Hoping to mirror the great community of r/espresso.
We are a kind and accepting community for those who love, want to love, are getting into, or are interested in espresso and espresso accessories.
I didn't think we needed this section on Lemmy, but...
(No exceptions)
Here is the main resource from the same sub, since it's amazing.
If any of the original mods, or anyone else who loves espresso, would like to take control or help mod, please let me know. I'd be as happy to help as to pass the reigns.
A gracious community member has added some of the resources from the Reddit sub.
(I tried to grab all of the links from it, please let me know if I missed any)
<Wiki from r/espresso>
Links
Google Sheets List of Espresso Machines
Espresso Aficionados - Discord
Espresso Aficionados - Wiki (as of May 2023, this is the most up-to-date resource for machine recommendations and it has a bunch of detailed guides for how to dial in espresso, puck prep & troubleshooting, and more advanced techniques!)
Espresso 101 Espresso starts with the coffee bean. Fresher is better. As u/Beans_McGhee says, "The beans really need to be roasted within the month you use them for perfect espresso." Store-bought beans are fine, really—but part of the "fun" of espresso is trying different beans.
You grind your coffee beans using a grinder. This sub has lots of opinions on grinders.
The amount of ground coffee you use is called the dose. So when u/SingularLattice says, "Make sure you have the right dose for your basket", that's what he means.
A basket is the little metal cup that goes in your portafilter—that's the metal thing with a handle on it. Espresso machines often come with 4 baskets: a single and a double in both unpressurized and pressurized. Doubles are the larger ones; pressurized variants are a different shape and may say "dual wall" on the bottom.
You would use dual-wall if you are using pre-ground coffee. Almost everyone will make ("pull") double shots—when you get into weights and times, it's all based on a double. So you should likely use the unpressurized (single wall) double basket.
Advanced practitioners will dose by weight. Typically, you'd want ~7g for a single shot and ~18g for a double shot. Automatic grinders may dose by time: this will get you "close enough". Thus, the "single" dose will be around 7g and the "double" will be around 18g. (You can fine-tune these amounts—more on that later.)
Coffee grounds are light and fluffy, but you want them to be compact for espresso, so you tamp them (with your tamper). Advanced practitioners will calibrate their tamping pressure (e.g., with spring-loaded tampers)—don't worry about that. Just give it a reasonable amount of force. If you're putting your whole body weight on your tamper, that's too much.
You will get a feel for the right amount of force. You can also look at the level of the grounds in the basket. Use shape of your tamper or other tool to estimate how much space should be between your (tamped) grounds and the top of the basket.
As u/SingularLattice says, "You need to tamp FLAT, not hard. So long as it’s firm, you’re good."
At the advanced level, preparing espresso is all about ratios, namely weight and time. Generally, you want a 2:1 ratio in about 30 seconds. The 2:1 ratio means the ratio of your dose (i.e., ~18g) to the resulting espresso (i.e., ~36g). The process of brewing espresso is called extraction.
Many espresso machines will do this for you! When you press the double shot button, it will dispense enough water to make the "right" amount of espresso... presuming you're using the right basket and the right dose! With such machines (e.g., the Breville Barista Express, or BBE), what you should do is watch the pressure gauge. It should be in the "espresso range". (Advanced practitioners will measure pressure in bars—you want ~9 bars in an ideal world.)
If the pressure is low, you either need more grounds (higher dose)—which you can get by adjusting the grind amount—or a finer grind—which you can get by adjusting grind size. You may also need to tamp harder, but typically this isn't the problem.
(If your pressure is too high, the inverse is true... but this doesn't happen very often.)
Every bean is different, and so needs different settings to produce a good result—in your case, to keep that pressure dial where you want it. The process of adjusting these different settings is called dialing in.
Your goal here is a well-extracted shot. That's all about how it tastes! Espresso should be sweet and balanced. If it's sour, it's under-extracted (to which you would grind more and/or finer); if it's bitter or astringent, it's over-extracted (to which you would do the opposite).
Everyone here is adjusting all these variables (bean, pressure, grind size, dose, ratio, extraction time, and more) in search of the perfect shot!
(Derived from this post by u/basseq.)
What espresso machine should I buy? Great question, and a very common one. Generally, there are two key inputs:
How much do you want to “tinker” with your espresso? Do you want to play with different variables, or just wake up to a good coffee?
How much do you want to spend?
Espresso can be a very expensive hobby, so the answer to the second question can you get to the best bang for your buck.
Remember that espresso is not just the machine. The other notable expense is the grinder, which can be as much as—if not more expensive—than the machine itself. There’s also some key accessories (notably a scale) and the cost of good coffee itself ($15+/lb).
Recommendations by Budget <$500 – Bare Bones If you’re looking to step up from a Nespresso or just drink less Starbucks, start here. There are really two ways to go:
Manual ($250–$300) – Flair Neo ($125) + 1Zpresso JX ($130).
Automatic ($450–$500) – Breville Bambino ($350) + Baratza Encore ($170).
The DeLonghi Dedica ($350) is also a solid choice. For grinders, you can also check out the Breville Dose Control ($150), or upgrade to the 1Zpresso J-Max ($230). The Sette 30 ($300) and Mignon Notte ($320) grinders are solid, but may put you above $500.
If you’re really looking to do espresso on the cheap, forego the grinder and work with pressurized portafilters on the Neo or Bambino. Many of us started with things like the DeLonghi EC155 ($100), but it’s hard to recommend.
Keep in mind that the espresso you get in a cafe was ground on a grinder that cost around $2000 and brewed on a machine that cost at least $15,000. You can't shrink all of that into a sub $300 setup without a huge loss of quality. –u/MyCatsNameIsBernie
$500–900 – Entry Level If you think you’re “serious” about espresso, this may be a better entry point than above, which you might outgrow sooner than later. There are two common choices here:
All-In-One – Breville Barista Express ($750) or Pro ($850). While the community sees the built-in grinder as the weak spot (no upgrade path), and long-term reliability can be spotty, it an easy and popular entry point into the prosumer market.
Separate Setup ($800–900) – Gaggia Classic Pro ($500) + Baratza Sette 270 ($400) – The Gaggia is a classic and time-tested, with lots of options in the used market.
Something like a Bambino Plus ($500) or Lelit Anna ($570) might also work. There are a lot of good grinders in this range: the DF64 ($400), Eureka Mignon Silenzio ($470), Baratza Vario ($480), and Rancilio Rocky ($430) are all well-regarded.
If you’re strapped for cash, the r/espresso guidance is to prioritize the grinder. Better to run a cheaper machine (Bambino/Dedica) with a nicer grinder than the other way around.
$900–$1,500 – The Standard The endgame for many people, this range is probably the “sweet spot” for great espresso without going over the deep-end.
The r/espresso Standard – Rancilio Silvia ($850) + Niche Zero ($680) – The Silvia is a classic, moddable, and can be found used. For this price range, the alternate choice might be something like a Lelit Glenda ($900), or pairing a Gaggia with a nicer grinder. For grinders, ECM and Profitec both have offerings ($550), Baratza Vario W+ ($600), Eureka Mignon Specialita ($700), or any of the ones in the previous category. You can start mixing and matching machines and features and specs.
$1,500–3,000 – Prosumer We’re getting heavily into the “prosumer” market now, and there are less common machine+grinder pairings, so we’ll start looking at them separately.
Machines – Profitec Pro ($1,800), ECM Classika ($1,600), Lelit Elizabeth ($1,700), Rocket Appartamento ($1,700). The land of shiny chrome and lots of knobs. The Breville Dual Boiler ($1,600) is in this range too.
Grinders – Mazzer Mini ($800), Mahlkonig X54 ($750), Eureka Oro ($800).
$3,000+ – Dream Machines From here, it’s dream machine land and the art of the possible. If you’re asking, “What should I buy,” you probably shouldn’t start here.
Machines – Lelit Bianca ($2,900), ECM Synchronika ($3,200), Decent DE1 ($3,500), plus some offerings from Isomac, Rocket, Elektra, or Nuova Simonelli. You get into true “endgame” machines like La Marzocco Linea Mini ($5,900) or Slayer Single Group ($10,000).
Grinders – Eureka Atom 75 ($1,400), Mahlkonig E65S ($2,300), KafaTek Monolith Flat ($2,500), Weber EG-1 ($3,700).
That makes about as much sense as asking whether people actually like coffee. There are so many variations of "coffee with milk", and they're usually prepared without latte art.
Personally I don't really like steamed milk anymore, I'll either drink my coffee without milk or with cold milk. Heated milk has a peculiar flavor that's distinct from cold or room temperature milk, and at some point I started disliking it. Also, it has to be cow milk for me.
A lot of places overheat the milk until it becomes "construction foam" (Bauschaum). That would explain the bad taste.
I'm frothing milk at home when I want a cappuccino, so I put it into a metal vessel and hold the vessel with my hand during foaming so I can feel when the milk is nearing 80C (feels uncomfortable)
But as coffee goes, everyone has their own taste, so if you prefer cold milk - you do you. (I have another friend who likes the milk scalding hot, close to boiling - when she's visiting I'll make her coffee like she prefers, even if my mind goess "THIS IS SO WRONG")
Even 80C is too hot for me. I shoot for 65C. As soon as the milk has an egg smell it’s too hot and I don’t want it! That happens way before boiling point.
Are you doing cold milk with espresso? What's your milk to coffee ratio?
Maybe 3:1 or 5:2 coffee:milk. I don't like my espresso blazing hot anyway, so the lower temperature suits me fine.
If your milk drinks taste like “a glass of hot milk” then you’re either underextracting or using too light of a roast. Try using a medium to dark roast. You might also play with the coffee to milk ratio to get even stronger taste.
I love milk drinks. For me, 18g in and 36-40g out is generally perfect with a standard size coffee mug, the rest filled up with steamed milk. I want to have something I can sip and enjoy after breakfast in the morning. A shot of espresso is amazing but it just doesn’t last long enough.
I enjoy the taste and texture, but between a latte vs a cappuccino, I'll go with a cap.
Latte if it's shitty coffee, capp or macchiato if I trust the shop
What kind of a coffee to milk ratio do you do for a cappuccino?
⅔ milk is a bit too much for me so I aim for ½.
Make strong enough espresso and don't use too much milk...? A good cortado is one of the best coffee experiences out there
Yes! I love an oat milk cortado with just a little bit of simple syrup.
I'm sure this isn't what you mean, but a mug of milk with a shot of whiskey, rum, or brandy, and a little brown sugar or sweetener of your choice warmed up in the microwave on a cold winter evening is a really nice thing.
I'll try it in the morning and report back after work.
Might wanna reverse that one, unless you’re WFH.
Every morning, sometimes in the afternoon too.
A cappuccino after noon? Gasp. How scandalous.
It’s closer to a mocha… with a shot of Kahlúa and a tablespoon of cream, I call it the fat white.
I, for one, strongly prefer milk + coffee over pure coffee. Medium roast tends to give the best flavor.
I always make it and drink at home. I live in Brazil, so coffee is very ingrained in the culture and most people know how to filter it. 500g packets cost the equivalent of 3 dollars (15-16 BRL) and can last a month or slightly more with me.
I'm not an espresso guy. Never have been.
But I love coffee. And I prefer my coffee with either milk or cream.
To me, there is much of the taste of coffee that gets hidden by the strength of coffee itself. The various lattes and americanos and such all work to allow some of the subtler flavors to come to the front to some degree or another.
Now, my personal preferences don't run to that kind of thing, I prefer coffee with just a splash of dairy rather than the kind of milk drinks you're really asking about. But I would say that it's similar enough. I do enjoy those kind of drinks, just not as my main coffee choice
The synergy of milk and coffee is a good one. The only coffee I've ever had that I prefer without at least a tiny splash of milk is blue mountain. That stuff is magic. Even then, I tend to add the milk in as the coffee ages a bit. But a fresh bag? Black is best then.
I think it's pretty difficult to make good tasting espresso, once you get it right it's the best thing. But most Cafés have people working there not really interested in perfecting the craft of making an incredible espresso and I don't blame them, it's just a job.
The sweetness in milk hides all the bad flavors you get from bad extraction, from channeling etc. so you get a decent tasting beverage.
If I have to choose between a badly tasting espresso or americano and a flat white or latte, I would always go for the second. But if I know they make a tasty espresso then I go for that.
I could see that from a consistently stand point. I just feel silly buying a glass of milk. To each their own I guess.
No idea, but this just reminded me that I used to have a buddy who wanted to open a milk bar and call it "The Milk Of Human Kindness."
We're they green and named Strong by any chance?
I don't know if it's legal to sell human milk.
Hubs always gets an americano with a splash of oat milk when we're out, or he pours some into a mug of drip at home. He likes the taste better.
Sometimes, people are just wrong!
Lol. I've never been a huge fan of the taste of milk or it's alternatives straight. But I like the taste of coffee. I keep trying the combo because I think there must be something there that people like. But I guess it's not for me.
try nitro cold brew, it's the creamy texture without the taste. if I could have that in a hot coffee I'd never touch dairy again, I don't dislike milk just the dairy industry in general.
Do you have any recommendations brands of nitro cold brew? I think I've seen the Starbucks canned one, but I don't like supporting them.
I would suggest finding a cafe with it on tap instead of out of a can.
I've always made my own, it's a fairly low investment for the maker and nitrogen canisters.
The coffee shop in the main store of the chain of bike shops I worked for, was FANTASTIC about a cappuccino. Like that was a serious highlight of my day when I got mine every morning. No other coffee joint has ever come close to what we had in that shop. That said, I quit all dairy and do not miss it at all. I don't know what the deal is with milk now, but it screws with my stomach way WAY more than it did years ago. It's probably just me, but a few years ago I tried quitting dairy for two weeks and felt so much better I never went back.
I get a chai latte multiple times a week. They’re excellent. Iced tho so no art. Milk is pretty great.