Hi all,
This is my first CS post, so apologies if there's a more appropriate subforum for this (not sure).
Got a Breville BES860 for Christmas, and have been using it flat out since (used a moka pot for a few years until I could persuade the OH a machine was worth it).
Since purchasing, I've been worried that my machine has the same problem that many other BES860s apparently have, in that the grinder does not grind fine enough, and that I'm underextracting as a result. From the beginning, i've noticed that the shot pours quite fast (20-25s) and seems to blonde quite quickly. I'm not the most confident in discerning different flavours, and the OH was sticking to mostly milk coffees, and so I didn't worry too much. However, the OH started drinking more espressos, and immediately complained that it tasted very metallic, confirming my earlier fears.
I've cleaned the grinder, tried different beans (both from my local, recently roasted, etc), and the same result. I've tried different doses, because the manual recommends dosing so that the metal cap on the tamp is level with the top of the basket, but elsewhere I've seen recommendations of 14-16g in grinds, which is substantially less (about 3mm from the top of the basket once tamped).
I've read the thread here: http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...ng-little.html
and also here: http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...ne-bes860.html
which describe methods of modifying the grinder to get it to grind finer (I'm currently using the 2nd highest setting, and have tried the highest with no change in result), but this will undoubtedly void my warranty.
So... I've uploaded a video of it to Youtube here: Underextracting espresso? - YouTube
Hopefully you can see it well enough, not the greatest quality (apologies for the music in the background, forgot the stereo was on).
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Cheers, J.
This is my first CS post, so apologies if there's a more appropriate subforum for this (not sure).
Got a Breville BES860 for Christmas, and have been using it flat out since (used a moka pot for a few years until I could persuade the OH a machine was worth it).
Since purchasing, I've been worried that my machine has the same problem that many other BES860s apparently have, in that the grinder does not grind fine enough, and that I'm underextracting as a result. From the beginning, i've noticed that the shot pours quite fast (20-25s) and seems to blonde quite quickly. I'm not the most confident in discerning different flavours, and the OH was sticking to mostly milk coffees, and so I didn't worry too much. However, the OH started drinking more espressos, and immediately complained that it tasted very metallic, confirming my earlier fears.
I've cleaned the grinder, tried different beans (both from my local, recently roasted, etc), and the same result. I've tried different doses, because the manual recommends dosing so that the metal cap on the tamp is level with the top of the basket, but elsewhere I've seen recommendations of 14-16g in grinds, which is substantially less (about 3mm from the top of the basket once tamped).
I've read the thread here: http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...ng-little.html
and also here: http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...ne-bes860.html
which describe methods of modifying the grinder to get it to grind finer (I'm currently using the 2nd highest setting, and have tried the highest with no change in result), but this will undoubtedly void my warranty.
So... I've uploaded a video of it to Youtube here: Underextracting espresso? - YouTube
Hopefully you can see it well enough, not the greatest quality (apologies for the music in the background, forgot the stereo was on).
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Cheers, J.


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