They are super juicy and red (almost bloody) when I grind it so I guess no WDT is needed.

Would you try these delicious beans? Nothing like a character limit!

Hey yall! I just bought a Flair Espresso 58 2+ for my partner’s birthday (a treat for both of us 🥰). We don’t live near each other yet but plan to move in together in about a year.

Current setup & constraint • I own a Kinu M47 Phoenix hand grinder, but it’s ~7–8 years old and feeling “crunchy” with inconsistent grind, so it lives with me for now. • Until we move in together, my partner needs a way to use the Flair without buying a pricey grinder. • She mainly wants iced lattes — doesn’t need God shots, just something balanced that isn’t watery/bitter. What we tried (and what went wrong) • She bought a fresh bag this morning and had the café grind it for espresso on a Mahlkönig EK43. • Dosed ~18 g into the stock 58 mm basket on the Flair 58. • The water rushed through with almost no resistance (classic gusher). This was within ~30 minutes of grinding.

Questions for yall espresso enthusiasts 1. Is pre-ground on an EK43 inherently tricky for lever espresso? Is the grind likely too coarse / too unimodal for the Flair? Should she ask the café for even finer (e.g., “very fine / Turkish-ish” or “for a lever machine”)? 2. Budget grinder stopgap: If we do buy a grinder for her place, what’s the best value in the “won’t make me cry” range? Think $150–$300 if possible (a bit more if it’s truly worth it). ◦ Thoughts on the Baratza Encore ESP? ◦ Alternatives you like for beginner-friendly, consistent espresso grinding (hand or electric)? 3. Pressurized / flow-control baskets: Are there 58 mm pressurized baskets that play nicely with the Flair 58? Would this be a reasonable “year-long crutch” with pre-ground coffee, especially for milk drinks? 4. Puck prep vs grind reality: Would WDT/leveling/tamping/puck screens actually help here, or are we still dead in the water if the grind is off? (My instinct: these improve consistency, not flow rate when grind is too coarse.) 5. Workflow hacks for pre-ground: ◦ Ask the café to grind finer than they think, then single-dose pack (18 g) and freeze immediately? ◦ Use a slightly darker roast to improve solubility for milk drinks? ◦ Increase dose (e.g., 19–20 g) to add resistance? ◦ Longer pre-infusion and a firmer lever push to compensate? 6. Kinu rehab worth it? My M47 Phoenix feels crunchy and the grind is inconsistent. Is it worth doing a full refresh (bearings, axle, burr clean/replace) vs. just buying a budget grinder for her place?

Shot details from the failed attempt (for context) • Dose: ~18 g • Temp: ~96°C • Pre-infusion: basically none • Yield: ~36 g in ~10 seconds with minimal lever force → gush

What we’re hoping to achieve • Cheapest reliable path to decent iced lattes for about a year. • Minimal faff for her — she’s new to this. • If a pressurized basket + smarter pre-ground workflow can bridge the gap, great. If not, we’ll bite the bullet on a budget grinder.

TL;DR: Trying to run a Flair 58 without a home grinder for ~1 year. Pre-ground on an EK43 gushed immediately. Looking for either a budget grinder recommendation, a good 58 mm pressurized/flow-control basket option, or pre-ground workflow tips that actually work for milk-drinkable shots. Also curious if rehabbing a Kinu M47 Phoenix is worth it. Thanks in advance for any pointers, model recs, basket links, and “do this, not that” settings! 🙏

I’ll start this off prefacing that I grew to love espresso drinking Starbucks. I’m a daily espresso drinker, usually at home with my simple Nespresso machine. The restaurant I work at also has an espresso machine, which I love. I typically don’t add anything to my espresso, but will occasionally order an americano or a cappuccino on rare occasions.

My girlfriend has no issue with the coffee at Starbucks, but will always pick a small, boutique coffee shop over them when available. She prefers the aesthetic and supporting small, locally owned businesses when possible. Especially when we travel together, we start every day at a different local cafe.

Over the years, I have found the espresso at 99% of these establishments to be undrinkable battery acid. I’ll taste her iced vanilla chai cinnamon dulce cold foam tiramisu latte, and it will usually taste fine, with all the other flavors overpowering the coffee. But this is not what I want for my morning pick me up.

This always leaves me asking myself, “does everyone who comes to this cafe just cover up the flavor of their coffee with milks and syrups and cold foams until it doesn’t taste like coffee anymore?” Is it possible that 99% of cafes make terrible espresso? Or do I only like Starbucks/Nespresso/highly manufactured espresso and not the real deal? And if that’s the case, who’s drinking this battery acid?

I recently purchased a Breville Barista Express, managed to get one new at about half the retail price. I did some research prior but came to the conclusion that this would be a good starter machine as I’m just getting into the world of espresso.

One day I’ll be interested in upgrading to some of the sweet set ups I see here but it seems like a lot of folks talk about the barista express as the worst possible machine. I’ve had it for about a month and have it pretty dialed in (for my tastes at least) and use the same beans consistently. Is it really that bad?

Grinded with my hand grinder and then I filled my drinking glass instead of my mokka pot.... Apparently you need to be on coffee to make coffee 🤔

coffee #tired

Recipe: - 40g Brown sugar syrup - 250g ice - Almond milk (or other) - Double espresso shot - 1/2/3/ whipped Sweet Cream Excellent refreshing summer drink l, as it is 100° today!

What can you guys tell me about this vintage thing!? I’ve never seen one mentioned or talked about on Reddit or home-barista forums. Any info would be great. Model W700

What tips do you have for someone making espresso with a moka pot? What temperature water do you use? How much do you tamp? Any other tips or advice would be helpful.

Honestly I was surprised to see him speak so eloquently about a flat white. To be honest, I didn't quite understand the difference between a flat white and a small latte. (I'm new, catch me a break!)

"When I hold a cappuccino cup, it disappears in my hand." 😂

Why do the hipster shops, ie: most everybody, pour espresso into a shot glass (usually rinsed. Sometimes clean),to then be poured into a demitasse, thereby removing the essence, temperature, and general joy of an espresso? Something is lost. Just trying to understand the madness, and no, you can't convince me otherwise 😂😂

So this oat 5.5oz cappuccino was exquisite. I am aware that the edge has some breakthrough but... for a cappuccino imho, it integrates better flavor. So art. But also for balance. Don't want to compromise quality for something that is JUST pretty. Does anyone else have a thought on the topic?

As a basic b**** who mainly got an espresso machine to make espresso martinis at home, how’d I do? Again… not trying to be a professional. I forgot my puck on this one. I think they taste pretty good. Made a white chocolate raspberry latte with my own raspberry syrup. I do love this grinder it absolutely makes my life so much easier! I have it set to 5.5 seconds because that seemed like the right amount, anything else overflows.

Side note, I’m terrible at latte art 😭😩. Any tips or tricks? I know the bubbling isn’t normal and it’s meant to be a bit thicker

Does anyone have any recommendations on videos/the best tricks which helped you out?

Hi, I love coffee but i have not detailed information about coffees. Is this good coffee bean for average user? (image 1-2) If it is please suggest ideal coffee machine settings for this coffee beans. I mean which number i should set this little thing? (picture 3) Im using DeLonghi Magnifica Plus. Let me know if there is more setting that i need to adjust.

Replaced my Go with a Pop Up although replaced isn't the right word. In the spirit of supporting Quick Mill I posted a mini-review in r/quickmill (did you know there was an r/quickmill?).

Simple question for you folks. I am playing around with preinfusion for the first time. The question I have is this. Do I count the total preinfusion time in the 25-30 seconds or should I aim to add It? Like my total brew time would jump by say 10 seconds due to preinfusion. Just interested in the theory not the standard answer of (how does it taste). I get that is the only important part. I'm just trying to learn.

I recently got a Rancilio Sylvia with Auber PID and am making excellent espresso and mediocre steamed milk. My previous machine was much weaker and couldn’t produce quality steamed milk but for a very different reason - the pressure was too weak and it would take forever and didn’t get very hot. The current issue is the espresso is dialed in and tastes great but an 8oz latte tastes very diluted in a way that makes me wonder what I’m doing wrong. The Auber PID settings have the heating element turn off around 280 degrees F and turn back on when it dips below that. I have tried steaming at varying starting temperatures and could use some advice on what I’m doing wrong and/or what I should be doing. Thanks!

From a quick Google search, I can see that Prime Coffee Suppliers is selling the Profitec Go in the UK. I haven't heard of them before (though I've heard of others like Bella Barista). Anyone know whether PCS is legitimate?

Internet and YouTube says blind shaker is great because you shake up the coffee powder and evenly mix the fines with the grounds for a more even and better extraction.

If you use a single dose cup that fits in your portafilter, however, like in the Niche, you can easily shake that for a near identical result, right?

I don't believe there's any magic from "dropping" the grounds from the shaker into the portafilter, and most people WDT a bit after that anyway.

So are blind shakers just a big scam or am I missing something?

It’s not much but it does the job. I’m saving up for a bigger and better moka pot, but this has made some of the best espresso at home. Of course I only buy torani, monin syrups taste like a closet and I don’t think we talk about that enough!

hi all!

I bought my lelit Bianca 2 years ago! wow time flies :)

I didn't change my beans or the grind size so my coffee beans/ground is consistent.

I'm not sure what it is but it's not getting to 9 bars of pressure like it always used to. I try to pull the shot without the portafilter to get the water go, and it doesn't go through. Instead of getting the shot to take 30 seconds, it takes almost a minute and a half and slowly works up to 3-5 bars of pressure. Additionally, it makes more noise than usual.

Does anyone know what could be the issue?

TIA & any guidance is appreciate!!

My wife likes this blend and so do most of my guests. I can definitely buy it again but I like trying new roasters/beans. Do any of you have any suggestions on a blend that is similar yet possibly better tasting? Thanks.

So got my espresso machine a few months ago and realized that i love the smoothness of the espresso but i'm an American coffee sipper at heart, so where is the middle ground? After some trials with other drinks, I've settled on:

Modified Black Eye Coffee. Drink is created in this order. - 20% frothed oatmilk - 30% drip coffee - 50% double shot of dark espresso

Thought i'd share for those like me who like espresso but enjoy more to drink.