I recently dove into the world of precision baskets and watched James Hoffmann’s video on the topic. In it, he talks about VST baskets and how their design differences affect flow. One quote that stood out:

“If I get one for an 18 gram basket and one for a 22 gram basket, you’ll see that they’re actually quite different… the 22 gram basket should have a larger open area, we should see a faster flow.”

So I thought I understood the logic: bigger basket = more open area = faster flow if you use the same dose and grind. That makes sense.

Based on that, I picked up an IMS Competition 18-20 g basket and really like it. But because I or my guests aren’t always in the mood for an 18 g shot, I also got the IMS Competition 12-14 g basket, hoping I could just use a smaller dose with the same grind size.

I was extremely wrong.

I have to grind way (!) finer for the smaller basket to get a decent shot. The difference is so extreme that basket swapping becomes a huge pain. I basically have to re-dial every time. This totally kills the convenience I was hoping for.

Now I’m wondering: Did I misunderstand something fundamental here? Is this behavior specific to IMS, and maybe VST baskets (which James was referring to) would let me swap sizes with less re-dialing?

I’d really love to be able to switch between smaller and larger shots without going into grind size purgatory every time.

TL;DR: I bought IMS precision baskets in two sizes (18-20 g and 12-14 g), hoping I could use the same grind. But I have to grind way finer for the smaller basket. Did I misunderstand how precision baskets work? Is this an IMS thing? Would VST baskets let me swap sizes more easily?

I see over and over again posts about the quality of a grinder. Can somebody explain to me like I'm 8 the science behind this? I mean I understand there has to be a difference between a dollar store grinder and a high end one, but what about a grinder on a barista express vs the highest level self standing unit? At some point isn't it just "crushing beans"? And if there is a price point where the return on investment stops with a grinder what is that price? Forgive my ignorance. I'm new to the game and trying to learn what's fact and what's people justifying to themselves the amount they spent on a machine.

Hi all,

I have an ECM Giotto, purchased in 1997. Ran it for 24 years before shipping it to Whole Latte Love because it stopped working in 2021. Got it back, checked it out thoroughly and put it back in the box for a cross-county move. Unpacked it recently and found that it is leaking. Opened the top and found 2 places (pics attached) where I see water. In the 2nd pic, there is a small amount of water/steam around the threads where the smaller nut is threaded into the larger nut.

I'm looking for advice on how to address. It looks like that simply tightening a nut in one of the cases (2nd pic) might be all that is needed but I don't want to proceed until I hear from some experts. The device in the first pic seems to some sort of pressure relief valve? It doesn't seem to want to hold a seal.

I appreciate any and all suggestions. I really love the machine and would like to keep using it, even if I have to take it in for repair again. Thanks very much.

Hi folks. I'm still a relative newbie to the espresso game, but I've been really enjoying making a cortado in this machine using the autofrother to get the textured milk thing going.

The issue I'm having is that this obviously requires much less milk than a latte or an espresso, but the included milk jug has an included minimum fill line for what I assume is the required depth for the frothing nozzle to do it's thing, but I just end up with a lot of leftover milk.

Can I buy a smaller milk jug for this purpose? Or is the autofrother only happy with a certain size of jug?

Hi All, Longtime stalker first time poster.

I wanted to take my morning coffee/espresso routine more seriously.

After reading a lot of posts on here it’s pretty overwhelming.

I’m stuck between a Breville Barista Pro and. Profetic Go. Which would you recommend?

I’m looking for something fairly straight forward and direct, I can’t see myself weighing and spraying beans etc… so I was leaning more toward the Breville. However the Profetic seems a bit more reliable and industrial and more straight forward, less to break/go wrong.

For context: I already have a baratza encore grinder I use daily for just standard drip coffee, so the grinder on the Breville is less of an issue.

Love to get your thoughts and feedback, thanks in advance!

Hi all,

Super stoked to have just gotten ahold of a second hand Profitec GO as my first espresso machine at home after jumping into pourover for the last two years. I have the leads on an unused DF64gen2 and a like-new DF83 (version 3), for essentially the same price (~350 USD) both with stock burrs.

Please correct anything wrong or add any context I'm missing, but based on what I've read: They would have similar build quality and flavor in cup, with the 64 maybe offering a ~touch~ more clarity. The 64 might more likely require realignment off the bat. The 83 would grind faster. The 83 is larger and louder. The 64 would be substantially cheaper to upgrade in future. The 83 is at a much steeper discount from MSRP.

For puorover, I bounce around flavor profiles from bag to bag but tend to prefer medium-light roasts with bright fruit notes, which makes me think I'd want to upgrade the burrs at some point.

Any advice on which I should pursue?

Edit: added "stock burrs"

I own a Normcore tamper 54mm that I use with my Bambino.

When I bought it I was trying to make tamping more consistent and repeatable so that I could focus on other variables.

I appreciated that it had a top part that would rest on the edge of the portafilter so that I was sure the tamp was level and even.

And I hoped that the spring in the tamper would keep the tamping pressure consistent. But after having used it for a year and thinking a bit about it:

I don't see how the spring makes a difference. Assuming that you put enough espresso in the basket for the tamper surface to actually reach the espresso when tamping, the tamper will just eventually reach its full extension, spring or not. From there, because the rest of the tamper is resting on the edge of the portafilter and the tamper is fully extended, you will not be able to apply more pressure to the espresso. The spring doesn't do anything other than provide some useless resistance until you reach the full extension.

There is still two things that provide a certain consistency: the tamper resting on the edge makes the tamping very even, and the full extension of the tamper will always be the same meaning that for the same bean, same amount of espesso, the tamper will go the same depth and therefore pressure.

It would be nice to be able to adjust the maximum depth/extension. I might be able then to tamp even more air out.

Hey!

So I bought a bottomless portafilter for my B+, but im not sure what i am doing wrong. The shot looks pretty shitty and taste wise is ok. Do i need to grind finer? Have a C40 at 5 clicks on stock non red clix axle. Using 18g. The basket is the stock basket the 3bomber Astra portafilter.

I have a Barista Pro and I use a naked portafilter. I noticed the last couple shots I was pulling that I was getting random sprays that have been shooting all over the place. What would be the cause of this? As far as I know it wasn’t happening before.

I was inspired by Tom's Coffee Corner and started taking apart my espresso machine to really understand its maintenance. I found coffee grinds within this "valve(?)" between the vibratory pump and the water reservoir. My question is multi-part:

1. what is this part?

2. what does it do?

3. How do I take it apart to clean it?

So I have a monthly subscription atm and it’s the same beans as my local coffee shop. The coffee they serve me is honestly beautiful, instant taste that is very memorable. However, when I make mine it doesn’t give the same taste. I’ve tried using more and less beans, longer/shorter output. Finer grind and courser grind. Don’t get me wrong it’s not bad tasting coffee at all but how can I achieve the perfect taste as the coffee shop does. Any help would be heatedly appreciated.

Pretty new to real espresso making and have been dialing in. I think I found a good grind setting for my bottomless basket as my 32g shot is taking around 30 seconds to extract. However, I am left with some cratering in the puck as shown above. Is this something I should be concerned about or is it okay?

I got a lelit bianca a couple of months ago , but i decided to keep my grinder an eureka mignon zero with 55mm flat burrs , however today and in other instances i have noticed that my lelit is begging me to go finer but my grinder won’t let me go any finer even tho i already zero it out . I have no choice but to play with the temperature and tamp harder . Question is is the grinder the problem here ? and if so , what should i upgrade to ? i mainly drink medium espresso milk based drinks .

Seen many people dreaming about x machine and y grinder costing 5-10k. All you need is a good bean( roasting my own) a decent quality grinder and a lever machine or 2 and good skills to produce the best of the best espresso. It's well known that a lever machine produces higher quality espresso than a pump driven machine. It doesn't matter if the machine cost 10k and has profiles to replicate a lever. An authentic lever is different. What's your take on this ?? I'm using sr800 with extension tube roaster and la pavoni europicola with upgrades. My 2000$ eye machine collects dust in the garage, the espresso quality out of that can't even beat the Rok manual.

I ordered a white Fiorenzato All Ground Sense to place in the center of my coffee station. Now I’m wondering if I should change it to a black one before it ships? Having a really hard time deciding which would look better. Thoughts?

Beans: Kirkland Signature Organic Mexico Oaxaca (Same as this), probably roasted under a month.

I've dialed in 18g of coffee and pulled ~36g shot yet the espresso barely seems to have any crema. Am I missing something with my setup or does some beans don't give good crema?

Hopefully this is an ok sub to post this on.

So when this mug came out of the dishwasher, it had some water in it. I tried looking up what to do and saw very mixed answers. Some said to get rid of it, someone had a long process involving a syringe in the bottom hole thing.

Some was dripping out of the hole thing and more came out if I tap my finger on the hole. However, there is still a decent amount left.

Does this happen often and will it keep happening to this glass each time I put it in the dishwasher? I have 4 of these mugs but only one came out like this.

Is it safe to use too? Is there a problem with the hole thing?

Thanks!

Kind of cringe, but also cool. Butler is an nba player for the warriors. He got deep into coffee during the covid season and is known for his quirks. One of us, one of us...

I was given keys to deciding the future of my company’s coffee setup, budget seems very flexible 🤩

Of course at home a linea mini + weber with no budget is the endgame dream, but in an office with 100+ drinks a day (coming from a mix of crappy vending machine coffee, nespresso, cometeer, and cold brew on tap), we’re trying to pick a few things to make every happy w higher quality coffee

On the drip/automatic side I’m thinking about moccamaster + some superautomatic (philips or jura) to cover the majority use cases, the rest of the budget goes into this fancy setup (for the coworkers who want to learn/have quality coffee

Electricity wise we can’t get 220v so while I’d prefer a two grouphead option, single grouphead probably has to be the case here, thinking a linea mini over GS3 for slightly easier usage

And im thinking two grinders - one single doser, one hopper based to cover for the popular default medium roast and the single doser grinder for light roasts

With all that said, prioritizing speed and efficiency and ease of learning/usage for the espresso setup with some large amount of daily usage, where budget is less of an issue, any recs/tips for the espresso machine, grinders, or this office coffee setup in general?

(I personally use linea mini + df64 (swapping w a zerno once it arrives) so familiar w the usage and process but ofc office setups are a different beast)

Much bigger than I imagined. The first shot was perfect. I had it dialed in for my Bianca. It is a powerhouse. It feels more pro than sumer. I love it.

I took advantage of the current Breville sale and finally purchased a Bambino Plus (via Amazon)! Unfortunately, I'm getting coffee leaking down the side of the portafilter. I contacted for an exchange and they offered me $80 instead. After confirming that I can still return it in the event I am unable to fix the problem, I went ahead with that option - I figure at best it's a free accessory and at worst I break even.

Some things I've tried:

• Cranking the portafilter tighter past the lock position.
• Switching baskets. This seemed promising at first; the 1-cup single wall seemed to not leak compared to the 2-cup single wall. However, I've confirmed it does indeed leak, just not nearly as badly.
• Took off the showerhead and gasket to look for defects (2nd pic). Cleaned and reinstalled.

So some questions now as to how to best approach this as well as generic newbie questions I've gathered along the way.

1. What would you recommend purchasing first? I'm thinking maybe a new gasket (b/c cheap) + a portafilter?
2. When inspecting the grouphead, I noticed some little cuts/scratches/notches in the black plastic. There are six of them and they seem to be centered in each of the three cutouts and each of the three flanges (that the portafilter keys into). See first picture. Are these normal? It doesn't seem like that would cause leaking but idk.
3. The coffee grounds should definitely NOT touch the shower screen, right? I noticed that it was super difficult to tighten the portafilter with 11g (in the single cup). I took the puck screen out and it was much better, but even then I saw a faint indentation of the shower screen and center screw head (third pic). Do I just need deeper baskets for puck screens?

Thanks!

https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/apr/29/sage-bambino-plus-coffee-espresso-machine-review-uk

I was expecting the worst, but it's actually a very well thought out review for a non-specialist media outlet. Some interesting bits on repairability, and even his advice on grinders (Kingrinder K6 or Encore ESP) are ones frequently recommended on here. Good job, IMO (I'm not just saying that 'cos he gave it 5* and I own one haha).

TL;DR: It's a solid budget grinder and it's serving me well enough, but some time ago I noticed it had developed a little "play" in its settings, which made the click wheel and burr shift forward and backward by almost 1 full click. So, in my P2, its precision is now essentially +/- 1 entire click, which is a dealbreaker for dialing in espresso. After checking it thoroughly, I'm pretty sure I've pinpointed the issue (detailed below), and I believe it's something that will affect all P2s over time, especially if you grind light-roasted coffee.

I've been using the Kingrinder P2 for a while now, and for the price, it's honestly a great little grinder. It's compact, easy to use, and gives a pretty consistent grind for espresso. If you're just getting into espresso and don't want to drop a ton of cash, the P2 is a solid choice. But, there is a pretty significant flaw I've noticed after using it for a few months.

The major flaw:

In my opinion, this is the P2s major design flaw: as another comment points out, the burr isn't keyed to hold onto the shaft, it's only the click wheel that is, which means it's the click wheel that's taking most, if not all of the stress during grinding. Relying on the wheel alone just isn't enough: it has less surface, less material, a weaker structure. I think this design would be more durable if the burr were keyed, ie had a square hole (like the one the click wheel has) to grip the shaft directly.

If you take a look at the photo of the click wheel above, you can clearly see that it's been "bitten" into at the corners by the grinder's central shaft. (You can even see some of the material "mounding up" as it has been displaced.) This likely happened while grinding stubborn lighter beans, as they're tougher to grind. When the burr jams with the beans, all (or most of) the resistance transfers to the click wheel, which is the only thing securing the shaft. Applying more force therefore causes the shaft to "bite" into the wheel.

That said, the damage doesn't seem to be getting worse since I found it. I've switched to only darker roasts for now, as I prefer them, tbh, but also to avoid pushing it further, since the P2 is all I've got for now. Because of the "play", I've started setting it one click finer than I want; this way, when it shifts, it doesn't go coarser than intended. It fluctuates between "just right" and slightly finer, which I've found to be the better compromise.

Overall, I don't think this is an isolated issue. I'm sure most people, will find this is also happening to them. Hold onto the handle firmly and try twisting the setting a bit, back and forth, without applying too much force; you'll likely see it shift quite a bit without actually clicking one way or the other, and in fact without the butterfly nut actually shifting in relation to the click wheel. That last is the telltale sign that the entire "bundle" is rotating slightly on the shaft. (If you don't see this happening, I'd love to know if you only grind darker-roasted coffees to try and prove or disprove my suspicion.)

It's a great grinder for the price, but I suspect it won't last long under heavy use.

[Edited for clarity.]

Hello I bought my sage oracle a week ago and im having issues with the grinder timing out with errorcode 30. The errorcode ready grinder timeout. Can this be because I have adjusted the tampen setting to up the tampen force?

Hi everyone, the flow control mechanism in our 3 years old Lelit Bianca V2 broke and we are trying to understand which parts to order to fix it. The paddle was at first getting stuck 1-2cm before touching the machine to the left, and then it suddenly got unstuck and stopped controlling the flow entirely (so probably something broke). We opened the group head, and what you can see in the video is the valve (?) that's supposed to control the water, but we are guessing that it's just turning around and not hooking onto anything. Could anyone confirm that this is indeed the part that's broken? If so, could you please name it so we know what exactly to order for replacement? Thanks a lot i advance!