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DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine

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Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine

#251

Post by rtaylorgarlock »

simple10 wrote: post #231
nathancahill wrote: post #10

The closest I've gotten to DIY espresso is EspressoForge: https://espressoforge.com/

Oh nice! Expresso Forge is exactly what I've been looking for. I'm a big fan of manual, maintenance & electricity free coffee tools. Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps consider other options which don't require large force. I'm currently running a normal aeropress, from before the VC buyout, with a Fellow Prismo + paper filter, and i'm getting results which I'm very happy with. I use my forearm to press rather than hands. I've been happy enough i've avoided building a Gagguino[1], which I'm a super big fan of despite my distaste for vibratory pumps. For no heater or lever, this compares relatively poorly to a Flair[2] in my eyes. I've found all this coffee stuff to be highly available used at a discount all along the Atlantic coast US.

[1] https://github.com/Zer0-bit/gaggiuino [2] https://flairespresso.com/product/flair-58/

Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine

#252

Post by rtaylorgarlock »

criddell wrote: post #220
a012 wrote: post #164

I’m not a really avid espresso person but IMO any decent espresso machine could do the job, the real deal is the coffee grinder. Invest in the highly precision grinder could up scale your espresso shots without an expressive coffee machine.

A DIY grinder project might be interesting, but I'm not sure if there are reliable sources for burrs and those would be pretty difficult to make.

I've thought about this. Nice burrs are available, yet the other machined components are less so available. 3d printing will get the project only part of the way for what I'd think of for a real part. My brain is sort of putting a plan together as I'm typing, so perhaps I'll put together a prototype when my brain is less taxed.

Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine

#254

Post by bialpio »

wkat4242 wrote: post #205
morsch wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get a De'Longhi Magnifica S super automatic for ~260 EUR on sale. Quite reliable. More convenient than an a Nespresso. Cheaper to operate. Less waste.

I don't know if it's really as convenient though. What I tend to do is drink "half-caf", I take 1 pod decaf and 1 pod normal in the same cup. It looks like for this one I'd have to change out the bean reservoir every time (or mix normal beans with decaf beans somehow). It would probably be cheaper though yeah. Even the aftermarket cups still cost me 25c. I'll have more of a look at it once my current machine fails (i…

What we do when mixing beans in our breville is we keep the grinder empty and only add beans after weighting them for a single serving. For a split-shot, I'd just add ~9g of caffeinated beans, pull a shot and then pull a 2nd one with ~9g of decaf, or more likely just mix 19g of beans and pull a double shot. It is more hassle than just using pods tho...

Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine

#255

Post by andrewmcwatters »

novafacing wrote: post #249
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #226

I have a Consumer Reports subscription and I’ve seen countless videos on YouTube about espresso machines, but after all these years I still don’t own one. I’m not an enthusiast. I just want a high quality espresso machine that makes consistently good espresso shots. I’m never going to be someone who wants to spend 15-30 minutes on creating a shot of espresso. I’m bewildered that a machine that makes hot water push at…

The breville barista line is what you're looking for.

Thank you!

Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine

#256

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

dessimus wrote: post #187
2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Audiophiles are a bad analogy since you can setup a blind taste test of coffee equipment. And different people will make the same identifications. Which suggests that we all tasted the same thing. Where as you can’t tell the difference between cables. I’m all for being skeptical, especially with something as subjective as taste. But it always amuses me that people never bother to check their skepticism. Has it ever o…

Someone actually did a blind study comparing flat vs conical grinders with over 150 coffee professionals [0] to find they could not discern a difference in how the coffee was ground before being brewed while controlling for other variables. So it would seem that Audiophiles are the perfect analogy. 0: https://youtu.be/3XYTi6OBecA?t=2400 (Discussion on the study begins around 34:00)

I’d love to see what grinders and specific burrs she used.

We also setup a blinded coded triangle test, there was only 3 of us and four grinders: one $5k grinder, 2x$2.5k, one $700. 2 flat 2 conical. The flats have teeth supposedly for filter brewing. One coffee.

We picked the grinders correctly. Obviously we could have better methods, but the differences seemed obvious between the flats and conical. Within the same geometry, I think I just guessed the better tasting one to me was the more expensive grinder which may or may not be true. This surprised us. We didn’t think we’d pick anything. But all agreed on similar tasting notes for the flats and conical with no proper discussion or even looking at the notes for the coffee.

Brewing espresso I even observe psychical differences during the brew. I have two sets of flat burrs from the same grinder. Different teeth pattern. Same coating. One set allows me to go much finer to hit the same grams per second out and always leaves a soupy mess in the basket regardless of setting. The other doesn’t leave a soupy mess and grinds courser. I don’t know what’s happening. But this is easy to reproduce.

But then again, I also have a hand grinder that tastes more like my flats. And was quite cheap. So flat vs conical may not matter at all and it’s the shape of the cutting surface.

Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine

#257

Post by shrx »

avidphantasm wrote: post #236

Looks cool but for me a manual machine like a Flair is ideal. I don’t have to spend a lot of time or money and I get consistently good espresso.

The downside of all manual espresso machines is that it's difficult to achieve good and consistent head temperatures. Pre-heating takes additional time in the brewing process.

Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine

#258

Post by righthand »

satvikpendem wrote: post #215
righthand wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The advice though on the market is that if you want a good cup of coffee you need to do more than buy the machine. I agree that the gains are marginal. With a PC, I can upgrade my ram and the gains might be marginal, but I still have a world of free stuff I can install and tinker on it. Once the espresso machine is built/upgraded then that’s it really. You can only buy more things for it. There is no exploratory afte…

> I don’t agree that a moka pot wouldn’t be enough Sure, but a moka pot is not espresso, by the definition of espresso. It is like espresso, sure, but it does not achieve the required pressures to, well, press (hence, espresso ) the water through the coffee. That is why I stopped using moka pots. > The advice though on the market is that if you want a good cup of coffee you need to do more than buy the machine That m…

I didn’t know anything about coffee going in, I still don’t really. So it was easy to fool me. That isn’t my opinion about marginal gains, that was my observation.

Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine

#259

Post by jvdvegt »

frontiersummit wrote: post #213
drrotmos wrote: post #145

The more I think about the more I feel that this is the wrong solution to the problem. Disclaimer: I'm doing a small open source espresso controller project, check it out if you're interested, but it's not ready for prime time yet: https://github.com/variegated-coffee . My thinking is that this machine appeals mostly to people who already has an espresso machine. It's not particularly technologically advanced. It's a…

I only see power requirements (1300 W) but no mention of voltage or frequency requirements---not even in the user guide. The pricing in € hints that the creators are in 240/1/50-land, and that I'm out-of-luck in the 120/1/60 wastes of North America. It's a shame, because I'm very much the target demographic for a kit like this. One could transform it from 120 V or run it on our 240 V split-phase with an isolation tra…

Fyi: yeah they're Dutch.

Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine

#260

Post by secabeen »

dgacmu wrote: post #238
hiatus wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * Espresso machine electronics hardware is pretty firmly stuck in the past. If you're lucky you have a 128x64 px OLED, but more likely you have LED indicators, 7 segment displays, or graphical LCDs. I don't know if I'd consider adding a screen to an espresso machine to be an improvement. What would it be useful for?

I have a no-display machine and I wish it had a few things that a screen would facilitate: (1) Automatic shot timer. (2) Shot volume display (my machine is a volumetric one, but I have to measure the weight of the output to calculate what volume it dispensed) (3) Ability to configure other parameters, such as pre-infusion time, where I'm guessing the manufacturer just left this out because it would complicate an alre…

All this exists from Decent Espresso, but they are the 1% of the market that is the exception.
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