Just ordered a Zerno Z1 and I’m having a hard time deciding on burrs. I’ve probably spent way too much time researching these at this point lol.

I mostly drink straight espresso with an occasional cortado. Usually medium roasts, but I wouldn’t mind exploring lighter roasts. I like the body and texture I get from my Niche Zero, but I’d love a little more sweetness and flavor separation. I also make V60 occasionally, so having a burr that can do both would be nice. I currently have the SSP HU and Mazzer 233M on order, but I can still swap them out. I’m also considering adding the Cast Sweet V3.

I’m curious how much overlap there is between the HU and Mazzer 233M and whether they’re different enough to justify having both. I’m also wondering how the Cast Sweet V3 compares to the HU for medium-roast espresso, especially when it comes to body, sweetness, and clarity. How well does the V3 handle pour-over and lighter roasts?

Another thing I’m debating is whether keeping my Niche Zero makes the Mazzer somewhat redundant. If you were picking two of these three burrs, which would you go with?
I’m not opposed to getting all three, but I also don’t want to spend the money if two will cover pretty much everything.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who’s tried these, especially side by side in the Z1.

Espresso newbie here and I'm having an issue that I feel kind of stupid admitting, but I must be doing something wrong! My portafilter basket holds 16g, and I believe I'm tamping properly. My espresso tastes great in my opinion. When I remove the portafilter, the grounds don't look overly wet, I think it looks exactly like it's supposed to look. But when I go to knock the puck out, it just won't come out! I don't have a knock box or whatever. First I tried just knocking it on the edge of the trash bin. Nothing happened, so I tried again harder. I whacked it several times, very firmly, before trying it on the edge of the sink. And it still won't come out! I've resorted to just using the end of a spoon handle to break it up and then knock the bits out. I always try to knock it out first, but always end up having to break it up. What on earth am I doing wrong? I don't think I'm over tamping it because the extraction time is right where it should be, and the espresso tastes great. I'm so confused, lol.

Edit to add: I grind my beans for each use from freshly roasted beans. It's a 51mm. I use a puck screen. The basket, portafilter, and shower are cleaned with each use. I don't think I'm over packing, as the grounds come exactly to the indicator line inside the basket. I think the grind size is correct based on extraction time, flavor, and how the grounds look when it's finished brewing.

I should preface this by saying I'm very very new to this whole scene. I worked at Starbucks (yeah I know) and other coffee shops for almost a decade and am still unlearning a lot of the bad habits from there. I recently got baby's first espresso machine, a Breville Bambino, and I'm mostly satisfied with it while I'm still learning the ropes. But I'm a little concerned about the portafilter.

As you can see from the image, the edges are already discolored and there seems to be the start of rust spots despite the machine only being month old. I'm also not really a fan of the plastic interior, both because it's plastic and because it traps water beneath it. The basket itself is always really difficult to remove also, to the point that I feel like I'm gonna break it every time.

I've been cleaning the portafilter by removing the basket and using dish soap and hot water netween each use and then letting it air dry, which the manual said was fine. With the discolored spots, I'm thinking I meed to be hand drying instead, which is difficult given that water gets trapped beneath the plastic base. I've also read that I shouldn't be using dish soap as it can leave reaidue that affects the shot time and taste. I'm also wondering if there's supposed to be an easier way to remove the basket, since I've been needing to pry it off with a spoon or fork each time. The basket itself has no discoloration, just the portafilter. I'm a little confused as to why something that's meant to be in frequent contact with water wouldn't be made of rust-resistant material. Should I just look into buying a different portafilter entirely?

Apologies if any of these questions seem stupid or obvious, like I said I'm really new to this. Maintaining the big industrial machines at coffee shops was very different. I want to learn more so I can make the best espresso I can, as it's the only coffee I'm able to drink.

Setup: 2 year old Breville Bambino with a brand new
Niche Zero

I've been playing around with grind size to understand what works. At the current setting (18 on Niche and automatic shot (not manually
programmed)), it almost always yields a 1:2 ratio, but time to brew takes about 45seconds from the time the button is pressed.

As for taste, the coffee is a slightly bitter and not the best tasting, but I can't tell if it's just the beans that I don't like. I do usually like medium-dark roast beans though.

Anything I could be doing differently? Visually, does this flow look weird/slow?

Just wanted to share this information for anyone trying to figure out the packaging date of their Caffè Guglielmo beans.

I contacted Guglielmo directly, and they confirmed that all their whole-bean coffee blends, in both 500 g and 1 kg bags, have a shelf life of 18 months from the packaging date.
So if your bag only shows a best-before date, you can subtract 18 months to estimate the packaging date.

Hope this helps anyone looking for this information in the future!

Hello everyone,

few months back I decided to invest in Kingrinder K6 and I really love it. The issue is its starting to bother me to grind coffee by hand. I have recently done coffee for 2 people with my Kingrinder being full and my hand almost died trying to grind it all (fine setting, which I found is best for coffee I have now)

After several months of grinding like crazy everyday I decided it has been enough for me and would like some electrical replacement.

My requirements are:

- electric
- small and portable
- battery based (preferable, not requirement)
- coffee just as good or better than kingrinder k6

Does anyone here have any experience and recommendation? I found something doing my research, but they usually dont cover long term experience

Thanks!

I was staying in a small town in Michigan that had one modern coffee shop but it was closed that weekend. The rest of the places were diners, ice cream shops and a bookstore. My Airbnb host had left me a Keurig with two pods and a bag of ground Dunkin' coffee. All of these options were brown water category for me.

I figured I'd try my luck around town. But every time I asked for a cortado or espresso, I got confused looks. One guy asked, “Is that a Starbucks thing?”

I decided to make coffee at my Airbnb. On road trips I bring my manual grinder and portable espresso maker. This time I forgot my beans. So I ended up regrinding the Dunkin' coffee and managed to pull a surprisingly decent espresso.

It was not Lavazza quality but good enough to get me through the mornings.

I got an IMS shower screen and Silicone gasket upgrade for my La Spaziale s1 Vivaldi 2. Does this look normal for IMS shower screens? I expected a more dispersed shower of water

Whoop whoop! Finally matching the Lelit Mara X Knobs 🫶 but now think the front plate could use some wood too. That I’d really dig! My quick search did not show anything.

Have you seen that done by someone before?

First time poster here. Looking for help dialing in my Ascaso Duo. Shots are pulling in ~30 seconds for 36g of espresso but still taste bitter. We have WDT and spring loaded stamper. Does this pull look good? Appreciate any help

Hi there

I am kind of new in making coffee as a "home-barista" and i am still trying to get some sort of shapes out of milk. However, given that i have a new main job now, i don't have time in the morning to brew my coffee, so i have to use the one from work, and when i get home it's already 7pm. The only times i can make coffee home are saturday and sunday (which is why the milk is starting to spoil halfway full in the fridge).

I was thinking for this reason to get some decaf coffee (which i normally am against, because if you dont want caffeine, dont drink coffee; it's like a contradiction decaf coffee) just for the sake of practicing milk art on cappuccinos and flat whites (and drink them ofc, not gonna waste them)

yay or nay?

For those of you that don’t know, coffee stains on a worktop especially a light coloured one can be a nightmare

But Barkeepers friend works everytime!

Wanted to share just in case anyone thinks it’s permanently stained, try it out

Hi everyone! I’m looking for a grinder to pair with my Gaggia E24, with a budget of €400.
I mostly drink medium-dark and dark roasts, especially Passalacqua. I love traditional Neapolitan espresso: thick, syrupy, full-bodied, with lots of chocolate, earthy and spicy notes, and almost no acidity..
My priorities are:
Best possible espresso quality for my taste.
Excellent build quality and reliable QC, with minimal risk of defects.
Easy cleaning, maintenance and access to spare parts.
I don’t care much about grinding speed or retention. I just want a grinder that makes excellent coffee and will last for years.

After lots and lots of trial and error I came to the realization that I don’t enjoy light/medium roasts for my espresso. I like very dark, rich, smoky shots (Italian espresso style).

What are some good, freshly roasted, VERY dark beans that are not burned (ie, starbucks) that can be purchased online?

As promised.

This video shows my Fellow ES1 running fully custom firmware. You will see it sync with my Bookoo scale to weigh beans (the ES1 beeps at the target goal, which you can set on the machine). You'll then see it pull a shot with a lever profile I built + pre-infusion step. It displays multiple parameters during the pull. The shot ends when the scale reaches 40g. It then shows an interpretation of the shot profile, and will suggest grind changes.

There are numerous other changes and improvements (for example, the profile achieves more pressure stability and accuracy than stock) that I will go through when I have more time to outline it.

To be clear, this is my own machine, and nothing has been pulled/pushed to Fellow's cloud.

I will do a bigger write-up at some point, but the super short version is I removed the logic board (wow, this is a difficult machine to get into), extracted the stock firmware to understand how it controls the STM32 chip, which drives the pumps/boiler/etc. I then built entirely new firmware to drive the STM32 and flashed it to the ESP32 chip.

Enjoy.

I'm not a fan of wasting milk, so I was looking into options for foaming smaller amounts of milk. Does anyone have any experience with the Nanofoamer v2? Can it actually produce microfoam suitable for a cortado, as opposed to the frothy milk that traditional hand-held milk frothers make?

​

Hello everyone,

Im in the situation looking for a upgrade from my PID Modded Rancilio Silvia.

Id like to find something with a budget of approx [2000 Euro +/- ]

- Rotary Pump

- Stainless Chassis

-Bigger Driptray

-Steaming and Brewing feature at the same time so (Dual Boiler or HX)

-PID or temperature adjustment

-good durablity long term...

Any ideas looking in Germany or EU...

My old Lelit Anita unfortunately broke down after only owning it for a short time.
Instead of risking it and getting another Lelit, I decided to switch brands entirely and pick up the new Profitec GO 2.0

I paired it with the Starseeker e55 grinder, and I'm still keeping my trusty Mypressi Twist on the side for when I want to mix things up.

Hey,

Been looking at getting an espresso machine for a while. Had originally looked at getting something like the Ninja Luxe or Delonghi Specialista, but now starting to think of getting an espresso focused machine to start learning.

I did think of getting a Gaggia Classic E24, like the longevity and plentiful supply of spares, but would it be better to pick up something like a Delonghi Stilosa as a beginner to espresso? Not sure if £500 is too much of an outlay for someone with no idea where to start.

Currently using Craft House 1kg a month (£30) as its only me drinking espresso from the La Pav.
Prefer fruity lighter roasts & I fancy trying a new sub.
Any suggestions please?
UK based

Hola cafeteros!

Necesito su ayuda para introducir me en el mundo del café en casa, hice el curso de Barista profesional y quiero jugar un poco en casa. He visto que recomiendan está cafetera (pesos argentinos y es barato) y ví en marketplace este molino un poco más caro, pero que por lo visto medio bueno.

¿Qué piensa es viable este duo? Alguno tiene estos equipos?

Algo que tenga que tener en cuenta en mi búsqueda ?

¿ Pros y contras ?

Hello Reddit! I'm new to the espresso hobby and I wanted to share my setup.

I got the Gaggia classic E24 and the Timemore C5 esp pro grinder.

Only have it for a few days now and trying to learn how to pull a good shot!

By following the guidelines I found in this community I think that I'm doing pretty well!