Coffee

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My pod machine has died after 7 years. Had a good innings. I didnt use it much of late as i have been using my bialeti stove top.
But i think i want something new.
Looking at the 500-750 range.
I’ll read back thru this thread but if anyone has a rec let me know.

The dream machine is this but i aint dropping 10k! Im not rankine with a payday coming.

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La Marzocco GS3 AV | Coffee Machine Superstore

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so i think its down to an all in one machine like a Breville Barista Express (includes grinder) and costs about $750

or a grinder and coffee machine separate (which will be between $750-$950)

for the grinder:
i am thinking baratza encore at $250 (although i heard this is not suitable for espresso grinding) ?
so maybe Baratza Sette 30 AP at $389 ?
or do i not get baratza, and go with the breville dose control pro at $250 ?

​

for the coffee machine :
i am thinking either the $500 breville bambino plus or the breville infuser at $550.

i am leaning towards separate grinder and machine combo as i have bench space and as i know that baratz grinders are good and if i upgrade my coffee machine in future, i'll always have a good grinder. Plus i can grind more options i think, partic as i will keep my stovetop bialetti which requires coarser grounds.

thoughts people?
wadistance ?
 
Last edited:
Billy ray said:
so i think its down to an all in one machine like a Breville Barista Express (includes grinder) and costs about $750

or a grinder and coffee machine separate (which will be between $750-$950)

for the grinder:
i am thinking baratza encore at $250 (although i heard this is not suitable for espresso grinding) ?
so maybe Baratza Sette 30 AP at $389 ?
or do i not get baratza, and go with the breville dose control pro at $250 ?

​

for the coffee machine :
i am thinking either the $500 breville bambino plus or the breville infuser at $550.

i am leaning towards separate grinder and machine combo as i have bench space and as i know that baratz grinders are good and if i upgrade my coffee machine in future, i'll always have a good grinder. Plus i can grind more options i think, partic as i will keep my stovetop bialetti which requires coarser grounds.

thoughts people?
wadistance ?
Click to expand...

Go separate grinder and machine mate. And don’t skimp on the grinder.
 

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Billy ray said:
so i think its down to an all in one machine like a Breville Barista Express (includes grinder) and costs about $750

or a grinder and coffee machine separate (which will be between $750-$950)

for the grinder:
i am thinking baratza encore at $250 (although i heard this is not suitable for espresso grinding) ?
so maybe Baratza Sette 30 AP at $389 ?
or do i not get baratza, and go with the breville dose control pro at $250 ?

​

for the coffee machine :
i am thinking either the $500 breville bambino plus or the breville infuser at $550.

i am leaning towards separate grinder and machine combo as i have bench space and as i know that baratz grinders are good and if i upgrade my coffee machine in future, i'll always have a good grinder. Plus i can grind more options i think, partic as i will keep my stovetop bialetti which requires coarser grounds.

thoughts people?
wadistance ?
Click to expand...
Definitely go separate machine and grinder.

I'd wait until the Breville dual boiler goes on sale somewhere, I managed to nab one at $850 from memory. Tee that up with a breville bcg820 and you're golden
 
Billy ray said:
i went the Baratza Sette 30 AP and the breville bambino plus
had them for about a week or so.
finally got the grind size and time working and making beautiful espresso
Click to expand...
I think upgrading my grinder to a Baratza is on the cards, they are beautiful machines
 
Billy ray said:
so i think its down to an all in one machine like a Breville Barista Express (includes grinder) and costs about $750

or a grinder and coffee machine separate (which will be between $750-$950)

for the grinder:
i am thinking baratza encore at $250 (although i heard this is not suitable for espresso grinding) ?
so maybe Baratza Sette 30 AP at $389 ?
or do i not get baratza, and go with the breville dose control pro at $250 ?

​

for the coffee machine :
i am thinking either the $500 breville bambino plus or the breville infuser at $550.

i am leaning towards separate grinder and machine combo as i have bench space and as i know that baratz grinders are good and if i upgrade my coffee machine in future, i'll always have a good grinder. Plus i can grind more options i think, partic as i will keep my stovetop bialetti which requires coarser grounds.

thoughts people?
wadistance ?
Click to expand...
Sorry mate, totally missed this! Tapatalk is absolutely dogshit these days with giving notifications for mentions.

I reckon you've gone the perfect setup there. I couldn't fault that one bit.

How's it working out for you? Need any help getting it dialled in and running smoothly or are you all over it?

I will say one thing - get rid of those two baskets you've got on top of the machine. You only want the one with holes all over the bottom, and the double shot size. For one coffee, you want 16-18g freshly ground espresso beans, and you want your double espresso to weigh twice the weight of dry coffee you use. Double shot, beef it up to 21g
 
wadistance said:
Sorry mate, totally missed this! Tapatalk is absolutely dogshit these days with giving notifications for mentions.

I reckon you've gone the perfect setup there. I couldn't fault that one bit.

How's it working out for you? Need any help getting it dialled in and running smoothly or are you all over it?

I will say one thing - get rid of those two baskets you've got on top of the machine. You only want the one with holes all over the bottom, and the double shot size. For one coffee, you want 16-18g freshly ground espresso beans, and you want your double espresso to weigh twice the weight of dry coffee you use. Double shot, beef it up to 21g
Click to expand...
Its been amazing. Took a bit of coffee wastage to get my grind right but right now im 18g in and 38g out in all up 26 seconds and tastes great.
I am continually tweaking tho to see if great can become unbelievable.

The dual wall basket my partner uses as she has decaf only atm and so we buy pre ground coffee for her and it ensures we get the fake crema as i call it.

But yehvery happy with how its worked out and really appreciate your posts in this thread earlier 👍
 
Billy ray said:
Its been amazing. Took a bit of coffee wastage to get my grind right but right now im 18g in and 38g out in all up 26 seconds and tastes great.
I am continually tweaking tho to see if great can become unbelievable.

The dual wall basket my partner uses as she has decaf only atm and so we buy pre ground coffee for her and it ensures we get the fake crema as i call it.

But yehvery happy with how its worked out and really appreciate your posts in this thread earlier
Click to expand...

Hearing stuff like this makes me super happy. Glad that I could help somewhat. You’re going to get so much more enjoyment out of this than an all in 1 system.

The grinder you have is also super functional for grinding coarse for filter coffee - so you got a bonus 2 for 1 there

Enjoy!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Bump/subbing after getting a machine during boxing day sales. Wasn't a massive coffee drinker before, but I think I'm becoming one.

It's immense fun using and fine tuning everything.
 

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Borough Blood said:
What did you get?
Click to expand...

After a looooot of research:

Bambino Plus (at an incredible price, cos they didn't have a Bambino to sell me)
Breville Smart Grinder Pro.
I also got a Kingrinder manual grinder - I want to be able to sub in different/hand grinded beans on the weekend when I have more time. Haven't got that dialled in yet though, I was playing with the electric grinder this weekend, it was a bigger priority.

I've also learned that oat milk sucks, and that I should stick to the almond milk that I know I like.
 
nobbyiscool said:
After a looooot of research:

Bambino Plus (at an incredible price, cos they didn't have a Bambino to sell me)
Breville Smart Grinder Pro.
I also got a Kingrinder manual grinder - I want to be able to sub in different/hand grinded beans on the weekend when I have more time. Haven't got that dialled in yet though, I was playing with the electric grinder this weekend, it was a bigger priority.

I've also learned that oat milk sucks, and that I should stick to the almond milk that I know I like.
Click to expand...
Hey mate,
Forget the hand grinder for espresso. It’s going to take you far too long to grind the 16-18g you need for a double espresso - your smart grinder is fine!

The bambino plus is a brilliant machine for the money, I think you’ll love it. Make sure you buy fresh coffee from your local cafe, and get some mini kitchen scales to weigh out your dose (dry ground coffee) and yield (weight of the double espresso)

Also - most oat milk is s**t. Oatley brand isn’t. See if you can find that
 
wadistance said:
Hey mate,
Forget the hand grinder for espresso. It’s going to take you far too long to grind the 16-18g you need for a double espresso - your smart grinder is fine!

The bambino plus is a brilliant machine for the money, I think you’ll love it. Make sure you buy fresh coffee from your local cafe, and get some mini kitchen scales to weigh out your dose (dry ground coffee) and yield (weight of the double espresso)

Also - most oat milk is s**t. Oatley brand isn’t. See if you can find that
Click to expand...

I had a couple of goes at hand grinding yesterday and found it quite a nice, therapeutic part of the process! Smells incredible too.

I'll definitely be sticking to local cafes for beans when they re-open this week, there's good socially responsible beans just round the corner from me. Although the beans I got this week in the mail are only in Collingwood. And I already bought scales after watching too many youtube videos about perfecting the process.

Cheers for the advice re: Oatly, I'm keen to start experimenting with the perfect non-dairy milk once I get the grinder and machine dialled in.
 
Oat milk is nice cold for an iced latte or iced chocolate milk, steamed however is a different story.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Billy ray said:
Blue carton alternative dairy co for almond.
And macamilk for macadamia

Milk lab for both also good.
All others for almond and maca are terrible IMHO
Click to expand...
If you go an almond milk, make sure it specifically says "Barista" on it. The other ones are way too watery, and I think are just meant for cooking.
 
I think I have a coffee problem (other than not having a coffee in front of me at the moment). I picked up a DeLonghi Dinamica Plus last year because my old Sunbeam machine and Breville Grinder didn't fit in the kitchen and I couldn't be bothered with it, but it's a great machine and fully automatic is awesome. I've also got a cold brew jug I don't use enough, an Aeropress for fishing/camping trips, and a couple of small hand grinders. I'll probably have to clean up and start using the Breville Grinder because doing 6 shots in a hand grinder for cold brew isn't fun.
 
I like coffee but have never purchased a proper machine. I do buy a coffee from a cafe but started doing it everyday and had to scale back to once a week usually skim latte one sweetner. At home I just use instant either just black or with creamer and sweetner. Had a pod machine but wasn't in to it. I've found if I'm just having black coffee an instant at home tastes better and not as bitter and flavourless as a long black from a coffee shop. That'll upset some people lol.
 
dav3 said:
I think I have a coffee problem (other than not having a coffee in front of me at the moment). I picked up a DeLonghi Dinamica Plus last year because my old Sunbeam machine and Breville Grinder didn't fit in the kitchen and I couldn't be bothered with it, but it's a great machine and fully automatic is awesome. I've also got a cold brew jug I don't use enough, an Aeropress for fishing/camping trips, and a couple of small hand grinders. I'll probably have to clean up and start using the Breville Grinder because doing 6 shots in a hand grinder for cold brew isn't fun.
Click to expand...
a coffee to calm those nerves regarding Ken Hinkley? lol
 
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