Intro to my Profitec 400 journey.. Review to follow in a few months.

kosipk

I’m quite new to the obsession of good coffee at home. Until recently I’ve been dependent on local coffee shops or while at home my Nespresso machine (😳). After Covid transformed my working life to being home based, for at least three days a week, I came to the conclusion that I need to improve on Nespresso. I decided to invest in a French Press and look at grinding fresh beans. This was a transformative moment in my coffee enjoyment and decided to try other brewing methods; pour over, followed by a Moka Pot (still frequently used), before a few months later deciding to commit to home espresso. After some research I finally landed on the Profitec 400.

I bought from Bella Barista and decided to drive the 1.5 hrs (each way) to pick up rather than rely on FedEx to deliver. I’m glad I did. The sales team at Bella Barista were extremely helpful providing me an overview of the functions and how to maintain and clean to ensure good long term running. I also got a free milk jug and coffee for my efforts 🙂.

I’ve managed to dial in some great tasting espresso mainly beans from Monmouth Coffee, I’m soon to try a few more diverse roasts via a subscription with Dog and Hat.

The 400 has been faultless so far, helped by the great advice on this forum, such as using Tesco Ashbeck water and advice on heat settings (thanks DaveC).

If anyone has any specific questions on my experience or the machine I’m happy to help.

Will follow up with some pics of the Pro 400 and the shots it delivers.

MediumRoastSteam

kosipk the great advice on this forum, such as using Tesco Ashbeck water

Glad you are enjoying your machine. Just be aware the composition of Ashbeck has changed in the recent past, so it could be that the advice you’ve been reading no longer applies. It’s very likely that you will have to descale your machine in a year’s time or so.

kosipk

Thanks. Is there a better bottled alternative?

MediumRoastSteam

kosipk - In all honesty, I haven’t been following the bottled water threads since moving to distilled and more recent to Zero Water + sodium or potassium bicarbonate at 100mg per litre). I had my Elizabeth for over 3 years now running on this formula and I never descaled the machine. It still sounds like brand new. With Ashbeck or bottled water in general (please note they are not the same, and some are actually as hard as tap water in SE England), you will notice eventually the machine will make different sounds when heating up, similar to the sound a kettle does when there’s limescale build up in the heating element.

I’m not saying you should not use bottled water (Ashbeck, Waitrose, etc) but just be mindful that it’s not limescale free.

SurreyAlan

I’ve had my 400 for 18 months, one issue on unpacking but BB couriered the bit down next day otherwise no problems with it at all, no dribbles or funny noises. It’s been run on Ashbeck or Lockhill with an occasional run through of the ECM very very mild descaler. I tried the Zero Water and adding stuff but if never tasted right to me. I have found the 4 hole steam tip easier and quicker to use and I soon changed to a bottomless holder as otherwise it’s a bittight on space if you use a scale.

SurreyAlan

Although people say fit felt pads if you need to move it around easily I went to B & Q and bought some ptfe sliders 25mm diameter which provide enough grip not to slide easily when putting on the portafilterbut not enough to prevent easy movement. They won’t soak up water either.