Jef Leirs wrote:I'm using pre-ground Lavazza Cafe Espresso. I know a lot of people aren't very fond of pre-ground coffee but again I'm just starting out.

That's a significant problem regardless of where you are on the path. You won't get anywhere with stale pre-ground. You must have a good grinder and you must grind just before each pull. Ground coffee goes stale very quickly and it's one of the top causes of fast extractions. Standard first question for someone with a fast extraction is "How fresh are your beans and are you grinding right before pulling?". It has nothing to do with fondness. It's a requirement.

Thanks for all the comments. Unfortunatly I don't have the money right now (I'm a student) to improve my equipment so I'll have to stick with this setup for a while. I am although considering buying a Hario hand grinder since they are relatively inexpensive. Any thought on that?

I've tried doubles and they work great. It takes about 30 seconds, the taste is better and I feel like I have more control. But my singles still run at 8 seconds whatever I do. Is this just the quality of my machine? Or is it due to the staleness of my coffee and because the double basket is more forgiving.

Thanks again for all the replies. I wonderful to see so many people replying in such a short time. Especially for rookie questions like mine.

Good to hear that doubles work better, just forget singles for now as the combination of your machine and stale pre ground is not very forgiving. For a grinder, buy the very best you can as the grinder is much, much more important than the machine...did I say that grinder quality is important?
Some vintage hand grinders perform quite well and be found pretty cheap sometimes (at the risk of being shot), just browse the buying advise and grinder fora, there's loads of information helpimg to make up your mind.

This is just my opinion! So take it FWIW... This all depends on how long ago you got your machine.

If you want to really get into coffee and enjoy it for the rest of your life, you should maybe rethink your path. You would have better tasting coffee returning your espresso machine and get a brewed coffee set up instead. Get a decent entrylevel grinder (check Lido for manual, baratza electric) and either a French press, pour over device (I.e. Kalita) or a Clever dripper.

In fact, you could get something like a Lido and an aero press and make "espresso like" coffee that will taste way better than store bought pre-ground coffee. Then the Lido could also do real espresso later on.

THEN, get fresh roasted coffee!

Sorry to everyone else, suggesting getting a bottomless PF and working on technique is a waste of time if not grinding fresh coffee. I KNOW this because I started there myself!

RyanJE wrote:If you want to really get into coffee and enjoy it for the rest of your life, you should maybe rethink your path. You would have better tasting coffee returning your espresso machine and get a brewed coffee set up instead. Get a decent entrylevel grinder (check Lido for manual, baratza electric) and either a French press, pour over device (I.e. Kalita) or a Clever dripper.

+1

RyanJE wrote:Sorry to everyone else, suggesting getting a bottomless PF and working on technique is a waste of time if not grinding fresh coffee. I KNOW this because I started there myself!

I agree. In my earlier posts, I assumed that he would be moving to fresh coffee. To me at least (and to many I'm sure), I don't think it's even worth getting an espresso set up if you're not using fresh coffee (both in terms of roast and grind).

Sideshow wrote:+1


I agree. In my earlier posts, I assumed that he would be moving to fresh coffee. To me at least (and to many I'm sure), I don't think it's even worth getting an espresso set up if you're not using fresh coffee (both in terms of roast and grind).

I started the same way. It was crazy frustrating and I ended up wasting money along the way. Hindsight is always 20/20 tho!

Once it's fresh and ground before brew, then time to focus on equipment, technique etc.....

Or else, may as well buy a nespresso!

Jef Leirs wrote:Thanks for all the comments. Unfortunatly I don't have the money right now (I'm a student) to improve my equipment so I'll have to stick with this setup for a while. I am although considering buying a Hario hand grinder since they are relatively inexpensive. Any thought on that?

If you want to keep at it and stay on the cheap, sure, go for the Hario. My sister-in-law has an entry level DeLonghi, pressurized PF, and we got her a Hario. Despite being PPF, it does respond to grind and tamp. The Hario is cheap, and does a pretty good job at the finer end of its range, if you're willing to crank for it. Fresh roasted bean, ground for each shot will make a big difference. Certainly won't hurt!

I have pulled some very decent shots off my delonghi. Don't discount it.

I don't know anything about a machine that uses pressurized PF, but as a late arriver to the thread I enjoyed the discussion over a bowl of popcorn.