Six months or so ago, I decided I would love to buy a new coffee machine. I work near to a couple of very good Melbourne cafes (St Ali & Dead Man Espresso) and really enjoy a good espresso before and during work. On weekends, the best my old Breville pressurised basket machine (appliance) could give me was a nice hot cup of disappointment. So I began trawling these forums and thinking about what my options were. Eventually, I decided that (although it would stretch my budget), I really needed to get a Rancillio Silvia as the minimum that would make the type of syrupy espresso I enjoy. I kept looking and thinking about whether to make the jump and spend the money (knowing that I would also need a much better grinder than my Breville).
Around two months ago, my Breville died (rest its soul), so I visited a coffee equipment retailer who went through the options with me, and I realised I wanted something better than the Rancillio. Options were the Expobar Office manual, or the VBM Picollo (although the budget was really burst at that point). The trade-off was between HX, so I could steam and brew, or an e-61 grouphead. Plus the VBM looks lovely. I didn’t buy a machine that day. A few weeks later (after more forum trawling and constantly wanting bigger and better things), I decided to throw the budget completely out the window so I could get a VBM Junior HX (so I didn’t need to worry about the trade-off). I went to see Chris at Talk Coffee, who was fantastic and set me up with the VBM and a K3P. Happy camper.
Now, on to my espresso making journey. I have been through a LOT of beans, and plenty of it has gone down the sink. I tried everything, but just couldn’t get things quite right. Knowing that espresso is an art, and takes time to perfect, I persevered. Still, shots were either gushers or chocked, and it was really a lottery, and plenty of (bitter, horrible) coffee was poured down the sink.
I then did three things that turned it all around. I bought a timer (in fact, this doesn’t really count, I was using the kitchen clock any way but it’s just nice and easy to have a timer right above the machine). More importantly I bought some digital scales (measuring at 0.1g), and a naked PF. When I first used the scales, and used my ordinary dose/distribute technique, the scales told me I was WAAAYY over dosing (circa 23/24 g in the stock double basket). So I moved the dose down to 18.5. and that change (combined with the new consistency) has meant that I am able to get the grinder dialed in right rather than changing it constantly and wondering why it never works because my dose was always completely different. That has instantly made an enormous difference to my coffee. The naked PF was also helpful (and fun to watch), to make sure in dosing and tamping evenly. Still, there always seems to be one or two tiny little squirts flying off at some point in the pour – I’ve got no idea how to fix that. But the coffee is already immeasurably better, and much better than most cafes in my opinion, and I’m able to make an espresso before work or on the weekend which is delicious to me.
The moral of the story I think is that as a complete new comer, it is really helpful to get some good scales, a naked PF and a timer if you need one. The scales probably made the biggest difference for me. Now I realise that for more experienced people (and me one day hopefully!) scales are unnecessary and a good technique can give you consistent dose. But when starting out, it was really like shooting blind, and even if you can get a consistent technique, you don’t know the size of the dose resulting from that technique. I’m sure that comes with experience however – I’m already getting a feel for it.
Anyway, if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading, and it’s nice to have made a first post - This place has been invaluable when researching equipment!
Around two months ago, my Breville died (rest its soul), so I visited a coffee equipment retailer who went through the options with me, and I realised I wanted something better than the Rancillio. Options were the Expobar Office manual, or the VBM Picollo (although the budget was really burst at that point). The trade-off was between HX, so I could steam and brew, or an e-61 grouphead. Plus the VBM looks lovely. I didn’t buy a machine that day. A few weeks later (after more forum trawling and constantly wanting bigger and better things), I decided to throw the budget completely out the window so I could get a VBM Junior HX (so I didn’t need to worry about the trade-off). I went to see Chris at Talk Coffee, who was fantastic and set me up with the VBM and a K3P. Happy camper.
Now, on to my espresso making journey. I have been through a LOT of beans, and plenty of it has gone down the sink. I tried everything, but just couldn’t get things quite right. Knowing that espresso is an art, and takes time to perfect, I persevered. Still, shots were either gushers or chocked, and it was really a lottery, and plenty of (bitter, horrible) coffee was poured down the sink.
I then did three things that turned it all around. I bought a timer (in fact, this doesn’t really count, I was using the kitchen clock any way but it’s just nice and easy to have a timer right above the machine). More importantly I bought some digital scales (measuring at 0.1g), and a naked PF. When I first used the scales, and used my ordinary dose/distribute technique, the scales told me I was WAAAYY over dosing (circa 23/24 g in the stock double basket). So I moved the dose down to 18.5. and that change (combined with the new consistency) has meant that I am able to get the grinder dialed in right rather than changing it constantly and wondering why it never works because my dose was always completely different. That has instantly made an enormous difference to my coffee. The naked PF was also helpful (and fun to watch), to make sure in dosing and tamping evenly. Still, there always seems to be one or two tiny little squirts flying off at some point in the pour – I’ve got no idea how to fix that. But the coffee is already immeasurably better, and much better than most cafes in my opinion, and I’m able to make an espresso before work or on the weekend which is delicious to me.
The moral of the story I think is that as a complete new comer, it is really helpful to get some good scales, a naked PF and a timer if you need one. The scales probably made the biggest difference for me. Now I realise that for more experienced people (and me one day hopefully!) scales are unnecessary and a good technique can give you consistent dose. But when starting out, it was really like shooting blind, and even if you can get a consistent technique, you don’t know the size of the dose resulting from that technique. I’m sure that comes with experience however – I’m already getting a feel for it.
Anyway, if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading, and it’s nice to have made a first post - This place has been invaluable when researching equipment!

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