I've been reading the forum here for the past few weeks after getting into espresso. Had a cheap "fake" steam machine and slightly upgraded to a very budget pump machine that after reading lots of info, I should be able to get somewhat of a decent cup of espresso from it, but I'm having problems.
The machine in question is the delonghi bar 14 or also called the Cafe Treviso. I'm just a poor student with a small living space, so that is the reason for the cheap machine, but I hope to upgrade eventually... anyway onto the problem...
when using both the double shot or single shot basket with what seems to be the proper amount of coffee grinds the machine normally takes about 20 seconds until coffee starts to come out of the portafilter and takes close to a minute total until the proper amount has filled the cup.
I've tried various strengths of tamping pressure and the only time i can get a 25-30 second extraction time is when i barely tamp at all (probably less than 1lb of pressure) and when this happens the coffee tastes horrible and no crema is produced.
no matter the tamping, i've yet to see a normal puck, there is always a pool of water on top of the puck, and its always very soupy.
from reading as much as I can on espresso, my conclusion is the grind is too fine, does this seem like the problem, or could it be a problem with the machine? I know bar 14 sometimes comes with a crema disc or whatever its called, but mine has a normal portafilter.
I'm saving for a grinder, so in the meantime I goto a local espresso bar and have them grind me about 50grams of coffee at a time that i store in an airtight container and use it up within a few days. next time i'll ask them not to grind it as fine because i'm sure they are grinding it to the specifications of their commercial machines.
Oops, typed up way too long of a story i think, but in short, does it seem like my problem is the grind is too fine, or could it be something else?
Thanks!
