New coffee machine? Not sure what to get!

Bawnmore

Always good to have a balance of opinions alright in fairness. May have been having a bad day for sure - I was dealing with him for about a year in total (I research way too much before big purchases…) and always found him very helpful and never pushing towards one thing or another with me at least. I was originally considering a double boiler machine, but after talking through it a few times with him, came to the conclusion it was overkill for our situation and just added complexity in the long run.

2011abc

I think even an estate agent’s good will would be pushed to the limit over the course of a year and a few conversations ‘research’ .Not a particularly high budget for coffee machines either .Its a funny ole coffee world with people seemingly spending more to make inferior sometimes almost undrinkable espressos which they then add a pile of frothy milky to to make palatable.If not time poor there’s a lot to be said for a pourover funnel like Clever Dripper / v60 etc and a box of filter papers at barely a cent each .

If you are time poor , slow down and make a pourover coffee :-)

Seriously though I’ve been trying to master the subtle nuances of filter coffee for few years now and feel I’m only a novice .Espresso mastery is way more complicated .

If I was going down that road I’d look for a Gaggia Classic for €200 used

Bawnmore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123284584#Comment_123284584

I'm the "over-researcher", and there was definitely no patience lost with me at least over a few phone calls if that was aimed at me :)

FWIW I had a second hand Gaggia Classic for about 13 years before this purchase and it was probably one of the best buys I've ever made. I think I bought it for €80 originally and maintained it over all those years and it was pretty flawless. I upgraded specifically to be able to make more consistent espresso than the Gaggia could manage.

Bargain_Hound

I have had a Delonghi Bean 2 Cup machine for 8 years and so far the only beans that have ever clogged up my machine were dark roast Starbucks beans, something oily about them but they don't gel with the machine.

Redo91

Hi,

I recently purchased a DeLonghi La Specialista Maestro bean to cup and looking for a few quick tips. Figured it is as easy post in here rather than set up a new thread.

1. The machine has a dial on the front for when you’re extracting the coffee. There’s an optimal zone that you want to hit to make sure it is not under or over extracted. When it’s under extracted I usually adjust the grind setting to a finer grind and that works. The grind settings are from 1-8 and even though I’ve used a variety of beans I find 3 is the coarsest setting I grind beans on without them being under extracted. The coffee guide with the machine recommends 5/6 for dark beans for a coarser grind but there’s no way the extraction would be right then.
   
   Just wondering is there something I’m missing here as I don’t want to be grinding the darker roasts incorrectly by grinding them too fine but otherwise the extraction isn’t right.
   
2. I’ve only been using the machine 6 weeks or so and have had to descale the machine already. Our water must be particularly hard. I’ve just bought a Brita water filter which will hopefully help. Just wondering do many people filter their water?
   
   

Any tips would be greatly appreciated as I am trying to figure things out on the fly which I guess is part of the process. TIA

Shanee.

I have a Sage Barista Express and the best bit of kit ive used for coffee. Simple to use and easy to clean. Highly recommend

Krusty_Clown

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123301533#Comment_123301533

I don't have particularly heavy water but always fill my espresso machine from a Britta jug. It's really the only thing I use the filtered water for - happy to drink the tap water! Saves me extra maintenance. I only do a full teardown/clean every 6 months. What made you think you had to descale it? 6 weeks in, seems crazy early.

Are you using freshly roasted coffee beans? Might make a difference for finding the right grind level. Bean to cup grinders just don't have the same granularity of adjustment as a standalone grinder. Is it fully-automated? Make sure the grind chute is empty after changing the grid level, as you might have the residue from the previous grind still in the chute.

Bargain_Hound

Posted above about my delonghi Sean b2C machine of 8 years, however just visited a friend who recently purchased a sage barista express and I was wow’ed by the functions and quality of the coffee it could produce so I’m now on the market for one. Highly recommend.

dingdangdoo22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123310379#Comment_123310379

Thinking of a sage barista express too, have you seen any deals? Maybe you bought one since the post?

felandere

Breville Barista Express Impress is a great choice under 1k$

TitianGerm

https://amzn.eu/d/87f7OtJ

Folks sorry for highjacking this thread but looking for opinions on the above machine? I ordered one this morning for £295 but now questioning myself if that's a good buy or not as I've never had a bean to cup machine before.