RichM

Grind the beans fresh every time. Coffee starts to go stale very quickly as soon as you grind it so don’t be doing it in batches one at a time us the way to go. I clean the basket every time I do a coffee too

Puck preparation is everything mate. Using the cocktail stick to break up the grinds helps. . I’ve got a naked portafilter which the basket pops out of very easily and is good to help you sort out your prep for consistency as it shows signs of channeling / spurting which you won’t see in a normal portafilter.

I’ve gone balls deep with accessories lol. I’ve got a distributor which I find helps. One side you spin on the top of the basket to evenly distribute the grinds and then you flip it over and it works as a palm tamper. You van manually adjust the height of both sides so it helps give consistency with your puck prep.
Essentially this (presume your portafilter us 58mm):

      I won’t be getting a bean to cup coffee machine for a little while. The missus went fucking radio literally just a couple of moments ago - it’s too big and it’s not going in the kitchen - the kitchen is a perfectly reasonable sized room. It’s 6cm wider than the current machine.

      I’ll have to GRIND her down. As fucking per

      Lol thing is it will be a massive improvement on a pod machine. I find it helps to win these arguments when you grow a pair. Give it a go

        You lads are cunts. I was laughing at some of you for spending two grand on a fucking coffee machine. Then Dutch goes and sticks an option up for less than 300 quid. Now my interest is piqued again. If you bought one at that price, what other outlay do you need to start this shizzle? As the village idiot in Costa del nescafe, does bean to cup literally mean pour your coffee beans of choice into the machine and decent coffee comes out the other end?

          Nepresso>bean to cup>espresso machine and grinder

          The choices of different types of machine and grinders will blow your mind.

          In the same boat as grant and gonna need sone more powers of persuasion before I’m allowed to proceed

          I’ve been using my bean to cup Delonghi machine for about 5 years now and it make good coffee. I know it’s all down to personal taste. Dutch is right the more look into it the deeper you get. From what I’ve read it the grind is very important as is the water pressure in making a decent cup. If you can afford to spend upto 2k then do it. If not then spend 300.

          -si- I tediously subscribe to Which. The best bean to cup espresso maker is Melitta
          Purista black F230-102 for £360 - the Beko on Le I was looking as is the third best at £200. And here’s an interesting fact - the Beko is only 6cm wider than my current machine

          • -si- replied to this.

              Old-Dutch I find it helps to win these arguments when you grow a pair.

              There but for the grace of god and all that.

              I’ve got her anyway - she’s got some stupid fucking hook thing to hang a bunch of bananas on that sits next to the fruit bowl - it’s 21cm wide. If she wants to play that game, I’ll simply fight fire with fire.

                Just buy it mate. She’ll come round. They really are a worthwhile investment. If she is in any way into environmental concerns then you can always play the ‘pods are bad for the planet and coffee grounds are great for the garden and the little baby animals’ routine.

                  Bean to cup will be definitely a step up from a pod machine, but they tend to be limited by the in-built grinders. When I started looking at buying my stuff it broke my heart when I found out that the grinder is actually more important than the machine when it comes to output.

                  Funny how territorial the other half get about '‘their kitchen space’ lol. It’s not like they won’t reap the benefits of the machines you are going to supply, pay for and maintain,

                    Millsy

                    Yers Millsy - say you read about a dolphin that had a million pods in its belly. Poor thing hadn’t got a wink of sleep for weeks.

                        Old-Dutch like the look of that distributer. More coffee equipment to purchase this weekend instead of going to the pub

                          Old-Dutch Even the Beko one has a completely adjustable grinder. I certainly can’t be arsed separately grinding, so what I don’t know won’t hurt me.

                            Lavazza pods are compostable. The irritating thing is for my taste I need two pods and two single espressos per cup. Too watery otherwise.

                            Tell you what love….how about I get one and we try it for a few weeks and then reassess? (Never intending to ever send it back in a month of Sundays). Oldest trick in the book. Timeless tactics.

                            LOL. She puts tech (and I’m using the phrase lightly here) in the same bracket as paedophiles.

                            I don’t think I’ll ever be forgiven for the 75″ 4K Sammy

                            Along_the_Wire The best bean to cup espresso maker is Melitta
                            Purista black F230-102 for £360 - the Beko on Le I was looking as is the third best at £200. And here’s an interesting fact - the Beko is only 6cm wider than my current machine

                            As is the case with many of mine, your post doesn’t get close to the level of recognition it deserves, the fact you are so pissed off with your missus complaining about the new coffee machine being far wider than the current one, it has driven you to measure the width of the banana hook she has bought. I admire your drive to ensure you see the forthcoming argument through to a successful outcome, with an arsenal of kitchen utensil widths stored in your memory.

                            And the Beko machine is only 200 quid? That’s quite a bit less again. Where do you get that one?

                                Old-Dutch Yers Millsy - say you read about a dolphin that had a million pods in its belly. Poor thing hadn’t got a wink of sleep for weeks.

                                Baby Dolphins