Shot of espresso
1 shot=30 ml of water ,7-9gm of coffee beans, 25-30 sec extraction time
2 shots =60 ml ,14-18 gm , 25-30 sec extraction time
There is no way you will get decent single shot of espresso out of you machine

Double shot may get you somewhere .....

J_E

There's definitely no easy way of setting time - it could be that it's not grinding it fine enough? It comes out as a smooth steam where I would expect it to be more 'dripping'. I did find out I can put ground coffee into it though, it might be a chance to see if an espresso pre-ground would work better. Coffee comes with light thin crema and black underneath, always tastes acidic/sour on it's own despite the blend which is really disappointing one shot regularly takes about 8-9 seconds regardless of the strength setting which is where I suspect it's going wrong.

Mr Magnolia

You're wasting your time. Either accept what you're drinking as it is or move to the dark side and take the plunge.

J_E

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

You're wasting your time. Either accept what you're drinking as it is or move to the dark side and take the plunge.

Ah....I know deep down you're right! I feel like I am moving into higher tastes in what I want! I've been eyeing up an Aeropress and Krups grinder - it might be a cheap step up before I really go down the path of coffee snobbery :pac: There seems to be a few tricks to get a mock espresso with the Aeropress too (obviously not the real deal but close-ish) so it might do for a latte and certainly a better taste.

Edit: Ah crap, I accidentally clicked the purchase button on Amazon for said grinder and Aeropress when checking how much it would cost! Maybe this is meant to be...?

alec76

J_E wrote: »

Ah....I know deep down you're right! I feel like I am moving into higher tastes in what I want! I've been eyeing up an Aeropress and Krups grinder - it might be a cheap step up before I really go down the path of coffee snobbery :pac:

I dunno ,that is step down to me.
I am pretty sure your coffemachine makes twice better espresso than Aeropress can.

As for the taste, what coffee beans you normally getting? Sourcing the right quality beans from a local roastery might solve half of your troubles
good starting point:
http://badgeranddodo.ie/coffee/

J_E

It's a local roaster, Craic Coffee, freshly roasted Guatemalan beans. Pretty sure they are not the problem as I've tried about 3-4 different varieties. The extraction time is just not right... I feel it's pushing the coffee too fast. Every now and again the espresso tastes earthy as it should but often on it's own it has that nasty bitter/sour taste. I'll still use it for lattes, although I'm looking forward to seeing if the Aeropress brings some life to the beans because I feel like the flavour is being lost. I haven't ruled out the possibility of old grinds in the machine affecting taste.

alec76

I own bean to cup myself,Delonghi, can pull half decent double shot , at finest grind setting , coffee at max too( although i was able customise amount of water for double shot to 55ml)
Had no luck with the single shot , as u are saing ,extracting too fast.
That double shot defently better than Aeorpress coffee IMO,no comparison to propper espresso machine though (Rancilio Silvia , have it at home too)

J_E

Think I'll stick with double shots in that case - it's a real shame these machines don't offer just a touch more customisation.

adrian522

Have you tried running some detergent or descaler through it? That might improve things if its never been cleaned. Other than that you are just dealing with the limitations of the machine.

Bean to cup machines are super convenient but don't offer the same level of quality as a good espresso machine really

J_E

Update! I got in a Krups F203 grinder (the popular cheap electric one) and an Aeropress. I figured I'd make some great coffee with the Aeropress and have something basic to grind beans with before I go for the heavy-heavy automatic grind-set dosers in the future. Thrilled with the Aeropress, but what I discovered after that really excited me!

The machine has no issues with the water or timing - it's the grinder in the machine! It's just not fine enough, that's why it was taking about 8 seconds to get through an espresso. I saw I could throw some ground coffee into the duct to make an espresso and bypass the internal grinder so I fired up the Krups with some dark Colombian beans for about 25 seconds (fine like beach sand) and put in about 1 1/2 scoops with the AP spoon (will have to get a scales in future).

It started with an uneven drip then two very thin 'tails', always a good sign! Extraction in about 29 seconds, the espresso had a lovely speckled appearance, of much more substance than the default grind, and didn't blonde out when milk was added. Looks like I'm going to enjoy my espresso machine a lot more as well as some brewing experiments with the AP!


I really recommend to anyone here having similar issues to me to check if your machine accepts ground coffee, and try a fine grind. Even with my grinder which doesn't produce an accurate and consistent grind, the espresso quality has just jumped by a country mile. Absolutely delighted.