You did good. I have the slightly fancier touch screen one, basically the same machine but with a screen, and it has paid for itself probably 10x over.
I would suggest two accessories for it
One is the collar, get one on Amazon made of stainless steel. It’s a little thing that clips on the top of the portafilter and funnels the grounds in. It’s the same diameter as the portafilter so you tamp the coffee with the collar on and thus none spills.
I have had good luck with this one
The other is a scale, a fairly sensitive small kitchen scale calibrated in grams. The portafilter that comes with this machine wants about 17 g of coffee grounds put in, to about 35 g of espresso out. You can get a fancy expensive espresso scale but just go buy one on Amazon and it’s just as good, only thing to watch out for is some of those scales the sensor is in the feet which won’t work as well. Get one where there is a separate platform on top. I have good luck with this one.
With the scale I usually measure out the beans on the scale, then pour them in the hopper and grind until they are all gone. That way you can keep your coffee stored in an airtight container and get the precise docent each time.
Be aware that the grinder on this machine is somewhat inconsistent. As it heats up it grinds differently. So if you are trying to pull 10 shots in a row to dial in the machine understand that the grind on the 10th is going to be different than the grind on the first.
And of course if you haven’t already subscribe to James Hoffman on YouTube…
As he once said, when people ask me which espresso machine to buy, I ask them if they want a cup of coffee or a hobby. This type of machine is more on the hobby side. But it will make you a damn good cup of coffee :)
You did good. I have the slightly fancier touch screen one, basically the same machine but with a screen, and it has paid for itself probably 10x over.
I would suggest two accessories for it
One is the collar, get one on Amazon made of stainless steel. It’s a little thing that clips on the top of the portafilter and funnels the grounds in. It’s the same diameter as the portafilter so you tamp the coffee with the collar on and thus none spills. I have had good luck with this one
The other is a scale, a fairly sensitive small kitchen scale calibrated in grams. The portafilter that comes with this machine wants about 17 g of coffee grounds put in, to about 35 g of espresso out. You can get a fancy expensive espresso scale but just go buy one on Amazon and it’s just as good, only thing to watch out for is some of those scales the sensor is in the feet which won’t work as well. Get one where there is a separate platform on top. I have good luck with this one.
With the scale I usually measure out the beans on the scale, then pour them in the hopper and grind until they are all gone. That way you can keep your coffee stored in an airtight container and get the precise docent each time.
Be aware that the grinder on this machine is somewhat inconsistent. As it heats up it grinds differently. So if you are trying to pull 10 shots in a row to dial in the machine understand that the grind on the 10th is going to be different than the grind on the first.
And of course if you haven’t already subscribe to James Hoffman on YouTube…
As he once said, when people ask me which espresso machine to buy, I ask them if they want a cup of coffee or a hobby. This type of machine is more on the hobby side. But it will make you a damn good cup of coffee :)