I thought this was the first one? https://tldp.org/HOWTO/html_single/Coffee/
DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine
91–100 of 292 posts
Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
It sounds like you are the perfect customer for them but when your machine craps itself I would suggest checking out something like the Breville Barista models. I have the Pro version which has the grinder built in and I've found it makes far nicer coffees than the pods and there is minimal faffing around due to everything being integrated in the one machine.
I'm not convinced on autogrinders. One of my friends had one (A Jura) of 1000+ euro and the coffee was no better. Eventually the grinder crapped out and the replacement cost 3/4 of the machine price. He's now drinking Nespresso like me :) Breville doesn't seem to be a common brand here in Europe but I see it is a lot cheaper. Nothing like the 80 euro of a Nespresso machine though (which has also lasted me 10 years de…
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.
Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
People don't buy Nespresso for the taste, they buy it for the convenience. If it was actually a superior method of serving coffee, then everyone would use it. Alas.
People wouldn't use Nespresso pods if they found them to be horrible tasting, as you claim they are, no matter how convenient they are. They use them because they both enjoy the taste and find them convenient. Most people like the taste of Nespresso pods, k-cups, drip coffee and Starbucks. The sales of all 4 reflect that.
You can actually get accustomed to the bad taste. It happened to me. But then I started drinking coffee at work again and out went my nespresso machine.
Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine
#94couldn't find official confirmation anywhere, but that looks like an arduino MKR WiFi 1010, which means it should have wifi for integration with home assistant or something. I realize that the overall process is probably too manual to fully automate, but you could at least turn it on and get the water heating in the morning, I imagine. Although now that I look a little more, according to the quick start guide, wifi i…
I plug my espresso machine into a smart socket, which I then switch on via an automation before I wake up, so the boiler is ready to go for me.
I do the same thing with a dumb duct fan. Turns out smart sockets can cover a lot of ground in home automation.
Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine
#95Love it. There’s a surprising amount of hackability in espresso machines — reminds me a lot of bicycles as an approachably fun tinkering project.
Do you know of any resources to help learn bicycles? I wish I could tune my own bicycle but can't seem to figure it out. I can build my own computer, change the oil in my car, paint a house, etc. but my bicycle always befuddles me.
Sheldon is a great resource as mentioned already, although it will not include information on newer components.
I really like the park tool website and videos for step by step instructions. RJ the bike guy on Youtube also has some good instructionals too.
I found most of the difficulty is identifying which components and/or standards your bike is using, rather than the process of fixing.
Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine
#96I love espresso. But I don't think I'd be interested in a DIY option. I tend to use Nespresso, especially now that the cups are simply available in the shop (and cheap aftermarket options), it's pretty perfect. I know the manual process is more environmentally friendly but when I wake up in the morning I have no headspace for fussing with coffee grinds. I just need good coffee right away. And I don't even own a car o…
To chime in on the litany of reasons why this is not a good idea--sifting boiling water through plastic is not safe for consumption as plastic nano and micro-particles will leech from the plastic into the liquid. This happens by design when using these pods, meaning you are getting a small serving of plastic every morning, alongside your coffee. What a moronic design.
Espresso machines are made from copper, brass, and chrome. The chrome plating typically comes off quickly from the filter handles, exposing the bare brass to the coffee. All that stuff ends up in your coffee (where else should it go?). This means that espresso is pretty much guaranteed to contain copper, zinc, lead, chrome, nickel.
I'm not sure that is safer than the microplastics or aluminium from coffee capsules.
Fully stainless steel machines are probably the best option, but there are very few of those around (and they would probably still leak nickel).
Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not really paying Nestle though. I buy aftermarket cups (10 for 2 euro 50, less than half the price of their own cups!) and the machine is made by Krups. I use those same cups at work because they removed all the coffee machines and put nespressos in place of them. The reason was that the machine coffee was so horrible everyone started bringing their own nespresso machine (they had a really good deal at the time)…
If you're using aftermarket pods then you should use an aftermarket machine too, nespresso puts the gasket required to build pressure on the pod itself, and this gasket is patented preventing aftermarket pods from having the same gasket design. Since the gasket is on the pod it is not on the machine meaning that stock nespresso machines will have issues with aftermarket pods. Some aftermarket machines have their own…
Ah I had indeed felt the rubbery layer inside the rim before. I was wondering what that was about.
I don't have any issues with it though. But if my machine breaks I'll buy an aftermarket machine. Good point!
I wonder if the older machines also have this issue by the way.
Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not bad, many real espressos I buy in local coffee shops for a euro (This is Spain, things are cheap) are worse.
If you're not in a country where people regularly drink espresso then this is the problem you will find with literally every single non-specialty coffee shop. That being said, while crap coffee shop espresso is worse than nespresso, nespresso is still trash in compared to an espresso someone put in even 10 minutes of effort into dialling in.
But Spain is a country where people regularly drink espresso. It's the standard coffee type here :)
Yet Nespresso (well mostly the aftermarket capsules) is very popular here.
Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine
#99I recently bought a super automatic machine for only $350, and it doesn't include a steam wand (big plus for someone who never makes milk-based drinks). This seems like a fun project but simple off-the-shelf ones are really coming down in price.
Comparing a superauto to this machine is like comparing an iPad to a home built desktop PC, a smartphone camera to a DSLR, a Sonos or Bose sound bar to a modular Hi-Fi system, etc...
The superauto is more convenient, press a button, get a coffee. And if you put in decent beans, and follow the recommendations regarding cleaning/maintenance, you will most likely get a decent shot. However, it won't last as long, and you will be limited, that is, don't expect to get the perfect cup exactly like you want it.
This machine does not compete with consumer-level superautos, it competes with other E-61 "home barista" type machines, which you can also find off-the-shelf.
Re: DiyPresso: DIY Espresso Machine
#100Love it. There’s a surprising amount of hackability in espresso machines — reminds me a lot of bicycles as an approachably fun tinkering project.
Do you know of any resources to help learn bicycles? I wish I could tune my own bicycle but can't seem to figure it out. I can build my own computer, change the oil in my car, paint a house, etc. but my bicycle always befuddles me.
Another vote for Sheldon Brown, but I'd also recommend searching on YouTube for how to do various maintenance jobs. Once you've watched a few videos, you'll soon learn the terminology for the various parts.