Not to hijack the thread but Iāve been toying around with my new Compak F10 Conic OD and what a difference (replaced a Macap M4, which Iāll now use for decaf)! No doubt overkill for the 3-4 shots/day I make but incredibly fast, easy to dial in, and amazing grind/dosing consistency already (after an hour or so) translating to a better shot than I could previously get.
Like I said upthread, Iāve been brewing my own espresso for 25 years. This is my 6th machine. I donāt imagine this would be the year I decided itās too much trouble. More likely, as Alan says, Iāll start doing my own roasting.
i always wait and see when someone posts about nespresso or aeropress, etc. on an espresso thread and i find it so confusing in the context of a wine board where we typically discuss the top 0.0001% of wines produced in the world. yet plenty of folks are (1) happy with very mediocre other food products, and more confusingly (2) try to convince the rest of us.
iāve tasted nespresso many times, itās pretty terrible coffee and barely recognizable as espresso. i canāt imagine a situation where iād go for it over any other type of coffee, or tea, or even a coca-cola.
if you didnāt get good results from your breville or any other proper machine, thatās 100% your fault. but donāt project your inadequacies on the rest of us!
now, thatās not to say youāre not thrilled with the results, but please donāt try and preach nespresso as the holy grail of coffee to people that are ready, willing, and able to actually make good espresso at home.
Not a thread drift at all Phil, unless you tell me youāre using that beast for refillable K-cups
This morning I went back to one-click off finest on my Krups grinder, tried to tamp harder, and ended up under-extracted. Pretty much puts the nails in the coffin for the Krups. I wonder if I can get it clean enough to use for grinding dry spices, or maybe just keep it for cold brew & French press. The Baratza Vario is in the post and wonāt be here for a couple days, but canāt come soon enough!
larry - make sure to buy some grindz or whatever and use it regularly. same thing with the backflush cleaning function on the breville. both are very easily cleanable and should be done often. on the breville, it probably came with tablets but you donāt have to use those when they run out. you can use the regular powder just fine.
Mark, do you roast on your kitchen stove? I had a friend who did that, but it made his house so āaromaticā his wife banned him to the backyard and now he does it on the grill.
I wanted a doserless conical and itās a pretty clear upgrade from the Macap which, while a fine grinder, was the weak link for me. Not sure I would see the sense in moving to an F10 from the K10 PB either.
That was at the top of my list, in fact I went to Sur la Table to check it out. I probably would have gotten it except they couldnāt find their one in stock, then Yaccov recommended that Baratzaā¦
Regarding the importance of the grinder: I was a skeptic at first. I love a good espresso, but do not consider myself a geek about it, so figured I was doing well with my Capresso burr grinder, which was a definite step up for what Iād had before. Then my husband set up a blind test between my old Capresso and his Mazzer. Same beans, same awesome espresso machine, same barista (him) - only the grinder was different. The grinder, and the results, that is. Not even close. It made a huge difference, even to my less-refined palate.
yeah, espresso machines have gotten so good over the past 10 years that thereās a certain base level thatās very high. but you really do need a very good/great grinder to unlock that potential. i havenāt tried the breville grinder, but iād opt for something more serious.
the grinder is basically your tool to get to the last mile, the barista.
after a lot of time and energy, youāll finally realize that tamping is the real thing. which is as manual as it gets. just you and the coffee. good luckā¦