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Talk me off the ledge: Breville Dual Boiler & Eureka Specialita 55 Grinder

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  • Talk me off the ledge: Breville Dual Boiler & Eureka Specialita 55 Grinder

    The TLDR of this is: person that knows literally nothing about coffee gets one too many bad coffees from local cafe and is now looking at spending 1.5K+ to do it themselves.

    I'd like your advice please on whether I'm aiming too high and options to make great coffee with less.

    ---

    I used to dream of the Almond Flat White I'd get from my local coffee shop, but lately the coffee they make is disappointing, like the taste of the coffee is absent minded and didn't turn up to the party. I leave with the craving for the awesome coffee I used to get.

    So much so, I've spent the last 5 days researching how to make coffee so I can do it myself. (The coffee is Inglewood Sunset Boulevard with Milk Lab Almond Milk)

    I'm planning to buy the Breville Dual Boiler & Eureka Specialita 55 Grinder.

    The Breville Dual Boiler for the features - both in terms of simple button push for my wife once I've dialled in the recipe & for the fancy features like pre-infusion, temperature control. (I also plan to mod the OPV to 9 bar - they seem to ship set to 10.5 bar). I have no idea if I need these features, I just want that coffee I'm dreaming of.

    The Eureka Specialita 55 Grinder because it's quiet (don't want to disturb the family in the morning), I can program the dose time to be close enough for family (no one is interested in single dosing but they'll stick the portafilter and tamp) and hopefully doesn't make a mess, it seems well regarded.

    All up I think if I buy on Black Friday I can get the:

    * Breville Dual Boiler for $900 (seems a reasonable assumption based on a search of Oz Bargain)
    * Eureka Specialita 55 Grinder for $750 in black or maybe $900 for chrome.

    So all up that's $1650 to $1800.

    As far as usage goes:

    * We'll make somewhere we'll probably do 4-5 Flat Whites a day.

    * To date we've been doing Nespresso at home, and I've also been doing long blacks as filter coffee (aero press, kalita wave, kinto slow coffee) and from what I've learnt these last few days it explains why I've had so many terrible brews... my coffee was pre-ground from the supermarket!

    * I might get into espresso: I went to Gesha, Surry Hills in Vic (a cafe recommended on this site) and had my first espresso. It was.a fruity/wine tasting shot, I usually go for earthy, chocolate flavours but I enjoyed it enough that I'm willing to explore.

    Any advice is welcome - particularly if you think I can get a good result with something cheaper. (Perhaps I should get a grinder and run an experiment making the shot with my Aeropress + the Breville Milk Frother thing we have.)

  • #2
    Sounds like you've done your research and know what you want. You could do the machine a little cheaper going second hand, but I wouldn't get a Breville DB second hand unless I knew the history very well (I have one at the moment from new). So going second hand you'd have to get a machine that had less family friendly features.

    Welcome to the club!

    One thing I will say is that it takes time for you to build the muscle memory required for consistent espresso making. I wouldn't expect to beat the cafe's current disappointing results in the first month, more likely >3 months before you get to the level you're hoping for, but you'll get a lot of drinkable coffee along the way. It's worth the wait!

    Also make sure to allow money for accessories like cleaning stuff, potentially a better tamper than what comes with it (a self levelling tamper at 58.5mm or there abouts would be a good idea, something like the Decent tamper V3 or the Force Tamper, avoid anything that clicks at a calibrated pressure)

    If you do get the Breville hit me up about maintenance, because if all you do is what it tells you to do in the manual it will see you through the warranty period but possibly not much further. They're good machines and can last for years and years when looked after.

    Comment


    • #3
      This is great advice, thank you.

      If I buy I'll be keen to understand how to maintain it, I appreciate the offer.

      I'm currently looking into which Breville Dual Boiler sellers have extended warranties and whether they're any good.

      I also thought about second hand but so far have felt a second hand unit is worth ~$300, which feels unfair to the seller as they're expensive to start with... but I've seen a lot of threads of people buying second hand units and getting stuck with expensive repair bill that meant they would have been better off with a new one and warranty. I'm open to it, but like you say would want to be confident in the machines condition.

      The self-levelling tamper sounds interesting/like it could help me get a better result, so I'll look into that too.

      Thanks again

      Comment


      • #4
        Had a BDB and it was pretty darned good. I bought it new and added an extended warranty which proved useful when part of the LCD display failed. Got a full refund due to unavailability of parts due to Covid, but great machine while I had it. Can't go wrong with the Specialta. Reckon you've got a really good handle on this.

        Comment


        • #5
          You have definitely done your homework and sounds like a great set up. Only advice would be if the BDB doesn't come down in price as much as your hoping, to not compromise your budget on your grinder. A great grinder even with something entry level like the bambino plus (w non-pressurised basket) would still give good results - and with auto milk steaming easy for others in the house to use. Good luck!

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          • #6
            That's impressive research for 5 days. I've been researching many months and probably only recently learned to understand most of the terms you stated there.

            Have you considered breville bambino plus? Has amazing features and results for the price. I got one recently and thinks it's the perfect intro to espresso for me.

            Also I think you might be lucky if you can get a BDB for that price this year. Seems very hard to find stock for the machine alone without the SGP.

            Comment


            • #7
              tompoland Cafedamanha - thanks for the info/suggestions, appreciate it

              Comment


              • #8
                Bluejay87 yep, I took a closer look at the Bambino Plus after &cafedamanha mentioned it and it’s a great option.

                I think I’d go for it if the temperature was variable, but the thing is I have no idea if I need variable temperature to get the flavour I’m chasing.

                I almost went for it anyway to see what it was like as Goodguys Commercial had it for $361 yesterday and G’day Parks membership of (I think) $50 gives you access for two years to Goodguys Commercial.


                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by PaulVarjack View Post
                  Bluejay87 yep, I took a closer look at the Bambino Plus after &cafedamanha mentioned it and it’s a great option.

                  I think I’d go for it if the temperature was variable, but the thing is I have no idea if I need variable temperature to get the flavour I’m chasing.

                  I almost went for it anyway to see what it was like as Goodguys Commercial had it for $361 yesterday and G’day Parks membership of (I think) $50 gives you access for two years to Goodguys Commercial.

                  Fair enough. No idea how much variable temp would change things.

                  Good guy commercial deal has been going a while. There's a whole bunch of groups that will give you access. My mate has REST super which gives access for free. Utilised that to get mine. 😏

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                  • #10
                    Hey PaulVarjack how did you go? Have you ordered/got anything yet? Also looking at the same gear.

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                    • #11
                      zooky I haven't bought yet, currently the Breville Dual Boiler can be had for $934 on Bing Lee's Ebay site or $998 from Retravision. I'm mulling the Retravision one as you can add an extended warranty for $99.

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                      • #12
                        PaulVarjack i believe you and I have been reading and watching the exact same things. I did the deal on the BDB through Bing Lee for the $934 (courtesy of Oz-Bargain) just the other day. I called them and they advised that they are on backorder so the wait may be longer than what ebay has shown (likely after November).

                        On the grinder, i'm stuck choosing between the Specialista and the Silenzio. I've been looking at mods on the Mignon and wonder whether adding a base/single dose funnel to a silenzio is more economical than the specialista which if single dosing, the digital timer isn't as necessary.

                        Comment


                        • level3ninja
                          level3ninja commented
                          Editing a comment
                          Specialita has 55mm burrs, the Silenzio has 50mm. One more thing to consider.

                        • amberale
                          amberale commented
                          Editing a comment
                          With the Silenzio single dosing is easy.
                          Set the timer to a touch longer than required to grind your dose.
                          Pour in your beans (eg 18grams).
                          Once you have started grinding close the slide on the bottom of the hopper to prevent popcorning.
                          That’s it.

                      • #13
                        You have a solid choice of 'value for money': we're spoiled here in Oz for a good priced BDB - in UK it's around AUD2,000, Eureka Specialita is my choice too. Get them both and you'll have plenty of playtime and joy!

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                        • #14
                          level3ninja As a bit of a home espresso noob, will the 5mm make a significant difference? If my plan at some future time (5-10yrs maybe) is to upgrade the grinder, will i be at a similar decision with either the specialista or the silenzio and looking at a whole 'next tier up'? Or is the specialista already at that 'next tier' with the additional 5mm in burrs and therefore would be more longer lasting?
                          From my research, i think with the Silenzio, I would be pretty okay until upgraditis comes, but i also think that even if i forked out the $2-300 more for the specialista, i think i'd be in the same position. Happy to be corrected of course.

                          amberale Thanks for that. yes I'm leaning towards the Silenzio because i just don't think i need the digital timer for single dosing and with the difference, perhaps i can spend on some of the 3d printed etsy bits and pieces such as an angled platform and a single dosing funnel with puffer to achieve close to zero retention.

                          Comment


                          • level3ninja
                            level3ninja commented
                            Editing a comment
                            Won't be a huge difference. The biggest thing for you is probably retention, different burr sizes may mean different retention. For some grinders, larger burrs mean more retention, but some like the Eureka Atom 60 vs 65 the larger burr has lower retention as its in the same size grinding chamber so the smaller burr has more room around it.

                        • #15
                          I don’t think you need the single dosing funnel, I would spend my $$ on the portafilter holder from the Specialista(available as a spare part) instead.
                          I really like my Silenzio and only upgraded to a P64 as I was having a major upgraditis fling and went all out.
                          I have kept my Silenzio as a back up grinder mainly because I can’t find the original packaging.

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