Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

[>mcknightp]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Props to Breville for allowing anyone to have this done, all you have to do is call!

Props to Breville for allowing anyone to have their machine fixed to the way theyre promoting the machine should operate?

Hi Toasty,

If youre in Sydney bring your machine & grinder & the beans youre using to Botany & Ill adjust the machine if necessary & give you a demo on how to get 11-14secs & a 35-40sec shot from YOUR equipment. What grinder do you have & what beans & how long out of roast are they?? OBTW are you using the single or double basket?

If youre not in Syd, then Im in Launceston, Hobart, Melbourne & Brisbane over the next 5 weeks & the same offer stands. Let me know so I can give you times, dates & venue details.

Cheers, Phil

[trentski]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Props to Breville for allowing anyone to have their machine fixed to the way theyre promoting the machine should operate?

Anyone can sell something, it is the after sales service that is important and Breville should be commended for the service they are providing.

[Roz]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

If youre not in Syd, then Im in Launceston, Hobart, Melbourne & Brisbane over the next 5 weeks & the same offer stands. Let me know so I can give you times, dates & venue details.

Cheers, Phil

Just a quick question Phil

I understand it is a quick 5 minute fix, but I assume we can be assured with the quality of service with the quick adjustment made through the recommend service agent within our areas?

I have to wait till next tuesday to drop it off and it will apparently be there all day as the service agent can not perform this on the spot, this is not really a worry. Just thought I would ask that we should be expecting the adjustment to be accurate with people who have not dealt with the machine yet.

[samhighley]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

If youre in Sydney bring your machine & grinder & the beans youre using to Botany

Phil, thats a very generous offer, and if I was in Sydney id be there in a heartbeat!

What grinder do you have & what beans & how long out of roast are they?? OBTW are you using the single or double basket?

Im using a smart grinder, beans from either ONA or Cosmorex here in Canberra (between 1-3 weeks post-roast) and the double basket. Ive been weighing the grounds with a 0.1g resolution jewellers scale to try and nail down at least one variable. Tamp pressure ive "calibrated" by tamping onto bathroom scales.

To clarify, im extremely happy with the results im getting with the BES900. Its a fantastic piece of kit.

[>mcknightp]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

I understand it is a quick 5 minute fix, but I assume we can be assured with the quality of service with the quick adjustment made through the recommend service agent within our areas?

They wouldnt be doing the job for us if they didnt have the requisite skills.

Just thought I would ask that we should be expecting the adjustment to be accurate with people who have not dealt with the machine yet.

Yes it will be done in accordance with the protocol we have laid down.

Let me know how you get on as Id be interested in your experience with our service agents first hand.

Cheers, Phil

[howser999]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Im in the same basket as you toasty.

Can never get 11-14 second start times, or 35-40sec shots. Even if I updose to hell and grind fine. I will get very restricted pour (ie. dripping), but still starts around the 10 second mark.

That being said, am generally happy with the results when I pour to taste (usually means ~19g in double basket, grind around the S - O mark on the smart grinder). Pour runs fast (60ml in ~ 28 seconds), but reasonable crema and taste is pretty good as well. Only complaint is that perhaps a little thin in mouth feel? Also, perhpas its not as good as it could be? I tend to get confused as to whether the coffee I make is actually any good or not...

[soctec]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Hi
I have been thinking very seriously about upgrading to the BES900. I love my coffee and am not adverse to learning the ropes of getting the best out of a new (and much better) machine than I am used to.
That said the last 5 or 6 pages of this thread scare the pants off me. Am I out of my depth here? Talk of shims and OPV calibration adjustments needed, all the fussing with getting the exact grind for all the different beans I may want to try etc and I start saying to myself maybe this caper isnt for me.
Can I just learn to make a really good cup of coffee without all the ancillary coffesnob (no insult intended at all) stuff on this machine or am I setting myself up for an expensive disaster?
George

[Dennis]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Hello George and welcome to CS!

I think were posting in the wrong thread, as your concern really relates to all semi commercial machines, not just the 900.

There is a degree of difficulty using all machines. Some people are more pedantic than others yet dont seem to achieve the superior results you might expect considering the effort they put ito it. Its their hobby, ritual, whatever, and they get to enjoy or be frustrated with the results.

My advice: If you enjoy preparing a nice meal at home rather than microwaving a frozen dinner, or taking the time to make a pot of tea instead of using a tea bag, then you are likely to enjoy the ritual of preparing good coffee.

Leave your wallet at home and take the time to visit a local Sponsor. Ask for a demonstration on any of the machines and it should give you a far better understanding of whats involved.

And if you happen to be in Sydney, I would be happy to help.

Cheers
Den (Cuppacoffee)

[soctec]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Den,
I understand your point, but to me a Giotto or Isomac is like buying a Ferrari (up from my old mazda) and I would expect the need to tweak things here and there. But buying this Breville is more like buying a Mercedes. I expect it to run smoothly without needing to do much at all. As this is the owners thread, I thought it appropriate for 900 owners to give me their feedback in this regard.
And I would love to drop by some time.
George

[pcrussell50]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

George, yes.  Espresso is all about the details and mucking about with them.   It is a hypersensitive beverage, period.   its nuances are affected by all kinds of thngs: temperature, and pressure of brewing, temperature and pressure of Pre-infusion, before the actual extraction starts, mass of beans ground, to the fraction of gram, the size and shape of the tiny little ground shard, how you pack them into the brew basket, and on and on.  Heck, every two weeks or less, you probably ought to be adjusting the fineness of your grind, if your beans last that long.  And thats just the basics.  You can get much more anal if you like.

The beauty, and revolutionary thing about the Breville Dual Boiler is that it gives unsurpassed, automatic (though fully adjustable), control of the temperatures and pressures, like no other machines to date, especially for the price.  This leaves the user able to concentrate his attention to the duties of crafting the shot before it ever sees the machine. I would say that if you are interested in real espresso, this is actually a great machine, because of its ability to take out some of the guesswork (some might say, artistry).   I very much like the car analogy between the highly automated Benz and the, much more visceral and manual, (not to mention, Italian), Ferrari.

We cant wait for them to show up here in America.

-Peter

[trentski]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

but to me a Giotto or Isomac is like buying a Ferrari (up from my old mazda) and I would expect the need to tweak things here and there.

I have a giotto and havent tweaked anything, in fact I cant even see where I could tweak something, it only has an off/on switch ;D The Breville is much more "tweakable" as you have brew temp control and pre infusion timing etc.

I dont weigh my coffee grinds, I dont tamp against bathroom scales, I dont study a pressure gauge as my shot pours (I dont even have one ;D) but i make pretty damn good coffee 8-)

I used the same technique when I pulled a shot on the breville at Beanology and got a pretty good shot the very first go, so dont get sucked into the OCD rituals performed by some members

[trentski]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

The beauty, and revolutionary thing about the Breville Dual Boiler is that it gives unsurpassed, automatic (though fully adjustable), control of the temperatures and pressures, like no other machines to date

Oh really?

especially for the price.

Perhaps you should have started the previously quoted sentence with that disclaimer, rather than ending with it

[Dennis]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

but to me a Giotto or Isomac is like buying a Ferrari

You shouldnt use those two brand names together in the same sentence. I think one may be a Ferrari and the other more like a Fiat 500.

[cdhjrf]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Hi George, Ive owned a bes900 for a few weeks now and just love it! What the guys hear are mostly talking about is a very minor adjustment that seems to have very little impact on taste.
If you do decide on a bes900 as long as you use fresh roasted beans and grind on demand Im sure you wont look back.

Cheers
Craig

[ozscoot]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

as I wade slowly through this thread - I have just ordered the BES900 I will be gladly posting my results. Thanks to all those who have already left valuable information and reviews.