(GPGT)Espresso machine hoot

[RiRi85]

My colleague ordered from Italy website ,i think it was espresso shop and thought he saved $400.

Parcel arrived damaged.
Had to return to Italy, postage cost was $750 and had to pay GST second time. For very heavy items, you can't use the economy services,only express services which handlers more likely to throw around.

Total cost him about $1k extra.

Imagine future repairs with 2 way postage, sure set him back for $1.5k each time.

Ouch... that sounds like a very painful experience.

In that case, where do I go to find espresso machine here in SG that's reasonably priced?

I've seen a few like highlander but omg the prices there made my eyes pop..
and lazada is filled with krups and delonghi stuff...

When you google coffee machines singapore all you keep getting is "Nespressos"

 

[sohzai]

Thanks

This really helped.

Well, for the most part I'm just a coffee drinker who prefers milked based drinks and yeah I'll prob try to mimic some lattes i get in cafes, but I won't go so far as to try and replicate the art.
I don't have the energy to do that.

What I will end up doing is..
Espresso + Milk + some vanilla extract = vanilla latte :x
(With or without ice hohoho)

I guess I could save up more to 1.3k or so.

Going as high as 3k is prob something I can't afford to do coz i'd ask myself "how many cups of coffee do i need to drink to make this worth a 3k expenditure?"
(Sorry.. i'm in accounting / finance so it becomes a habit tedious habit -_-)

But I can do a reasonable investment of around 1k to 1.5k, provided the machine can last for 5 years without breaking down and me wishing i din't spend that much.

1.5k = 3 years to 4 years of starbucks for me.

I was having the same thought as you 2 years back. But i finally gave in and bought a bezzera mitica and a bb05 grinder as a set. Set me back to about 3k, but prices have came down abit now when on promotion. Probably can save at least 200 as compared to me. To make it easier on my pocket, I also split them into 12months interest free installment.

It all boils down to the quality of the cup you are willing to compromise on. Money is not easy to earn, not for average joe like me. So buying within your means is nothing to be ashamed of.

At about 1.5k, you are probably looking at rancilio set from spinelli. Some have commented here it's sufficient for them. But try to avoid those pressurised portafilter machines i.e delonghi, philips saeco etc. Those range from 200+ to 1k, but there's a huge gap from what you can get from those compared to the manual machines, better off keeping the money to save up for something better.

I started off with a philips saeco poemia and a hario mini handgrinder, cost me 250 then. But cup quality differs a lot when compared to manual machines and a good grinder.

Again, it boils down to how you need your cup of coffee to be.

 

[sohzai]

Ouch... that sounds like a very painful experience.

In that case, where do I go to find espresso machine here in SG that's reasonably priced?

I've seen a few like highlander but omg the prices there made my eyes pop..
and lazada is filled with krups and delonghi stuff...

When you google coffee machines singapore all you keep getting is "Nespressos"

Highlander carries Vibiemme
Chye Seng Huat and 1 more shop (check back on thread) carries rocket
Necessary provision carries Quickmill
Fine Coffee Company carries Bezzera and Expobar
Jimmy monkey carries Slayer
Spinelli carries Rancilio

There's more other forummers can tell you I think.

To be honest, I checked all these before I purchased. So far, Bezzera from FCC is the cheapest. No I am not related to them, just sharing what I went through you are thinking now.

*edit - rancilio is cheapest, but it has its own differences

 

[testerjp]

FCC last 2 days offer for the Bezzera, almost same price as getting from Italy directly.

The bz10 is very highly rated in German forum.
Bezzera is a hundred over years old espresso machine company.

 

[RiRi85]

Highlander carries Vibiemme
Chye Seng Huat and 1 more shop (check back on thread) carries rocket
Necessary provision carries Quickmill
Fine Coffee Company carries Bezzera and Expobar
Jimmy monkey carries Slayer
Spinelli carries Rancilio

There's more other forummers can tell you I think.

To be honest, I checked all these before I purchased. So far, Bezzera from FCC is the cheapest. No I am not related to them, just sharing what I went through you are thinking now.

*edit - rancilio is cheapest, but it has its own differences

Thanks for the guidance! ^^

Alright... gotta save a few more months before i can afford a Rancilio or Bezzera 09 / 10..

and more research and comparison ~ lol

Thats for the coffee machine alone!
I haven't even searched on grinders ... whahahaha

 

[mirage86]

You can only replace air, can't vacuum out the air.
Oxygen will be retained at the gaps between the beans and each time you open the container the amount of o2 and humidity refresh.

Won't really help much

The beans will be exposed to oxygen every time you take them out, regardless of the type of container or bag, so I don't really get your point.. and does it really matter?

What I was saying is if you have a canister with a one-way valve, you can keep the beans fresh if they were packaged in a normal kraft bag like what Jimmy Monkey gave to Qingrong. At least the canister is airtight and allows the CO2 to escape while degassing.

 

[mirage86]

Thanks for the guidance! ^^

Alright... gotta save a few more months before i can afford a Rancilio or Bezzera 09 / 10..

and more research and comparison ~ lol

Thats for the coffee machine alone!
I haven't even searched on grinders ... whahahaha

So there will be many people here who will disagree and rebutt what I am about to say..

You can get a Philips Saeco Poemia and a Breville smart grinder pro for less than $700. It produces perfectly fine cappuccinos and lattes and I dare say this because I have this setup and I'm still using it after 4+ years. I removed the parts inside the default portafilter so that it's depressurized and works like a normal one. I also removed the panarello wand so that it acts like a normal steam wand.

The only downside is that you need to know how to do temperature surfing for the boiler to get good microfoam when steaming the milk. The entire process to make a milk-based drink takes around 10 minutes for me.

Some people spend thousands buying good machines but don't know how to use them to the full potential. My take is, start small, hone your barista skills and build your coffee knowledge until you cannot advance anymore with the equipment you have, then upgrade.

I don't work for any of the above-mentioned brands of course. I just feel there's a need to dispel the myth that you need very fancy equipment to make good coffee.

 

[sohzai]

So there will be many people here who will disagree and rebutt what I am about to say..

You can get a Philips Saeco Poemia and a Breville smart grinder pro for less than $700. It produces perfectly fine cappuccinos and lattes and I dare say this because I have this setup and I'm still using it after 4+ years. I removed the parts inside the default portafilter so that it's depressurized and works like a normal one. I also removed the panarello wand so that it acts like a normal steam wand.

The only downside is that you need to know how to do temperature surfing for the boiler to get good microfoam when steaming the milk. The entire process to make a milk-based drink takes around 10 minutes for me.

Some people spend thousands buying good machines but don't know how to use them to the full potential. My take is, start small, hone your barista skills and build your coffee knowledge until you cannot advance anymore with the equipment you have, then upgrade.

I don't work for any of the above-mentioned brands of course. I just feel there's a need to dispel the myth that you need very fancy equipment to make good coffee.

What you said is true, that riri85 can learn his way starting simple and upgrading when he wants to. But coming from a poemia experience, I strongly feel the pressure, stability etc of a poemia and the other machines we have mentioned here are vastly different. Yes, poemia still makes a good cup of coffee as the grounds and fresh coffee already makes a world of difference. But the first few cups that i succeeded from a manual machine opened another world of senses.

Just that i came the same route and felt that if he can start with a reasonably cheap manual machine, he can learn more without wasting additional $300, when he is only budgeting for $700 now.

It's good to share with him what we experienced to save him some time, effort and money, in whatever he chooses.

 

[testerjp]

To be honest, to some, they can't taste the diff between over burned, under extracted and properly done coffee. Cannot taste and notice the difference between oxidized and fresh coffee.
Then Nespresso may work better, $200+ can get one set up, usage is easy. Capsules are at crazy price though.

My experience with cheap set ups then to a proper semi professional is. The semi professional allows me to use cheap beans and still make it pretty drinkable, room of error is so much lesser.
The cheap machine makes my expensive beans barely drinkable. Difference, sure have, make me rediscover all the coffee flavours that I missed. Getting it right is a lot easier and is really a leisure to use.

You can get a pretty decent resale price for your semi professional machines even many years later. So $2k spent don't mean $2k lost.
20 years later, inflation may push the price even higher. With increasing demand and given all those high tier machines are limited supplied as they are handmade, sure will retain their value and demand well.

If you are a regular drinker and see yourself upgrading, suggest save up for a better machine or start with a decent grinder enjoy pour over or others first.

 

[patryn33]

My colleague ordered from Italy website ,i think it was espresso shop and thought he saved $400.

Parcel arrived damaged.
Had to return to Italy, postage cost was $750 and had to pay GST second time. For very heavy items, you can't use the economy services,only express services which handlers more likely to throw around.

Total cost him about $1k extra.

Imagine future repairs with 2 way postage, sure set him back for $1.5k each time.

What's the lesson to be learn here? Don't buy overseas?

On the point on future repairs, just get it done locally. I don't ship my items to sales store but to the brand repair center. Out of warranty get who done locally don't matter. Issue is select a brand that you know which provides such service here

 

[sohzai]

Hey guys, wanna hear your opinion on the drop in pressure suddenly when extracting, from 12 to 8.

The usual would be the vibration pump to go on all the way till i switch it off. But this has been occurring to me since I got the machine 1 year ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v1Mop-1DFw

What do you guys think is the problem?

Grounds too fine? I did change beans, but grinding setting usually dont change much.

Think everyone missed this post. Haha.. Anyone wanna share your opinion or experience with me?

An I choking my mitica?

Sent from LGE LG-H961N using GAGT

 

[IntelFlash]

My cousin's relatively new Rocket machine in JB had the same issue, the Italy seller asked him to clean the OPV and it did solved the problem.

He actually just turned a few rounds and it worked. From what i read, you need to check with a bind filter.

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

Think everyone missed this post. Haha.. Anyone wanna share your opinion or experience with me?

An I choking my mitica?

Sent from LGE LG-H961N using GAGT

Many reasons why:
1. Autofill turns on and fills up your boiler when you are brewing (Not likely for single pump or modern machines)
2. Overpressure valve needs cleaning
3. puck suddenly did not have enough resistance when brewing. Initially was able to create consistent bar of pressure when brewing but could be the puck lost its integrity during the process and was not able to maintain the 9 bar pressure.

The way your presurestat reads is really contingent on how its rigged up on the machine. some read the pressure within the group head. Some reads pressure that is generated by the pump (I am guessing your mitica is this type so that 12 bar pressure at the pump can achieve 9 bar at the group head).

do you see an increase in espresso flow rate when the pressure drops? then likely your puck fractured. Need to change your dose and tamping.

Do you see the backflow into the drip tray or back into the tank when the pressure drops? this is actually ok. Maybe clean your OPV so that it works more predictably.


If you don't see the above 2 happening and the pressure suddenly dropping this could be a problem with the pump. Need to send to a tech to check it out.

post a video!

 

[sohzai]

Nice.. Thanks both.

Actually this has been happening from the first month I got it till now, 11 month. But I have been unable to replicate the issue and it's intermittent.

Flow rate drops after this happens, and I am confident the puck is well tamped every single time.

Sometimes reinserting the water tank stops the issue, but sometimes it does not.

If it's a consistent issue, it's much less frustrating, cause at least I can figure out and or be able to explain to fcc easier.

Guess I will just call them in.

 

[compuser]

Where's the most affordable place to get beans that are pretty consistent for espresso extraction?

Don't like them too sour.
Indonesian coffee should be cheap.

 

[erwinseow]

Affordable is a relative term. You can try Lam Yeo. Their beans are very reasonable.

 

[prozaizxc]

guys, when I'm using a bottomless portafilter, my shot always comes out more from the left side of the portafilter. I don't think its due to an uneven tamp or an uneven dose.

What i think it is is a flow rate problem where the left side of the grouphead dishes out more water than the right side.

When turning on the brew button without any portafilter and looking at the streams of water coming out, there are 5 areas where water drips from. Out of these 5, 2 are continuos streams of water while the other 3 are waters that drip drops of water. Is this because the water flow is slower from these dripping streams? Is this normal?

Hence, i think that the shot coming out more from the left side of the puck is due to the flow of water being higher on the left side rather than a tamp/prep issue, leading to uneven extraction of the puck.

any idea how to resolve this?

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

guys, when I'm using a bottomless portafilter, my shot always comes out more from the left side of the portafilter. I don't think its due to an uneven tamp or an uneven dose.

What i think it is is a flow rate problem where the left side of the grouphead dishes out more water than the right side.

When turning on the brew button without any portafilter and looking at the streams of water coming out, there are 5 areas where water drips from. Out of these 5, 2 are continuos streams of water while the other 3 are waters that drip drops of water. Is this because the water flow is slower from these dripping streams? Is this normal?

Hence, i think that the shot coming out more from the left side of the puck is due to the flow of water being higher on the left side rather than a tamp/prep issue, leading to uneven extraction of the puck.

any idea how to resolve this?

Need to clean the shower screen. after backflushing with espresso detergent u need to remove the shower screen and give that a good scrub. Can also try using Teflon shower screen from IMS which gives a very even dispersion. Can check out the dispersion in YouTube.

Check out the dispersion screw too. Sometimes it can get very dirty the dispersion will not be consistent.

 

[prozaizxc]

Need to clean the shower screen. after backflushing with espresso detergent u need to remove the shower screen and give that a good scrub. Can also try using Teflon shower screen from IMS which gives a very even dispersion. Can check out the dispersion in YouTube.

Check out the dispersion screw too. Sometimes it can get very dirty the dispersion will not be consistent.

I already did all that except changing to an IMS shower screen. Could it be that i screwed the shower screen back in unevenly?

 

[testerjp]

Maybe your table not even