Coffee Drinkers Anonymous

downunderdallas

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Converted my $50 grinder to doserless which cost $150 ...still it's the best $200 grinder I've seen! Incidentally I ordered kit from Taiwan on Thursday night it was delivered in Perth on Sunday morning..if only bike bits came this fast ...

Coffee is the best I have made personally for a long time. The Compak is definitely being relocated! Yes that is a spare basket in the hopper spot, the guy I bought the doser-less kit from has this awesome turned stainless funnel but it was $100 USD too spendy for me.
Mazzer SJ.jpg
 

ausdb

Being who he is
Converted my $50 grinder to doserless which cost $150 ...still it's the best $200 grinder I've seen! Incidentally I ordered kit from Taiwan on Thursday night it was delivered in Perth on Sunday morning..if only bike bits came this fast ...

Coffee is the best I have made personally for a long time. The Compak is definitely being relocated! Yes that is a spare basket in the hopper spot, the guy I bought the doser-less kit from has this awesome turned stainless funnel but it was $100 USD too spendy for me.
@downunderdallas what's the place you got your kit from?

This one? https://home-doserless.com/
 
Last edited:

safreek

*******
Let's see some pics of those shots @safreek !!!
Shall do so in the Arvo, it is drinkable but to be honest still not as good as the 300 dollar sunbeam.
To be honest it is the first coffee machine I have been disappointed with.
I have talked to the service people and they keep coming up with a load of crap about how you need to get "the feel".
I have been using machines for years before they were trendy and have never come close to such an inconsistent brew. I believe the pressure is to high. Their idea is to release pressure before making the coffee.
I shall do a review of this machine when I get time, believe me, it won't be glowing.
 

downunderdallas

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Has anyone used a Flair Espresso manual press thingo? Thinking about getting one for weekends away when I have time to piss fart around with coffee, was going to pair with a hand grinder, any suggestions on that front?
Ok, I have pulled my first few shots on this and am very happy indeed! Both the Mrs and I think the coffee is at least as good if not better than the VBM. It's a bit of a fiddly process as expected but actually not as bad as I thought it may be. I think it may well be my go-to on the weekends.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Ok, I have pulled my first few shots on this and am very happy indeed! Both the Mrs and I think the coffee is at least as good if not better than the VBM. It's a bit of a fiddly process as expected but actually not as bad as I thought it may be. I think it may well be my go-to on the weekends.
I know the coffee scene over here is a bit backwards, but...surely you can still get coffee on the weekends?


Where is the coffee pix @safreek ?
 

safreek

*******
I know the coffee scene over here is a bit backwards, but...surely you can still get coffee on the weekends?


Where is the coffee pix @safreek ?
Photo of a short black, 5 minutes old out of the sunbeam. Better by far than the rancilio. It's going back to the supplier as soon as the border opens. They are at Darra, says it all
367567
 

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
Photo of a short black, 5 minutes old out of the sunbeam. Better by far than the rancilio. It's going back to the supplier as soon as the border opens. They are at Darra, says it allView attachment 367567
Given that literally millions of people have been happy with the Silvia over the last 30 years I suspect that they may be some user error.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 

creaky

XMAS Plumper
Given that literally millions of people have been happy with the Silvia over the last 30 years I suspect that they may be some user error.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
Agreed.

@safreek there’s gotta be something in your combination of coffee bean, bean storage, grinding and tamping that’s not working well with the Silvia obviously.

Why not spend the time and money that you’d burn driving it back to Darra in different beans and trying various tamping and grind combos. It’s not like its a shit machine.

Do you have proper tamper?
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Ok @safreek it's time to answer some questions...

1) do you have the right size tamp? Or are you trying to wing it with something a little bit too small? Is it a flat or convex faced tamp? Is it a good ramp or some cheap piece of shit that isn't really going to deliver an even tamp? An uneven tamp will yield a very shitty extraction. I used to like a convex tamp, for a long time...then one day I was given a flat faced tamp and holy shit! Good by convex days.

2) what is your dose size? Are you loading up the correct amount for your basket? Under and over filling will fuck you up.

3) brew ratio...once you know how many grams of ground coffee you are putting in, you need to work out how many grams you are pulling out. The bigger the ratio, the shitter the coffee. Well more the smaller margin for error, but also the shitter the coffee. A quick bit of googling tells me you should have a 16g basket? From that you should be yielding about 25-30g of coffee. That isn't a bad ratio and should yield good coffee.

4) what is your extraction rate like? Commercially I like to pull about 30g of coffee from 18-20g of beans in roughly 30 seconds on a machine with around 8 or 9 bar of pump pressure. A lot of home machines, like your Sunbeam and my Breville, run about 14-16 bar of pressure in the pump. I can't find an official listing for the pressure on your machine, but the internet claims 11 bar. This is a lot less than your Sunbeam! I would suggest that you may need to look at slowing the extraction rate down, maybe around 20-25 seconds for your 30g shot. Perhaps even slower, it never hurts to play with it...you won't go blind.

5) you better be using quality fresh coffee beans.
 

safreek

*******
Agreed.

@safreek there’s gotta be something in your combination of coffee bean, bean storage, grinding and tamping that’s not working well with the Silvia obviously.

Why not spend the time and money that you’d burn driving it back to Darra in different beans and trying various tamping and grind combos. It’s not like its a shit machine.

Do you have proper tamper?
Already have tried 3 different beans, on a grind that I have tried from a 15 grind which is obviously to large through to a 7 which barely comes through. I get that it's easy to fuck up a flat white but all I want is good short blacj
 

safreek

*******
Ok @safreek it's time to answer some questions...

1) do you have the right size tamp? Or are you trying to wing it with something a little bit too small? Is it a flat or convex faced tamp? Is it a good ramp or some cheap piece of shit that isn't really going to deliver an even tamp? An uneven tamp will yield a very shitty extraction. I used to like a convex tamp, for a long time...then one day I was given a flat faced tamp and holy shit! Good by convex days.

2) what is your dose size? Are you loading up the correct amount for your basket? Under and over filling will fuck you up.

3) brew ratio...once you know how many grams of ground coffee you are putting in, you need to work out how many grams you are pulling out. The bigger the ratio, the shitter the coffee. Well more the smaller margin for error, but also the shitter the coffee. A quick bit of googling tells me you should have a 16g basket? From that you should be yielding about 25-30g of coffee. That isn't a bad ratio and should yield good coffee.

4) what is your extraction rate like? Commercially I like to pull about 30g of coffee from 18-20g of beans in roughly 30 seconds on a machine with around 8 or 9 bar of pump pressure. A lot of home machines, like your Sunbeam and my Breville, run about 14-16 bar of pressure in the pump. I can't find an official listing for the pressure on your machine, but the internet claims 11 bar. This is a lot less than your Sunbeam! I would suggest that you may need to look at slowing the extraction rate down, maybe around 20-25 seconds for your 30g shot. Perhaps even slower, it never hurts to play with it...you won't go blind.

5) you better be using quality fresh coffee beans.
  1. flat tamp, supplied with the machine. Good solid weight to it
  2. I have tried all sorts of levels in it, also many tamping compression pressures
  3. all I can go by is the shot grind size from the grinder, 2 shots equal ddouble shot
  4. one would believe with the pressure used in the cheaper machines the crew would be crap, but not like the new machine.
  5. as fresh as the beans from a couple cafe's.

As a bit if a side note, I have been using coffee machines for over half my life and my partner used to make coffee for a living. Neither of us can get good coffee.
I believe that the machine gets too hot to be honest, the glass or cup is unholdable when double shot is squeezed out.

I know a good coffee depends on your taste buds but fuck me, I have seriously gone through about 3 quarters of a kg without getting one good coffee, I am not the quiting type but this piece of crap has defeated me
 

safreek

*******
suspect that they may be some user error.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
That's what they told the giant anthem owners.
But you do get dud machines, I would suspect that they are using migrant labour to keep cost down, if you rob someone by giving them a couple dollars an hours you get the skill level you pay for
 

shiny

Go-go-gadget-wrist-thingy
@safreek are you doing a purge before brewing? Have been reading up on machines lately and need to do some temp surfing with the Rancillio. A purge of hot water through the group head for about 10 seconds before brewing seems to be recommended.
 

fatboyonabike

Captain oblivious
I can see PoolNoodle flying home via Lismore for a one on one barista course..
when I used to repair commercial catering equipment, Rancilo were the workhorse of the small takeaway/corner store.
when you repair sunbeam machine , you do by removing all the stainless screws and placing them in a small container for later use and placing the rest of the machine in the bin!
 
Top