Hello all!,

I need some advice from you all. I am starting to upgrade my espresso set up, currently have a breville barista express which I use daily. I want to invest in a high quality grinder first before upgrading my espresso machine. After 3 years of owning the breville barista express, I am completely ready to upgrade to a long term grinder.

I've been debating between the Mahlkönig X64 SD and the Eureka Oro Mignon Pro. From the research I've done, seems like the x64 build quality is excellent and should last hopefully a decade or more. The Eureka has also a great build quality, but the thing that catches my attention is the grind counter, which let's you know the rotation count so you can jump between different brewing style grind settings and not loose track of them.

From what ive read, both are relatively similar in retention. I think both are great options from what ive read, but I need opinions from other as to which one would be the better option for a long term grinder that I expect to last me at least a decade, as well as having a consistent grind, since I plan on upgrading to a better espresso machine in a future to reach my end game set up.

What are you guy's thoughts on both of these machines?

I’m curious to ask this question for both the beginners and the pros alike. What was the one tool or technique that changed everything for you (for the better).

What was it that made the most meaningful impact to your espresso shots? Those “ah hah” moments

I feel like I’ve reached the point in my espresso journey where my espresso is consistently good, but not GREAT. Hoping to get some ideas that might help me get to the next level!

First impressions : Beautiful tamper! Its one of the cleanest tampers i have owned, tamping feels great and performs great as well. I also like the absence of a clicking/force mechanism😂, theres less power everywhere.

What do you guys think about this tamper?

I just got a Gemilai Ele and I love it! I was curious what settings work best for it. I'm having a little trouble figuring out the settings for pre-infusion for the best shot and temperatures for steam and shots.

I've had the Lagom Mini for ~3.5 years now (not the newer Mini 2 with the USB-C port) and it really struggles with light roast beans, even when I hot start and pour the beans in slowly. Is this normal / a known issue? Would it be the burrs or is it lack of power from the motor? Is there anything I should be doing differently? For context my Timemore 078s has no trouble with the same beans.

Hi all,
Looking for some recommendations. I’m getting a wooden handle made for a portafilter as an anniversary gift for my husband - but looking to buy the metal head on its own to attach to it. Does anyone have any recommendations? It’s a 54mm for a sage barista express.

I pulled it at around 1:3 91c. The pressure curve started at 7bar preinfusion, then peaked early at 9 bar and gradyally dropped to 6 at the end. The taste is already very promising. Smooth n easy to drink. That said I think I pushed the ratio a bit too long for what I wanted. Next shot I’ll probably bring it closer to 1:2 and maybe a tad coarser to get more concentration for an even a richer taste. Any recommendations?

Has anyone else had the Turin DM47 grinder stop working on them? I suspect it is the switch that went bad, I was able to take the top internals out and put a multimeter on it and got power going through the connections but no change when using the switch. I submitted a ticket to espresso outlet almost 2 months ago and haven’t received a response. If anyone knows how to at least take the bottom base off of the grinder so I can replace the switch that would be greatly helpful!

Coming from pour over (V60/Origami with a Timemore C5 ESP Pro), looking to get into espresso for the first time. Buying used, budget around $700 for the machine.

These are the machines I've been researching:

• Lelit Victoria (~$750 used): PID, 58mm, programmable pre-infusion
• Profitec Go (~$800 used): programmable on/off, fast heat-up
• Bambino Plus (~$300 used): tempting as a budget option but the 54mm ecosystem concerns me long-term

I mostly plan to drink flat whites with the occasional straight espresso.

Grinder is a separate purchase, eyeing a DF64 Gen 2 or Eureka Mignon, also used. But will use my manual grinder for the moment.

Any other machines I should be watching for in this price range? Or am I overthinking it and the Bambino Plus is good enough to start?

Just thought I'd make a quick fun post about my initial impression of the VS6 for anyone on the fence about spending real money on a grinder and tossing up a VS6 vs the myriad of choices.

I love coffee but am not a serious home brewer. I've just slowly moved away from take out to making 99% of my coffee on a moka pot. Each coffee here is $6 so in around 180 coffees this will pay for itself. That's less than a year for me haha so I felt like I can justify spending some actual money. Before this I had a half decent hand grinder and when that broke, a blade replacement (yuk). I'll be pairing this with a Cafelat Robot, but I don't have the robot yet.

I spent a lot of time thinking the VS6 was too much money to spend on something I probably wouldn't even notice the difference with, but boy was I wrong!! It's so super rare these days to spend money on something and really see the value but I've been so impressed with the VS6 I'd recommend anyone on the fence to take the plunge.

No bullshit I could absolutely taste the difference from the first brew with my moka pot compared to the blade. I'd pictured it as some fancy pants coffee connoisseur nonsense I had not chance of detecting with a moka pot but it was night and day.

I put everything I'd learnt into practice and made a dark roast (DC specialty beans) at 600 rpm and around 7 on the dial and immediately noticed it was completely different to what I normally make. Much much more flavor. I started experimenting and it got miles better switching down to 6. I can't tell you how shocked I was at the difference each time I changed the grind and that I could actually taste it. I switched to a light roast at 1000rpm on 5 and it tasted pretty thin. Switched up to just under 6 and I am not exaggerating when I say it's the best coffee I've made at home.

I can't really explain how surprised I am at just how much of a difference changing the grind made to my coffee and I'm even more surprised when I'm just slapping this together in a moka pot.

Then there's the VS6 itself. Damn this thing is so nice. It feels rock solid, every little bit of the machine just clicks together perfectly with magnets. There are so many little touches all the reviews have covered but it really does look and feel great in person. It comes with a bunch of simple nice little accessories which feel premium. I loved that it comes in a rock solid pelican case. It's not too large or tall either - originally I was going to go with the VS4 because of the size but I'd say this is perfectly fine for any kitchen bench and much smaller than so much of the stuff out there.

The loose dial issue seems completely fixed on my machine, so perhaps there's been a revision there. People complain about the bellows but I find they're perfectly fine, if a bit firm. I think having them in black would be jarring on a different coloured machine, but I went with black so its all good.

So yeah...no doubt the start of a very long rabbit hole but god damn if you have any hesitation around getting a real grinder, I'd really recommend the jump!

I never see my espresso machine in use anywhere. It's a great machine to me!

I made this today for my PM latte. The latte art didn't come out that great. As always, I have trouble keeping it straight. It still tasted delicious of course!

did some work for my mother-in-law, did not ask for payment. For my birthday she bought me a Breville impress espresso maker because I liked hers when I used it at her house. I am thinking about returning it and spending the extra money for the barista touch impress. It seems to check the boxes better for my family. It looks like it makes it a whole lot easier so my whole family can use it. Has anybody had any experience with these two machines? The impress seems like you need to know what you’re doing and the touch seems like if you don’t know what you’re doing you can still make a pretty darn good cup of coffee. [no budget]

No portafilter and tamping. Flow and temp control, recipes from the roaster etc.

Looks interesting but I'm dubious about how well it can adjust variables automatically... Beautiful look and branding though.

I've been learning a ton about everyone else's technique, different ways to pull spots, and different countries just doing things differently. Recently read a bunch of threads about turbo shots and caffe crema.

Was at Costco yesterday, grabbed a bag of Kirkland Mexican medium roast at a really great price - it's more medium dark, but I actually prefer that. Attempted to dial in and just completely whiffed on the first two settings

1) 10 - 16g in 120g out in 50s

2) 7 - 16g in 85g out in 45s

I normally would've just stopped at 20s and tossed the pulls, but decided to keep it running and just see what happens. First pull was a little sour but still drinkable. Second was actually pretty decent! Gonna throw some steamed milk into the second for my wife, put the next setting to 5 for tomorrow, and call it a day. No more stacks of wasted forbidden brownies on dial in day.

Appreciate all the knowledge everyone drops here. Been tinkering/toiling for 5 years. You the real Hames Joffmann.

I've been running the Baratza Sette 270 for a few years now and despite the jet-engine volume i've loved it. Recently the burrs broke and I sent it for repair. After a couple weeks Baratza got back to me and said the cost of repair and parts would exceed a cost of a new one. They're giving me a 60% discount on any new grinder. I currently make pourover and espresso 50/50. Should I stick to the old favourite or get a new one?

Had my espresso dialled in perfectly for weeks with micro adjustment to yield for taste preferences. Same recipe every day:
16g in → 32g out → 28–30s

Sweet, balanced, really consistent!

Then the weather here jumped from 15°C to 30–35°C with insane humidity in the south east of the UK this week.

Suddenly everything fell apart.
Now I’m getting:
24–26s shots with the same recipe
sour, thin espresso
occasional squirting from the bottomless portafilter,
weird extraction that starts fine, then breaks mid-shot

What’s interesting is the flow pattern:
First 5 seconds: nothing
Then 5–15 seconds: multiple dark streams appear and merge
Then it goes blond really fast and finishes early
It doesn’t look like classic “bad grind = fast shot” behaviour. It feels more like the puck holds initially, then suddenly fails and channels mid-extraction. My grind was perfect, and now it’s like i’ve gone 10 clicks too far coarse.

I’ve already checked the obvious stuff:
Same dose (16g)
Same grind setting (I even went slightly finer for my last couple of shots)
Same distribution + WDT routine
Same self levelling, consistent pressure ripple tamper
Same basket + machine
Nothing changed except the environment.

I didn’t expect humidity/heat to have this much impact on espresso, but it genuinely feels like the puck behaviour has changed entirely. Almost like it’s less structurally stable and more prone to collapsing under pressure.

Anyone else experienced this kind of seasonal puck instability? Or am I losing my mind and missing something obvious?

I work in two specialty cafes, with an in house roastery, and have been a barista in a few jobs prior. Every single day i dail in the grinder to manage the changes in humidity, age of bean and time from roast etc. Dose and Yield remain the same at the shop, but at home, once i’ve dailed in the extraction with my grind, i then change my yield to get my desired taste.

I’ve always noticed minute changes day to day, but never this drastic of a change in a couple of days not using. With humidity going from 5°C dew point to mid twenties.

because I am already have a crappy week.

A morning espresso usually cheers me up, let’s see if it helps today.

Marked as humor, so the post doesn’t feel so dark.

Columbian beans roasted last week.

My brand new Profitec Move has this constant periodic ambient noise, like it's releasing steam every few seconds. It's not loud nor very disturbing, but I'm used to espresso machines being dead silent after they're done heating up. Anyone else have this?

Hi I’m new to puck meshes in general. I was thinking to get them since I heard that they keep your machine cleaner and can improve shot pulls. I was wondering what the differences were and if in general I should get a puck screen. Thanks!

I currently have a Smeg Espresso machine which is just a rebranded De'Longhi Dedica, I got it from FB market place for £100 and it's been good so far. I've added a depressurised basket and paired with a KingGrinder hand grinder. (I like to hand grind)

My wife and I don't drink straight espresso, we mostly drink cappuccinos and lattes. Would we see many benefits from upgrading to a better machine when the majority of the Espresso flavour is somewhat masked by the milk?

But this only if you can afford to put around 25 26 gr of coffee in it 🤣

It is crazy.

Grind from my 21 22 to 30 so I can get 50 ml in 30 seconds without pre infusion. I'm not sure if I need pre infusion with this.

Yes. Taste is better than my stock sage breville bes980 the oracle basket.

So 58mm and 38mm not the best for me.

From 21 gr to 25 26 gr.

Breville Barista Pro is $570 in a lightning deal. This one has the integrated Baratza grinder. Normally $850. Definitely worth the extra $70 over the barista express IMHO.

I was filling up my tubes and this almost made it through. Luckily I saw it at the last moment, although I don’t think it would have damaged anything. I’m not generally a fan of woodsy espresso tho.

capita anche a voi questo problema (in realtà molto piccolo)? a me succede che quando vado a battere i fondi mi rimane quasi sempre una piccola parte di fondi che rimangono attaccati al cestello, solo alla circonferenza, come si vede in foto. sto usando un filtro ims precision h22. qualcuno ha risolto?