So finally my first ever expresso machine has arrived. (Bambino plus) - Looking forwards to some decent shots. Unfortunately the grinder got stuck with DHL so no grinder yet, however coffeebeanshop (they've been great about it all) are sending me some freshly ground expresso coffee so I can start testing out the machine. * Machine setup tips? I've selected the standard double basket and put it in the portafilter. Dual walled ones have been sent to the dark recesses of my cupboard * Do I need bottled water? I've seen it mentioned a few times here, though water where I live is very soft and no limescale to speak of. * Do I just put the coffee in, tamper it down, and pull a shot manually with 5 secs of pre infusion? Then add the milk on top? (Looking for perfect cappuccinos in the end.) * I use 18 grams of coffee, and try to weigh 36 grams out in the end right, hoping for it to take around 30 seconds not including the pre infusion? * Will I taste the chocolate and nuts immediately or will it take time to develop tastes * I've also bought a V60 which will be arriving this week to brew up 500ml or so for a work morning. Any tips on this? (I watched the Hoffman V60 procedure video so feel more clued up on those) Such excitement!

Hi Capuchin, fellow Bambino user here. I'll take a stab at answering your questions: * Machine setup tips? I’ve selected the standard double basket and put it in the portafilter. Dual walled ones have been sent to the dark recesses of my cupboard * A good start! * Do I need bottled water? I’ve seen it mentioned a few times here, though water where I live is very soft and no limescale to speak of. * It all depends on how soft your water is, I live in London, so no chance I'm using tap water in mine. Might be worth getting a water report from your water company and checking this. * Do I just put the coffee in, tamper it down, and pull a shot manually with 5 secs of pre infusion? Then add the milk on top? (Looking for perfect cappuccinos in the end.) * Essentially yes, although you will need to dial in your beans to get the best out of them (don't underestimate how long it may take to get your puck preparation correct. A bottomless portafilter is a good way to analyse this. The autosteam function on the Bambino is actually very good. Set the heat setting to 2 and foam to 1 for very good latte-art microfoam * I use 18 grams of coffee, and try to weigh 36 grams out in the end right, hoping for it to take around 30 seconds not including the pre infusion? * I do an 8s pre-infusion and tend to aim for 32-38 seconds for 19g including pre-infusion. * Will I taste the chocolate and nuts immediately or will it take time to develop tastes. * Very doubtful you'll get it right straight away - especially with the pre-ground coffee. Getting your own grinder and beans is really the only way to get practicing on your technique and playing around with what you like or not. Consistency is key with coffee, so try to only change one parameter at a time to assess the impact this delivers. * I’ve also bought a V60 which will be arriving this week to brew up 500ml or so for a work morning. Any tips on this? (I watched the Hoffman V60 procedure video so feel more clued up on those) * I'll have to pass on this one. You can use a teaspoon handle or the edge of the levelling tool to get the basket out. If you buy a bottomless portafilter the basket clips straight out which makes cleaning it much easier. Hope you enjoy the machine!

> @"capuchin"#p3894 So a few follow up questions: > > 1\. I’ve been rinsing the basket and portafilter after each brew. Do I need to do this? > > 2\. It was only roasted yesterday. Will this make a difference? > > 3\. How and where should I store the open bag? 1. Yes, unless you are making another coffee straight away. If you are doing say 2 coffees, knock the first puck out and use a clean dry 1.5 inch paintbrush to clean the basket, which will be totally dry in seconds. This prevents it cooling down and getting damp. Clean up normally after the last coffee in a group of coffees. 2. yes, it will be a bit lively and may even be hard to get a good looking shot. It may run quickly for the grind level in the first few days, then slow down. 3. Cool Cupboard and sealed as well as you can…or in some purpose built coffee storage container.

First machine, tips and tricks please!

capuchin

So finally my first ever expresso machine has arrived. (Bambino plus) - Looking forwards to some decent shots. Unfortunately the grinder got stuck with DHL so no grinder yet, however coffeebeanshop (they’ve been great about it all) are sending me some freshly ground expresso coffee so I can start testing out the machine.

Machine setup tips? I’ve selected the standard double basket and put it in the portafilter. Dual walled ones have been sent to the dark recesses of my cupboard
Do I need bottled water? I’ve seen it mentioned a few times here, though water where I live is very soft and no limescale to speak of.
Do I just put the coffee in, tamper it down, and pull a shot manually with 5 secs of pre infusion? Then add the milk on top? (Looking for perfect cappuccinos in the end.)
I use 18 grams of coffee, and try to weigh 36 grams out in the end right, hoping for it to take around 30 seconds not including the pre infusion?
Will I taste the chocolate and nuts immediately or will it take time to develop tastes
I’ve also bought a V60 which will be arriving this week to brew up 500ml or so for a work morning. Any tips on this? (I watched the Hoffman V60 procedure video so feel more clued up on those)

Such excitement!

capuchin

Oh and is there a trick for getting the damned basket out the portafilter? Took me a good 5 minutes to pry out the double walled one!

DavecUK

capuchin Oh and is there a trick for getting the damned basket out the portafilter? Took me a good 5 minutes to pry out the double walled one!

Normally on E61s you have to put something thin and flat between the basket and the portafilter body, then twist, probably the same on yours.

HVL87

capuchin you can use something like this if you want to make your life easier:

https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/lifting-tool-for-porta-filter-baskets.html

dutchy101

Hi Capuchin, fellow Bambino user here. I’ll take a stab at answering your questions:

Machine setup tips? I’ve selected the standard double basket and put it in the portafilter. Dual walled ones have been sent to the dark recesses of my cupboard
A good start!
Do I need bottled water? I’ve seen it mentioned a few times here, though water where I live is very soft and no limescale to speak of.
It all depends on how soft your water is, I live in London, so no chance I’m using tap water in mine. Might be worth getting a water report from your water company and checking this.
Do I just put the coffee in, tamper it down, and pull a shot manually with 5 secs of pre infusion?

Then add the milk on top? (Looking for perfect cappuccinos in the end.)
Essentially yes, although you will need to dial in your beans to get the best out of them (don’t underestimate how long it may take to get your puck preparation correct. A bottomless portafilter is a good way to analyse this. The autosteam function on the Bambino is actually very good. Set the heat setting to 2 and foam to 1 for very good latte-art microfoam
I use 18 grams of coffee, and try to weigh 36 grams out in the end right, hoping for it to take around 30 seconds not including the pre infusion?
I do an 8s pre-infusion and tend to aim for 32-38 seconds for 19g including pre-infusion.
Will I taste the chocolate and nuts immediately or will it take time to develop tastes.
Very doubtful you’ll get it right straight away - especially with the pre-ground coffee. Getting your own grinder and beans is really the only way to get practicing on your technique and playing around with what you like or not. Consistency is key with coffee, so try to only change one parameter at a time to assess the impact this delivers.
I’ve also bought a V60 which will be arriving this week to brew up 500ml or so for a work morning. Any tips on this? (I watched the Hoffman V60 procedure video so feel more clued up on those)
I’ll have to pass on this one.

You can use a teaspoon handle or the edge of the levelling tool to get the basket out. If you buy a bottomless portafilter the basket clips straight out which makes cleaning it much easier.

Hope you enjoy the machine!

capuchin

Thank you for all the tips guys! Just gave the machine a whirl with the following results: (Pre ground beans because DHL have still not delivered the grinder!!!)

First shot: 19 grams in, 40 grams out in around 30 seconds + 5 preinfusion - Realised half way through taste testing it was hugely underextracted as it was very sour. Surprising as I thought I’d nailed it.

Second shot: Puck preparation was poor, and then I messed up weighing while trying to stopwatch on my phone, so ditched this one.

Third shot: 19 grams in, 41 grams out, in around 50 seconds. (5 secs preinfusion + 45.) Thought I’d screwed it up so gave it a sip. Nice and nutty, hint of chocolate. Put on the milk and made it into cappuccino. Eminently pleasant. Thought I’d post here while drinking it, but it’s all gone. Not bad for pre ground coffee!

So a few follow up questions: I’ve been rinsing the basket and portafilter after each brew. Do I need to do this?

It was only roasted yesterday. Will this make a difference?

How and where should I store the open bag?

Thanks for the basket tips too. Think I definitely need a dosing funnel/cup and perhaps a bottomless portafilter soonish. Also need to get some proper coffee scales. (I’m using a set from my coin collection currently)

DavecUK

capuchin So a few follow up questions:

1. I’ve been rinsing the basket and portafilter after each brew. Do I need to do this?

2. It was only roasted yesterday. Will this make a difference?

3. How and where should I store the open bag?

Yes, unless you are making another coffee straight away. If you are doing say 2 coffees, knock the first puck out and use a clean dry 1.5 inch paintbrush to clean the basket, which will be totally dry in seconds. This prevents it cooling down and getting damp. Clean up normally after the last coffee in a group of coffees.
yes, it will be a bit lively and may even be hard to get a good looking shot. It may run quickly for the grind level in the first few days, then slow down.
Cool Cupboard and sealed as well as you can…or in some purpose built coffee storage container.

capuchin

I think #2 may be important here. I’ve been trying to run again, nice and repeatable action on the puck, and it’s been running way too fast. Just about drinkable with milk but not happy so far.

I’ve been trying to think up ways to choke it (tried a larger dose, tamped to the extreme, but it doesn’t seem to be working. I’d like to know how I managed to semi choke shot 3 last night as they all seem to come out in under 30 seconds now leading me to 2 conclusions or a mixture of both.

a) coffee is too fresh

b) grind is too course

dutchy101

This is why you need to grind your own beans really, you can change up the grind size to suit you. You might have better success using the pressurised baskets with the pre-ground coffee

capuchin

dutchy101 I’m just waiting for my grinder to arrive and these are complimentary beans until they do! (DHL are useless) - Using the time to learn how to prepare the puck etc and experiment a little.

My V60 arrived today so I may try them in that next as they are a little on the course side.

capuchin

I wonder [more on the theory side] if I had a machine with pressure profiling, whether I could ramp up the pressure far more slowly to semi choke mid basket, and then ramp it up to deliver. (I know adjusting grind size is far simpler, but just trying to understand how it all works!)

Hotmetal

The grind needed will change depending on age of beans (gradually) and weather (can actually vary more than you think from one day to another if temp or humidity is much different from previous day).
Putting too much coffee in a basket can slow down the shot (or even choke it) but can also lead to gushers if the puck fractures due to bad tamping or just the pressure of the water entering with no headroom for expansion. That might explain why you got a slow shot one day and a gusher the next from the same preground.

capuchin

Hotmetal Thanks. This makes sense. For my morning coffee in a moment I’ll try to brew around 20g (in the 54mm double basket), tamp hard and evenly distribute, use a shorter preinfusion and hopefully the ‘slightly too much’ with plenty of compression and enough headroom for expansion should lead to good pressure and extraction, if a slightly slow shot.

It’s quite intimidating how much there is to learn about brewing a coffee as a starter, even with a basic machine.

capuchin

And boom, 1 pretty good cup of morning expresso. 41 grams in 34 secs + 3 secs pre infusion. 19g dose.

Cheers!

Hotmetal

Excellent, glad it helped. Although for clarity, I was not recommending too much coffee for the basket, I was suggesting that you may already have had too much in there which could lead to the puck fracturing and the coffee gushing through underextracted. However, if you can’t control the grind level then you may have no option but to overload it to slow the shot down. That’s a last resort with preground coffee that’s too coarse, rather than a technique to aim for, if you see what I mean. What I meant was that too much coffee in the basket can lead to not enough headroom and the result can be either too slow if it compresses too much, or a gush of coffee if it cracks. Either can happen, although I have a mate who has a barista express and he does this all the time and seems to get away with it.
Best way is to use the grind level to control the speed to get the flavour you want without overloading.