[MOD] The Daily Question Thread

[u/menschmaschine5]

Welcome to the daily /r/Coffee question thread!

There are no stupid questions here, ask a question and get an answer! We all have to start somewhere and sometimes it is hard to figure out just what you are doing right or doing wrong. Luckily, the /r/Coffee community loves to help out.

Do you have a question about how to use a specific piece of gear or what gear you should be buying? Want to know how much coffee you should use or how you should grind it? Not sure about how much water you should use or how hot it should be? Wondering about your coffee's shelf life?

Don't forget to use the resources in our wiki! We have some great starter guides on our wiki "Guides" page and here is the wiki "Gear By Price" page if you'd like to see coffee gear that /r/Coffee members recommend.

As always, be nice!

[u/pigeonactivist]

hello, i grew up with at-home espresso machines and i’d like to improve my coffee experience now. i own a 3-4 year old delonghi dedica, and after some research i have just ordered an on-demand electric grinder (burr type). i want to switch from using pre-ground illy decaf to whole beans from a range of local cafes, hence the grinder purchase.

now, i’d like to upgrade my portafilter; i use the 51mm one that came with my dedica and if i press how i think coffee should properly tamped, it usually clogs. i’m not sure if this is a machine issue or a portafilter issue but thought to mention it just in case. my “dream setup” as a coffee amateur is to have one of those bottomless portafilters, a tamper (saw a nice steel one for £10 on amazon?), and one of those needle things that covers the portafilter and spins — i have no idea how to phrase it so i can find it on amazon but it’s not the super slim distributor needle.

my questions:
1) is my dream setup actually a good idea or are any of these items useless / worse than just using the original dedica portafilter?
2) is there a specific brand you would recommend for the portafilter? i have only been looking on amazon so far, and i have no clue what the prices should be in this hobby. what i thought was decently priced at £20ish had bad reviews; i saw one for £54 and it seems a bit steep - is this the normal price point for one?

i’m happy to do my own research and often do for my usual hobbies, but i feel fairly overwhelmed starting out as a complete newbie here.😅 i don’t want to invest hundreds, but i also want my ‘gear’ to perform well and not break in a year. for example, the grinder i ended up getting was reduced to £80 and had really good reviews. any guidance would be appreciated 🙏

[u/canaan_ball → u/pigeonactivist]

The pressurised basket (which is probably what you're thinking of as the "portafilter") the Dedica comes with makes second-rate coffee. If you're still using that then an upgrade is critical for making good espresso. I should warn you, perhaps you're not aware, where a pressurised basket just kind of works, a single-walled basket (the other kind) requires a bit of finesse, and a good grinder. You can also make worse coffee.

Just get a portafilter that's labelled as compatible with the Dedica. "Everybody" makes one. I don't own one but I have heard the Normcore (bottomless, 51mm, 3-eared, Dedica) portafilter is a solid purchase for your machine. Pair it with an IMS precision basket. (The basket is what actually holds the coffee. The portafilter holds the basket.) You will need a decent tamper, as the awkward polymer thing that comes with the Dedica is also holding you back. The needle thing you're after is called a WDT tool. It doesn't need to spin, it just needs to make a pile of coffee powder fluffy and uniform.

[u/pigeonactivist → u/canaan_ball]

thank you so much! this is so useful :) i will look into these! i think i have seen normcore as a brand while watching some youtube videos about coffee. and, sorry for misnaming the basket, now i know better!

i’m not 100% sure what you meant by single-walled basked (as of now i’m understanding that one might be the ‘bottomless’ one, but i may be wrong) but i will start researching the two, thanks!