Hi all,
Just bought the beginner Anko espresso machine. Tried with Aldi medium roast coffee beans and so far so good. Still trying to master the milk frothing. Just a question regarding coffee beans, is it preferred to grind all the beans once and keep it in the air tight jar. Or grind a bunch every few days? Any impact on the quality? Also, have watched a few coffee videos however any tips are appreciated 😊
Thanks
grind the beans as soon as possible before use.
No way.
The exact opposite.
You should grind them just before use, not as soon as possible before use.
Indeed you are correct
It depends on your interpretation of the English language. It was clumsily put but most people would interpret it as closely as possible to making the coffee. It is, certainly, how I interpreted it. Particularly as the commenter then went on to clarify it should be within 30s of using the beans.
100% 🙌🏽
30s is a bit ridiculous..
you grind them just before you use them that's all
The Kmart machine? Why not get something like Delonghi or Breville.
I got the Breville Smart Grinder Pro and it grinds a shot at a time which is nice. I don't know if it really makes a big difference but the smell of freshly ground coffee is nice. If your Kmart machine uses a pressurised portafilter then you probably will be okay with preground coffee anyway.
The description doesn't say anything about being able to control the pressure. So you probably can't use a non pressurised portafilter on it, or you could but it would pull very quickly. My Delonghi can't change the pressure either but I use an open basket anyway. I grind very fine to try and force it to pull slower but you can only do so much. It also makes a bit of a mess if I don't hold the cup close to it when pulling. I just hate cleaning the pressurised filter, I hate that you can't easily see all parts of it when cleaning it quickly.
@jv: Hilarious that you trust Kmart reviews when you constantly spout your distrust of our state government lol
Even at 15bar, which a lot of these consumer machines do, you should be able to dial it in with the grind as you say (but there's another whole topic in that - grinder quality). I had a machine like this, and used a normal basket with a naked portafilter, and it pulled some nice shots like that - not too fast at all when dialled in.
The dedica does pull way too fast sadly. Its basket is also way too small. But that’s what you get when you buy a $200 machine. The coffee is still okay though
Keys to good espresso.
- Fresh beans , within two weeks of roasting
- Grind only what you will use immediately.
- Extraction is everything
- Aim for a 2:1 ratio. i.e. 18g of coffee grind 36-40 ml of coffee
- Brew pressure should start at 9bar and taper off to 7-8 bar
- Lower temperature (90-92C) for dark roasts, higher temperature for light roasts (93-95C)
- Tamp firmly and evenly
- Do not use pressurised baskets
- Dial in your grinder, good coffee with a great grinder is almost everything.
Coffee at home has the potential to become an expensive and addictive hobby. But my ohh my is it worth it pulling a velvety full bodied shot that requires nothing but a stir.
His machine says it is 15bar.
“ - Brew pressure should start at 9bar and taper off to 7-8 bar”
lol…not sure how many people here have machines can actually do this. I can kind of drop the pressure on my Rancilio by opening up the steam valve a little during the pour, but it’s not really very precise (unless I mod and add a gauge…even then though…). Hell, I don’t even really know if my machine is pumping the spec 9 bar that it should be!
For those of you with a Decent though…have at it!
Thanks. I never thought of doing that (open steam wand to release pressure mid brew) on my Lelit.
It’s got a tendency to have too much pressure when I pull more than one shot and it comes out very slowly. Tried it this morning and it worked (not the speed but having it sit very very high on the pressure gauge)
Well…works with a single boiler machine. Don't expect it would work with a HX or dual of course.
With my BDB (that loves to break). Longer pre infusion with lower starting pressure and a longer brew time ~27sec and a bottomless porta filter. The pressure ramps right up to 9-9.5 bar and then slowly tapers off towards the end. This is on a dialed in fine grind.
Get a wonderful shot out of it.
With a short preinfusion time and high starting pressure the pressure pegs at 9.5-10 bar stabilises at 9 , resulting in a quicker shot but not as good taste.
Slayer mod would be the next option but it would get too complicated for my other half who likes good coffee but doesn't geek out over it.
- Fresh beans , within two weeks of roasting
I disagree. Minimum 10 days from roasting to max 4 weeks. Anything under 10 days too much residual CO2 in the beans
Shall keep that in mind :-) thank you.
Learn something every day
What’s wrong with pressurised baskets?
Thanks mate, appreciate it
Not bandwagon, rabbit hole.
I more like to think of it as an expensive and tasty hobby.
Next minute prosumer machine is bought and fancy grinder
Then the tamping station, the wdt, vst baskets, bottomless porta filter, puck screen.
They got us coffee addicts right where they want us with the accessories for incremental improvements:-)
Use a grinder not a chopper
The biggest factor in a good cup of coffee is consistency. Get some scales
Adjust your grind to extract the maximum crema and don't worry about the time it takes with the cheaper machines.
A cheaper machine can make coffee just as good as an expensive machine its all up to the operator knowing what actually makes a good cup and how to go about achieving it.
Enjoy
Thanks mate
We got a Bambino Plus and a Breville Smart Grinder Pro. This setup works well for us without being too OTT.
I watched a bunch of videos by Lance Hedrick as recommended on another ozbargain thread and found it dramatically improved my coffee. Check him out on YouTube.
Milk steaming tutorial https://youtu.be/gTC3dJvwgUI
Espresso extraction theory (part 1) https://youtu.be/hihG6kaxbk8
Dialing in espresso (part 2) https://youtu.be/DFB6E_7W2c0
The preference is to grind the beans as soon as possible before use. Usually grind and use within 30s or so.