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    That's £40 a KG - that better be insanely good coffee at that price.

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      Well, I'll soon know.

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        So how was it?

        -----


        Coffee disaster for me. This morning, pre-coffee wake-up, I put the fresh beans in the grinder hopper, put the portafilter in and started grinding the coffee goodness, until the grinder started making high pitch screams of death.

        A bean sized stoned had decided to lodge itself well and truly in the burrs. I had to strip it all down and reassemble, but it appears that the stone has done internal damage to the motor (most likely stripped the gearing) and it no longer grinds anything except my back teeth.

        With any luck I can can get a warranty replacement, but given it's not directly the grinder's fault and suspect it won't be a freebie (but I'll try given this was not a cheap purchase).

        I do have a spare grinder, but it can't get the beans fine enough for a proper espresso, so doesn't taste great, not when you're used to a good coffee extraction

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          Probably not what you want...
          The Hario manual grinder is apparently good enough for this task and that might be worth looking at for a temporary fix.

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            I have a hand grinder, but they're a real pain, takes about 10 minutes to get enough coffee grinds.

            Good news though, after having no luck with Sage itself who are now ignoring me, I got Amazon to replace it after citing the 2015 Consumer Goods Act that the grinder was not of satisfactory quality (I don't think Jeff Bezos will miss the cost of replacing it out of his wallet). Took a bit of cajoling, but I got there in the end.

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              Originally posted by MartyG View Post
              A bean sized stoned had decided to lodge itself well and truly in the burrs. I had to strip it all down and reassemble, but it appears that the stone has done internal damage to the motor (most likely stripped the gearing) and it no longer grinds anything except my back teeth.
              Wow! I guess the stone was among the beans to begin with?

              I just bought an espresso maker for my wife so I’ll tell her she may want to poke around in the beans before putting them in its mill.

              I’m not a coffee drinker but I’m looking forward to the aroma wafting through the living room

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                Yeah, the pebble was exactly the same shape and colour as a bean so I didn't spot it. Jammed the grinder right up, but I would have expected it just to ding the grinder blades, not destroy the entire mechanism (hence my not of satisfactory quality claim - under CGA, your contract is with the retailer).

                I will be a bit more careful sorting through the beans in future tho.

                I have been using an older grinder I had in the meantime, one I used to think wasn't too bad and it isn't if you're using it for drip coffee or anything coarser, but it just can't grind fine enough for decent espresso. The difference in the taste is quite staggering, so just highlighted to me the absolute need for a good coffee grinder that can get things fine enough. Getting the grind right is key to making good espresso coffee.
                Last edited by MartyG; 23-12-2020, 09:21.

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                  Tried a Strawberry and Vanilla Oat Latte at the weekend. To be honest, they might have gotten away with the flavouring if it weren't an oat based latte, like the other milk alternatives I've tasted it just ended up ruining the coffee

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                    €60 out of Lidl.
                    €13 for their electric grinder.
                    Paid for using my company card, so we'll get €15.30 back.

                    To think I almost dropped €600 on a Sage when I'd definitely never be able to tell the difference. It took me about four or five cups to get an espresso just right, but we're there now. I had to start with Starbucks beans in order to gauge against something very familiar.

                    Originally posted by MartyG View Post
                    The difference in the taste is quite staggering, so just highlighted to me the absolute need for a good coffee grinder that can get things fine enough. Getting the grind right is key to making good espresso coffee.
                    Yeah, but I ****ed up yesterday's grind by doing it 5 or 6 seconds over. It was too fine. The water wouldn't come through, even if I did a very light tamp. Maybe cheapo machine doesn't help.

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                      If you're using a pressurised basket (which is what the cheap machines tend to come with) yes, you're going to run into issues with fine grinds - the point of the pressurised basket is so that coarser grinds can be used to help the extraction processes. You'd absolutely be able to taste the espresso difference between a tuned shot and a cheap machine shot - that bitterness goes away.

                      What basket are you using?
                      Last edited by MartyG; 13-01-2022, 11:47.

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                        Originally posted by MartyG View Post
                        If you're using a pressurised basket (which is what the cheap machines tend to come with) yes, you're going to run into issues with fine grinds - the point of the pressurised basket is so that coarser grinds can be used to help the extraction processes. You'd absolutely be able to taste the espresso difference between a tuned shot and a cheap machine shot - that bitterness goes away.

                        What basket are you using?
                        At a guess, pressurised. You're right, btw. there is a little bitterness - in fact, a lot more so with this fine grind. I actually had to send three or four rounds of water through it to get to a reasonable amount of drink. That said I don't think I've ever had an espresso that wasn't bitter, so now I'm doubting that I've ever drunk a proper cup of coffee before. :/

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                          The roast makes a difference as well, of course, but the coffee will be more bitter the longer the extraction takes. Ideally you're looking for a 20-30 second extraction for a shot, it's trickier with a pressurised basket as you're compromising on the grind size so that the machine can cope with pushing the water thru (and it is worth spending a bit more on a machine imo if you really want a home espresso).

                          I'd skip the Sage and go take a look at the Gaggia Classic, but you would want a burr grinder to go with it as a cheap grinder will never get things fine enough for it.

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                            I'll keep those in mind. Cheers. For now I'll just continue to learn the ropes with this thing. We need an audio solution for the living room first.

                            I threw out that last grind and tried again. 40 second grind this time, with a 25 second extraction. I think this is the best it's going to get.



                            Much better. Although It's still a bit bitter. Do I want to aim for that crema? Older YT videos say yes, more modern hipster videos say GTF.

                            The post-tamp photo evidence hints to an uneven grind.



                            The problem is that as the grind goes on more and more of the half-ground powder sticks to the walls, so I have to manually shake the thing to keep it continually grinding everything as equally as possible.

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                              This is what I get with a dial in grind - a 60ml espresso shot from 30 second pour and about 19G of coffee.





                              That's from these beans, tho I can't honestly recommend them as they're not the greatest tasting: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0977MGZJT/ - not too much more to get thru tho.

                              I had these previously and these were good: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PP9THZJ

                              These are next: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FZ4HD42/

                              And I've had good experience with the Marley brand: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07V5F12HG/
                              Last edited by MartyG; 14-01-2022, 08:41.

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                                This is by far my best tasting shot so far, and it was a double.









                                Nearly ten minutes later. Crema for days.

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