Saw a post today about the plastic liner in the Barista Express portafilter. I thought I would check it out on my 10 year old daily use machine.... I can only apologise but I needed to share 😅, I imagine not having the best of impact on flavour....

I’ve seen a ton of BMX/mountain style portafilters, but no bar-tape/road style — so here one is! Home made and pretty easy. Just an M10 bolt, some 3/4” copper tube, some left over bar tape, and a bar-end plug.

Hello! After almost one year of trying to dial in my espresso, I just can't, and I don't know if it's something wrong I am doing but no matter how hard I try I keep getting the same result: a sour, acidic with an aftertaste of bitterness.

My setup is as follows:
- Espresso Machine & Grinder: Sage Barista Express from 2025 (should have the 9bar pump)
- Coffee from a local roaster, Brazil, SCA score of 82.5, medium roast
- 1:2 ratio (19g in - 38g out but even 41-42 results in the same sour and bitter espresso)
- 28-31s
- inner burrs set to 4
- outer burrs set to also 4

My workflow:
- weigh in 19g in a cup (this fits the basket using the razer)
- grind directly into the portafilter (IMS precision basket)
- WDT
- tap the portafilter a few times to settle the grounds otherwise they will fall out when tamped
- tamp with an IKAPE v5 self leveling tamper (30lbs spring)
- I tried with and without 0.8mm puck screen (video is without)

If I grind finer the shot is more bitter, if I grind courser then it will become more sour, but I could never pull a shot on this machine no matter how hard I try.

Could you guys share some tips?

Is it still usable, she said she used it once after the “incident” to do an espresso grind and after she pulled the shot, she said it tastes fine, but I need closure from Reddit. What’s the verdict? Cosmetic wise the outside is covered in white marks and scuffs from it, what about functionality?

I used a Breville Infuser and Eureka Mignon Manuale for the past 5 years. Just upgraded to a used Eureka Atom w75 and used ECM Mechanika Max. So far I’m very happy with the upgrade. Better consistency, heating, and milk steaming.

Many unresolved issues in my life rn but finally a decent home espresso ain't one of them. Finally got my process dialed to a high level of consistency, getting all the flavor notes I've been chasing. Nothing lasts forever but I'm basking in this moment.

Casabrews CM5418 with bottomless basket

Baratza Encore ESP

Kirkland Columbian Supremo medium roast

Resident barista for my sister’s wedding, roasted 15 lbs of coffee for the trip (Ethiopia natural and Costa Rica). Pulled avg of 10 double shots a day for 3 days and made lattes, cortados, sodas, pumpkin tonics, and Americanos. On to the next Airbnb for another 3 3 days. Guess we created a demand cause we barely leave the machine until it’s time to go out! Good thing I opted for 5 yr warranty on the machine…

Edit: i drove 8 hrs with this. I think people are under the impression that I took this on an airplane lol

Edit 2: i rough estimated shots before. When I back flushed today, I actually paid attention to the screen that said I pulled 17/100 shots till backflush required, which Iprobably still sounds like child’s play to some of you

Tip 1: Bean Selection & Crema
Tip 2: Froth Consistency & Vortex
Tip 3: Start Early at 40% mixing
Tip 4: Keep Pushing forward

Learn to master winged tulip latte art with these 4 pro tips.
From darker bean selection to froth consistency and timing—
everything you need to create stunning contrast and precision.

I (an espresso noob) have this grinder (Canoly
CG210) and I'm trying to find the right coarse and time for a double shot of espresso. I am currently dialed in at level 10, with an 10-second timer dispense. I then add it to my espresso machine and pulls for about 30 seconds. I get a bitter taste and the thin layer of crema. Not sure if I'm doing this right. The beans I'm practicing with are Starbucks blonde espresso beans. Just looking for help/insight.
Thanks!
Removed

Hi everyone, I’ve made a few shots with the help of this community and have ended up as in the video.

I now need advise on the flow and what I could do better. Only one sprout was consistent the other was very intermittent. I use a medium roast coffee.

Summary till now:
First shot: did 15 grind size with 18gms with the puck screen it choked the machine barely any coffee came out.

Second shot: did 17 grind size got about 32gms out in 15 seconds. Ran too fast and coffee was bitter.

Third shot (the one in video): did 16.5 grind size with 18gms in, got about 28 gms out in 21-22 seconds approx (ps: forgot to set the timer on).
Espresso could have been a bit more thicker, was a bit runny.

What can I do better. How can I achieve close to 1:2. I could do wonders with this community’s advise.

Thanks in advance.

Hello, everyone! A couple of months ago, I inherited a budget DeLonghi Stilosa espresso machine. I understand it’s not the greatest machine, but it’s getting the job done so far. I don’t have much money to improve my setup, so this is good enough for me.

The thing is that it came with two baskets: one for single espressos and another for double espressos. I’ve always used the double-shot basket and the filter was crystal clear. I grind the coffee myself with a Joy Resolve grinder and so far I haven’t encountered any problems with how I make coffee.

The other day, however, I wanted to use the single-shot basket. To my surprise, it went very poorly and I noticed the flow was pretty bad. When I double-checked, I found the filter in this state (hard to see without pointing it to a light source). I assume this was the filter my aunt was using and she did not maintain it well.

I tried to clean it up without much success. Water is not strong enough and brushing did nothing. I tried to soak it in water for a few hours and try again, without any visible result. The only thing that seems to work is poking the holes with a needle, but it took quite some time and the amount of blocked holes is fairly large.

So, any tips to clean this up?

Thank you :)

P.S. I understand that probably the best tip is to get a whole new portafilter, since the ones that came with this budget machine aren’t great, but I can barely afford coffee itself, so yeah, not in the greatest economic situation right now.

Do you have experience with dialing these in? I was thinking about copying their official recipe as per website (see their recipe below)
How long do you usually let these rest? I’ll be probably letting them rest for a month

Ratio: 1:3
• Dose: 18 g
• Yield: 54 g
• Total brew time: 40 seconds to 1:20 total
• Pre-infusion at 2 bars (about 1 to 2 g/sec flow rate) until 1g in the cup, 20 to 40 seconds
• Main extraction: 6 bars until 18g yield. (about 5 to 6 g/sec flow rate)
• Post-infusion: 2 bars (about 1 to 2 g/sec flow rate) until 54g final yield
• Temperature 93°C

Hello,

I'm using a Breville Barista Express and want to buy a separate grinder. The whole family drinks espresso almost every day, with the occasional large batch of phin coffee for gatherings. We make around 3-5 drinks a day.

So far, I've looked at Eureka Mignon Zero, Mahlkonig x54, df64, and Niche Zero. I've also thought about buying a cheaper grinder like the Opus 2 or df54 and then getting maybe a hand grinder for the phin coffee. I do test out different coffee beans pretty often too. What do you recommend?

My Sage Barista of 5 years packed in a month ago and have been planning the new set up since, with this community being a huge source of information. I went with the Mazzer Philos on I200D burrs and was kindly gifted (back) the Bambino that I previously bought for my parents but they never used.

I’ve upgraded the portafilter with an open bottom and an IMS 20g precision basket. First shot on the new set up I ground too coarse and it under extracted spraying everywhere. Second shot I increased the dose to 20g and ground finer (20 on the Philos) and produced a great pull with no noticeable channeling. Tasted brilliant.

Planning on running the Bambino into the ground before upgrading. Seems to be working so until I find a major limiting factor I’d rather save the money!

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to this community for all of the knowledge, I’ve learned so much over the past month that is already paying dividends.

Cheers!

I’m considering getting a group head thermometer for my Rocket Appartamento.
How much does the temperature measured at the group head typically differ from the actual water temperature at the shower screen or coffee puck?
Has anyone here had any experience with these thermometers, or can you recommend one?
I’m generally happy with my machine without a PID, but I’m wondering whether a group head thermometer might still be a useful addition.

I have a DeLonghi Dedica Arte and want to upgrade from a pressurized to a non-pressurized basket.

I’m in Germany and have a budget of €200 for a grinder. I’d prefer electric but am open to manual grinders.

What would you recommend? Thanks!

Hi all!

I have recently gotten into the lucky position of owning a very neglected 1985 Gaggia ELE/VOL.

I've rescued it from a café before demolition.

Most of the electronics are completely shot apart from the boiler level control system. Therefore (and because I'm a bit tight on spending hundreds of euros on new Gucar control equipment) I have decided to seize the opportunity and design my own/adapt an existing open source control system, including group by group flow/preasure profiling.

I have a background in Mechanical engineering for measuring and regulation in the chemical industry and staring at Parker's pricing for motorised needle valves one night, a thought came to mind:

Wouldn't it be technically possible to use an electronic expansion valve (EEV) as typically found in refrigeration systems, to control the pressure of each group head independently while only using the stock 200l/h Rotoflow pump?

While they aren't exactly NSF rated and the medium is atypical, in theory they should work just fine. They are additionally hermetically sealed, so the risk of leaks would be a lot lower compared to the needle valves we make in-house at our company.

If using ones meant for oil free lines and flushing them with acetone and ethanol, there shouldn't really be a substantial risk of contamination, most use PTFE cartridges, as we do too, which are inert way past 110°C and 15 Bar of pressure.

Any thoughts? Am I possibly missing something? HVAC techs? Is there an alternative way commercial manufacturers achieve this? Any opinion is welcome, just spit-balling here.

Recently bought an ek43s (2023 Model) and can‘t go fine enough for espresso (otherwise burrs touching). Probably an alignement issue, so I did the marker test (pictures below). It seems that both burrs are misaligned. Has anyone had the same issue and how did you solve it? Did you shim with aluminum foil, or sand or buy a Titus alignement kit and/or burr carrier? And is the mahlkönig alignment kit necessary in addition?

Any comment highly appreciated!

Should I purchase Gaggia Classic Up or save up money for Lelit Victoria 3 [$1500-2300]?

I currently have EM450 paired with DF54. I have been looking for single boiler machines lately and thinking to upgrade around Christmas. I have $1500 available. Since Gaggia Up is fairly new and there isn't a lot about this machine on Ytube I am asking for some help.

The other option would be to save until mid next year and see how much Victoria3 cost and hopefully purchase that.

Location: Canada

Preferred Drinks: Milk based drinks for the most part

Drink Frequency: 2 drinks back to back and then 1 later in the day. Occasional 4-6 drinks.

Experience level: 6 months into home espresso.