I've had the Breville Oracle for about six years and finally decided to venture into making finer espresso. Decided to start with a grinder and pretty much went all in - just picked up the Versalab M4. I am super excited about it and wanted to share some unboxing pictures and a...

Hi all,
Long time lurker and it's upgrade time. A few years ago I bought a Salvatore heat exchanger from number9 on the forum and it's been a staple on my counter Salvatore Famosa (Siena) semi automatic, copper and jade . A few group gaskets later, and I find myself using a...

OK, so I am waiting on an NCD/OCD tool to arrive currently and am already using WDT. Working with a Niche and Flair 58x, and just thought an extra level of consistency would be helpful for a newbie like myself. So I have become curious as to whether doing a typical WDT routine...

I've always had the opinion that I should buy the best greens that I can, as my lack of roasting skills means that my roasting can only reduce cup quality.

Recently Scott Rao did a blog post on score inflation, and he did have a couple paragraphs of interest about roasting for...

I noticed some corrosion and a slight pressure leak at the water level sensor probe. I went to remove the fitting to install a fresh Teflon insert I had, one tiny turn of the wrench and off she went. My first thought was well that's odd, it was only hand tight but then I...

First post, long time lurker. Would appreciate all the help I can get.

Current set up: Ascaso Steel Duo PID v2, Baratza Sette 270wi

100% use of the grinder is for espresso, and 90% of the time we drink light to medium roasts. Our favorite flavors are ones with fruity notes,...

Hi everyone!

Quick question, I want to upgrade my Timemore C2 to a better grinder. No issues so far with it but it needs an upgrade. I will like the best possible grinder for pour-over, I'm not interested on espresso. Don't have a budget in my mind (perhaps I feel the...

Hi Gurus :D ,

I'm a total newbie to the coffee industry. I'm in Melbourne Australia and I want to start a food stall business selling some products that need to combine with espresso coffee. I've been doing some research for a few days and heard that the rotary pump and a good...

I took a few years off HB. When I left, WDT was understood to help folks having a hard time with even extraction but the general consensus was that if you can avoid it altogether your shots will be better.

These days I see a dozen brands with WDT tools and grinder manufacturers...

The steam boiler in one of my backup machines is in need of a descale. The anti-vac valve is off, and I can see how scaly it looks through it. My plan was to put in a teaspoon of citric acid in each day until it looks cleanish.

It's a ECM Mechanika, i.e. stainless steel boiler...

I followed the installation instructions on my brand new Sychronika. Emptied out the steam boiler after filling. Water was as brown as the homebarista banner at the top of this site. Is this normal? Or something to worry about?

And what could it be?

Hi All,

The compak k8 burrs look like they have somewhat of a unimodal burr geometry to them. Can anyone confirm?

Would anyone know if these burrs can fit in an 83mm Ceado grinder?

I found a post indicating that the Ceado SSP burrs fit in a compak, but that doesn't...

Hello

Ive noticed when watching travel and foodshows visiting fancy restaurants, that the espresso machines and grinders are always bad or less ideal. I wont name any restaurants, but almost all the michelin restaurants ive seen it in. Whats up with that? The cooks are top of...

At the beginning of last year I bought a helor 101. It arrived while I was on vacation and by the time I got to use it, it had been past the return date. Well, I hated it. So much so that I didn't pick it up until 15min ago to give it another shot. I am even more disappointed at...

Does anyone have hands-on experience with both the Able disk(s) and the new AeroPress self-produced metal filter? If so, what has been your experience and how are you feeling about them both?

Also, if anyone happens to know, how does the screen size compare between the two?...

Hi everyone,

I am looking to purchase my first espresso machine. We currently have a Jura. I know, I know, but convenience is king for my wife. However, I'm tired of the faux-presso and I've convinced her to add an espresso machine to the mix.

As for our current consumption...

The gearbox went on my four year old Sette, and Baratza, in amazing customer service, shipped me a new one for free. They told me that it has been improved and quieted, and I think that must really has got to be the case. So I would no longer judge the Sette's noise by its early...

I am a new La Pavoni Pro user (post-millennium model, brand new) using a Niche Zero grinder. I am consistently seeing channeling to the left side of the portafilter. This occurrs on both the standard and bottomless styles - in fact on the standard it only comes out the left...

I'm new to espresso at home and dove into a Flair 58. Long story short: water just flows out and doesn't achieve pressure above 2 bars. I got a different grinder to obtain a finer grind, the Kinu m47 Classic, and the problem persists. I started grinding at 1.7, then 1.2, and...

I was invited to a dinner tonight put on by the UC Davis coffee department and went as Kent's (Marzocco) plus one. I met the Probat, Cropster (who insisted I'll be using the software by the end of the week lol), Baratza guys and the faculty department head at UC Davis who...