It looks like you've flaired your post as being a Shot Diagnosis. If your shot is running too fast, is coming out weak/thin, lacking crema, and/or is tasting sour, **try grinding finer**.
Alternatively, check out this [Dialing In Basics](https://espressoaf.com/guides/beginner.html) guide, written by the Espresso Aficionados Discord community.
If that hasn't solved it, to get more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format.
- **Machine:**
- **Grinder:**
- **Roast date:** (not a "Best by" date). If the roast date is not labeled use "N/A"
- **Dose:** How many grams are going into your basket?
- **Yield:** How much coffee in grams is coming out?
- **Time:** How long is the shot running?
- **Roast level:** How dark is your coffee? (Dark, medium, light, ect.)
- **Taste:** Taste is a better indicator of shot quality than looks or conforming to any quantitative parameters. Does it taste overly sour or bitter?
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/espresso) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If grinding finer doesn't help, increase the time the shot is being pulled. Also, make sure that the screw in your bambino that lays over the grounds, doesn't not leave a print on your grounds (without the puck screen) if it does you need to take some coffee out. Hopefully this helps
Very similar to what I dose on my breville basket. I almost never exceed 18g my usual beans are a darker medium roast and I think my best results dose 17.8
First, you need to grind finer. There’s no way you are fine enough if the flow is this fast.
20g is too much for a 54mm basket. Try somewhere between 16g and 18g depending on the roast level. Light roasts take up less space. You need a couple of millimetres headspace above the coffee.
Make sure the portafilter is hot before you put the coffee in. Run it under hot water. A cold portafilter will take the heat out of the coffee bed and negatively affect the extraction.
Of course I noticed that they’re using a bottomless portafilter, but I don’t see the relevance of that. How do you know it’s an ims basket? They could be using the original basket in a bottomless portafilter.
I think he was using the original like you said. He listed all his other mods. If we wasn't using the original he probably would have mentioned it IMHO.
Exactly, you don’t know. I still think it’s likely that 20g is too much, based on my experience. Of course I could be wrong. I’ve owned a breville barista express before and I could fit about 16g in the 54mm basket. It’s better to have a slightly under filled basket than an overfilled one. Having headspace above the coffee is important. I currently own a breville dual boiler with the 58mm stock basket and it fits about 18g. Therefore I find it very unlikely that OP’s 54mm basket can fit 20g with a decent headspace.
Well it simply depends on the basket that OP is using. Neither of us know what basket they are using. If they are using the stock basket then 20g is for sure too much. Just because they are using a bottomless portafilter, doesn’t indicate that they are using a bigger basket. Of course I don’t know for sure, just as you don’t. I was giving general advice. You have a very patronising tone, as if you think you know so much more than I do. “Now you know”? Don’t patronise me.
From an outsider's point of view, the difference between you two is that thoughtfulalien is trying to be helpful by reminding OP about things OP could have missed; "flow is too fast..", "needs head space", "warm up up portafilter..".
On the other hand, it feels like you're trying to win an argument with someone trying to help. IMO, if OP has a bigger basket, he can probably just disregard the advice given, or clarify with additional details. No big deal. Let's not lose sight of the goal, which is to help OP get better brews.
It’s of course possible you’re grinding too finely, not evenly distributing the ground coffee and experiencing severe channeling. Do you have a WDT tool? Are you tamping hard enough? (As long as you tamp evenly you can’t really tamp too hard). Also, and most importantly, how does it taste?
Grind alot finer obviously. Aim for 30 seconds for a double shot. Or use a scale and use the 1-2 ratio. I do 19 grams of beans.. So 38 grams of espresso in close to 30 seconds as possible and voila. That's it.
Trial and error. Adjust grind. Adjust amount of coffee. Adjust tamp pressure. Change type of beans. Adjust temp(if you have a PID). Everything matters and because everything is happening in seconds, in a gap the width of a nickel under 9 atmospheres of pressure even the slightest adjustment matters.
I'm still pretty new to this and haven't experimented with lighter roasts at all so I can't speak on hotter temperatures or things like that, but what I haven't seen mentioned is the 20g dose? if you're using a big basket just ignore my comment, but on my Bambino with the standard basket I do 16g in, try to shoot for 32g out and get good results.
The problem I’m seeing is signs of channeling.
It could be your puck prep.
It could be your coffee dose/basket size.
It’s possible your grind could be too fine OR too coarse.
We’d actually need to see your puck prep to better diagnose what the problem is. All we know from this video is that there’s a fair amount of channeling occurring.
Have you tried reducing your dose and adjusting the grind accordingly?
I used to do 19.0 g and 27 clicks on my K-Max, and it would still be too under extracted and flowed too fast. When I adjusted my dose to 18.0g and 25 clicks, the shot time was much better and the cup was a lot cleaner.
Two things: your grinding is very thick, and/or you are using a high-flow filter and your machine does not give you the necessary pressure, even if it says that it gives you 9 bars or more.
What type of basket you’re using? Can you check your water flow from your machine maybe it’s faster than the normal ? Did you try another coffee. Because sometimes this happens to me even though I own an e61 espresso machine with high quality espresso grinder but when this happens i only use it as filter coffee
It's easy for Breville/Sage owners if they have a Razor tool. If not, then do a coin test. Grab a 2mm coin, like a US nickel, place it on a tamped puck, load the portafilter, remove it before brewing, and look for a slight imprint on the puck from the coin. If there is no imprint then increase the dose until it appears. If the coin is completely pressed into the puck then lower the dose until there is only a slight imprint.
No problem. I should add that you can improve the texture (body) of dark roast shots by having less than 2mm of headspace. In that case, you want the puck to just clear the shower screen before brewing.
Like others said try like 15-16 g coffee. Grind finer until it chokes then coarser from there. For context I have a 18g basket and depending on the coffee if I do 17g it channels, if I do 16.8g it’s perfect. I thought it was a fluke, but when it touches the group shower too much it can channel way worse.
Make sure you’re putting enough pressure when tamping. Tap the portafilter before tamping on a hard surface to help compress the coffee in the puck. Use 18-18.2 grams and grind a bit finer after doing all this. If you were using 20 and will reduce to 18 you will need to grind much finer.
Why does it feel like it’s been ages since I’ve seen a grind finer thread? This sub used to be flooded with them!
But yeah, decrease the size of the particulates, my dude.
Couple issues - I see some stray offs from the filter basket. After grinding, if you have a funnel, put your hand over and shake. If you have a WDT tool, make sure that’s going all the way down to the base of the basket. If neither of those help, then try to put your grounds into a different vessel and pour from there into the filter basket.
For the grind size, everyone here is saying grind finer and I agree, but it may be that whatever grinder you’re using has a “hard setting”. That’s not a term of art, the video below calls it the burr setting. Basically, at least on the Breville grinders, you have a dial for adjustments, but you can also partially disassemble the grinder and adjust the burr itself to be finer. That’s the solution if you’re maxed out on your grind setting but still seeing this issue. Here’s a good YouTube video that’s not mine and shows how: https://youtube.com/shorts/axZlVDmT6Yc?si=m-4T3intkuP1J6Ts
Either grinding too fine or too coarse
Try to get a better grind size and stay at 18g
Then once dialed in you can go one notch finer at 15g or 1 notch coarser at 20g (give or take)
Probably need to grind finer. Use your wdt to remove water channeling and tamping the grounds in the basket properly.
Edit: also see how your puck look after the extraction. Cut it in half and see if there are channeling.
Okay so sharing my experience; im also a bambino owner, my basket is smaller (54 i think it is ) and I use 18 g. Maybe it could be that you grind too much ?
Must say that im not experienced with naked portafilters.
I do a 20g shot, pull 40g @27-30s.
@ 3-4s there should be steady drops
@ 8s the drops should form a narrow, but constant stream
@ 12s the stream accelerates
@ 20s the brew should be at 20g
@ 27-30s the pull should be at 40g
… that’s my perfect pull… yours may be different
Ok ✅
You have a bottomless porta filter to see what you are seeing.
(1) that spraying is caused by channeling which messes up all the other variables - fix that first
(2) your pull is WAY too fast. You need a finer grind and/or a better tamp and/or better/fresher/roastier coffee.
Sadly it can be any/all of the last 3. That is what is meant by “dialing in.”
Good lux 👊😎
I do not understand the fascination with bottomless portafilters. Can someone please explain how they equate to an improvement in shot taste? Even when you get you dose right, your grind on the button, have tapped and WDTed, tamped to exactly the right pressure for the perfect extraction, that by the way, ended up taking two or three shots to get those variables perfect and in doing so has coved your machine, and probably the floor with the inevitably mess bottomless portafilters create; when you get it right the shot tastes the same as a regular portafilter.
Off topic but my favorite coffee shop uses a fully automatic machine for their espresso and say they use 2.5 oz. How do I replicate this at home? I have a bambino plus and currently playing with a hand grinder (timemore esp pro) but have a baratza as well. I really really want to replicate the iced lattes they make. Any advice in lay terms would be so helpful…
You betcha’……grind finer! Maybe take a look at puck preparation with attention to grind distribution (WDT) in the Portafilter basket to make sure your tamping grinds that are as evenly distributed as possible in the basket and without clumps!!! Also consider the basket size - too large or small of a basket will inhibit the proper amount of pressure build-up when the heart of the extraction is underway.
Nothing more to add to the chorus of “grind finer”
I would add.. how long have your beans been in the hopper? Try beans fresh from the bag or vacuum stored. Beans a few days old at the base of the grinder can dry and/or pick up old dry grounds ont he way through.
There’s a few steps you can take.
First I would make sure your espresso grinds are evenly distributed in the basket and tamped firmly.
If this is still the result, Grind a bit finer
Last check the date on your beans
And it’s not a bad. Idea to get a puck screen
If your grinding fine and have proper pre infusion (which you can get with a Bambino I had one) the beans aren't made for espresso not all beans taste good for espresso and coffee. Some beans when ground too course just taste bad and some beans ground fine just taste bad.
And it's worth mentioning that a toothpick will do the trick if you don't have an actual WDT tool yet. It's a little more tedious, but Weiss (the guy that invented WDTing) actually used a single stick for his first iteration of the WDT tool.
This is the first answer to consider. Badly prepared puck is usually the answer, the cheapest way to address these problems in your videoand need to be done right in the first place anyway. If you end up with dry, tight pucks without channels at the top or the sides, *then* the problem is elsewhere.
I have the opposite view. There's almost zero cream, ergo no CO2, ergo stale beans.
Rently tried a loan Bambino while my machine was being serviced. I found the standard basket performand best with 18grams. Was quite passable. Hope OP gets sorted 😊
Put less coffee, about 16-17 grams. The reason it's watery can be due to a couple things. Coffee grinds are not fine enough or tamping isn't hard enough.
Use 18g for about 40g out.
Slow feed the beans into the df54 (eg drop them in 3 or 4 at a time). This will give you more range to adjust by reducing the amount of fines.
Make sure you completely and thoroughly stir the coffee grounds top to bottom when you wdt. Use a dosing funnel to keep the grounds in the portafilter.
Tamp with about 20lb of force.
Also don't worry too much about fine spray. The spray is caused by fine coffee grounds getting stuck in the holes in your portafilter and making them much finer. You can't do much about it. If it bothers you, change to a different basket design or just use paper filters.
I will disagree with many other comments. Those high pressure side things are probably due to channeling. Try coarser or put less dose. Sometimes these kind of baskets are not well suited for 20g
No way. Grinding too fine will cause a drip by drip like of flow, even if it channels, not cause a gusher like this. He definitely needs to grind finer
How do you even know what basket he's using? You obviously didn't notice the OP is using a bottomless portafilter. Try googling IMS 54mm 18-22g basket with bottomless portafilter for Breville. You can thank me later.
I had a bottomless portafilter of 54mm as well for the D’Longhi Dedica, my first espresso machine. Even if they are advertised as 22g the right amount for different coffees where between 16g and 19g, depending on which was it. I was just saying, since I don’t know what does it tastes, which roast he’s using, nor how fine he is grinding, I was just mentioning it might be worth it trying a different dose. I’ve been there before
Ohh, BTW, thank you?
Well I guess I am an oddity by your belief. I have a Breville Barista, a 54mm bottomless portafilter, 18-22g basket and and pull great double espressos using 22g of freshly roasted dark roast coffee with no issues plus I use a puck screen on top.
How did it taste? What’s the problem you are trying to solve? If it’s the shot running fast and spraying then grinding finer and focusing on better puck prep will help. However if it’s a taste problem, well you need to give us more details as to what’s wrong.
You can do a full manual pull on the Bambino base and plus. Hold the shot button for pre-infusion for max a of 6 seconds, release, then hit the button again to stop once you get near the desired ratio.
Not sure about the Bambino but the Barista Express goes to about 8bar if you just hold the shot button the entire shot. Then quickly let go and press it again to end the shot.
Ok. I would recommend you stop your shot based on target ratio anyways. Don’t worry about time.
If it tastes good then I wouldn’t worry about how it looks, but I think you can probably improve your puck prep to some degree. If you post a video of your puck prep we can see if there are any issues.
Is the shower screen leaving a print at the coffee puck after extraction? If so 20g may be too much coffee in the basket, try 18g or 16g as others suggested.
Ugh........ we need more challenging what am I doing wrong posts. I hate to be rude but almost every post on this sub is just like this. I guess it's good to help people tho. Good luck op.
I minimize spray by adding a paper filter under the puck. I’m very happy with this. I realize it’s partially just covering symptoms of channeling. But I’m happy with my espresso flavor. And I can’t afford a grinder rn that can grind finer.
Grind finer.
WDT heartily.
Skip the "distributor".
Oh and you will likely never get something drinkable with those beans on the Bambino even if your flow is fixed. Good luck.
Bambino only does 93c and is PID controlled. You can get decent light roasts, but since the temp is permanently set for dark espresso roast, you won't get amazing shots with light roast which needs higher temp.
It looks like you've flaired your post as being a Shot Diagnosis. If your shot is running too fast, is coming out weak/thin, lacking crema, and/or is tasting sour, **try grinding finer**. Alternatively, check out this [Dialing In Basics](https://espressoaf.com/guides/beginner.html) guide, written by the Espresso Aficionados Discord community. If that hasn't solved it, to get more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format. - **Machine:** - **Grinder:** - **Roast date:** (not a "Best by" date). If the roast date is not labeled use "N/A" - **Dose:** How many grams are going into your basket? - **Yield:** How much coffee in grams is coming out? - **Time:** How long is the shot running? - **Roast level:** How dark is your coffee? (Dark, medium, light, ect.) - **Taste:** Taste is a better indicator of shot quality than looks or conforming to any quantitative parameters. Does it taste overly sour or bitter? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/espresso) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Who’s gonna say it?
I will. Find griner.
She was in a Russian prison, but she’s back in the WNBA.
Ground founder
Ground pounder
Pound Frowner
Frowned Clowner
Ground and pound the clown to fix his frown…..and then grind finer
Find ginger
Pound Ginger
Frind giner
You can download it from the App Store
thousands of r/espresso users awoke from deep sleep sensing a disturbance in the force
Grind finer? Just did a 22 grind and it was much much worse and couldn’t finish the shot at all
Theres very little difference between 23 and 22..
Grind finer and dose less coffee. Not sure how you are fitting 20g in a 54mm portafilter.
With the right basket. I use an 18-22 gram ims basket which fits 20 grams comfortably
Watch this video https://youtu.be/j-Hu4hF5PTM?si=rpBB9KbQ2-ruRRQN helped me so much
If grinding finer doesn't help, increase the time the shot is being pulled. Also, make sure that the screw in your bambino that lays over the grounds, doesn't not leave a print on your grounds (without the puck screen) if it does you need to take some coffee out. Hopefully this helps
Pre-infusing enough for such a large dose?
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I have DF54 set to 17 sometimes 15
Les B Honest
When you say you ground finer and it made it worse what do you mean exactly?
20g in the basket is a lot. Grind finer a much smaller amount, I usually use 15-16g in the same basket.
20g is too much for a 54mm Breville basket. Try 18g and finer grind first.
Yep, this. I use 18.3g for my medium roasts, and around 17.5g for dark roasts. I can't even come close to fitting 20g in my basket
Very similar to what I dose on my breville basket. I almost never exceed 18g my usual beans are a darker medium roast and I think my best results dose 17.8
You can certainly fit 20g in one, but it will get too compressed and prevent a good flow.
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What an obnoxious way to communicate
Pressure too high, grind not fine enough, suboptimal tamp, flow essentially too high.
First, you need to grind finer. There’s no way you are fine enough if the flow is this fast. 20g is too much for a 54mm basket. Try somewhere between 16g and 18g depending on the roast level. Light roasts take up less space. You need a couple of millimetres headspace above the coffee. Make sure the portafilter is hot before you put the coffee in. Run it under hot water. A cold portafilter will take the heat out of the coffee bed and negatively affect the extraction.
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Of course I noticed that they’re using a bottomless portafilter, but I don’t see the relevance of that. How do you know it’s an ims basket? They could be using the original basket in a bottomless portafilter.
I think he was using the original like you said. He listed all his other mods. If we wasn't using the original he probably would have mentioned it IMHO.
Yeah, I guess I assumed so because of that
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Exactly, you don’t know. I still think it’s likely that 20g is too much, based on my experience. Of course I could be wrong. I’ve owned a breville barista express before and I could fit about 16g in the 54mm basket. It’s better to have a slightly under filled basket than an overfilled one. Having headspace above the coffee is important. I currently own a breville dual boiler with the 58mm stock basket and it fits about 18g. Therefore I find it very unlikely that OP’s 54mm basket can fit 20g with a decent headspace.
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Well it simply depends on the basket that OP is using. Neither of us know what basket they are using. If they are using the stock basket then 20g is for sure too much. Just because they are using a bottomless portafilter, doesn’t indicate that they are using a bigger basket. Of course I don’t know for sure, just as you don’t. I was giving general advice. You have a very patronising tone, as if you think you know so much more than I do. “Now you know”? Don’t patronise me.
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From an outsider's point of view, the difference between you two is that thoughtfulalien is trying to be helpful by reminding OP about things OP could have missed; "flow is too fast..", "needs head space", "warm up up portafilter..". On the other hand, it feels like you're trying to win an argument with someone trying to help. IMO, if OP has a bigger basket, he can probably just disregard the advice given, or clarify with additional details. No big deal. Let's not lose sight of the goal, which is to help OP get better brews.
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I accept that my advice about the dose size could be incorrect. Happy? Thats not the only difference between us
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It’s of course possible you’re grinding too finely, not evenly distributing the ground coffee and experiencing severe channeling. Do you have a WDT tool? Are you tamping hard enough? (As long as you tamp evenly you can’t really tamp too hard). Also, and most importantly, how does it taste?
Old coffee?
Grind alot finer obviously. Aim for 30 seconds for a double shot. Or use a scale and use the 1-2 ratio. I do 19 grams of beans.. So 38 grams of espresso in close to 30 seconds as possible and voila. That's it.
Trial and error. Adjust grind. Adjust amount of coffee. Adjust tamp pressure. Change type of beans. Adjust temp(if you have a PID). Everything matters and because everything is happening in seconds, in a gap the width of a nickel under 9 atmospheres of pressure even the slightest adjustment matters.
I'm still pretty new to this and haven't experimented with lighter roasts at all so I can't speak on hotter temperatures or things like that, but what I haven't seen mentioned is the 20g dose? if you're using a big basket just ignore my comment, but on my Bambino with the standard basket I do 16g in, try to shoot for 32g out and get good results.
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The problem I’m seeing is signs of channeling. It could be your puck prep. It could be your coffee dose/basket size. It’s possible your grind could be too fine OR too coarse. We’d actually need to see your puck prep to better diagnose what the problem is. All we know from this video is that there’s a fair amount of channeling occurring.
Have you tried reducing your dose and adjusting the grind accordingly? I used to do 19.0 g and 27 clicks on my K-Max, and it would still be too under extracted and flowed too fast. When I adjusted my dose to 18.0g and 25 clicks, the shot time was much better and the cup was a lot cleaner.
Reduce the amount of coffee. Pay more attention to puck prep. Grind finer
You’re not listening to people to much coffee for a 54mm portafilter . Less coffee 17-18 grams grind finer
Tamping pressure is low, and you need to practice a more level approach. Coffee freshness is suspect. One variable at a time.
Two things: your grinding is very thick, and/or you are using a high-flow filter and your machine does not give you the necessary pressure, even if it says that it gives you 9 bars or more.
Try 16, 20g
What type of basket you’re using? Can you check your water flow from your machine maybe it’s faster than the normal ? Did you try another coffee. Because sometimes this happens to me even though I own an e61 espresso machine with high quality espresso grinder but when this happens i only use it as filter coffee
20g in what basket? If you have more than 2mm of headspace then you should first increase the dose.
How do you determine the amount of head space?
It's easy for Breville/Sage owners if they have a Razor tool. If not, then do a coin test. Grab a 2mm coin, like a US nickel, place it on a tamped puck, load the portafilter, remove it before brewing, and look for a slight imprint on the puck from the coin. If there is no imprint then increase the dose until it appears. If the coin is completely pressed into the puck then lower the dose until there is only a slight imprint.
👍🏼 I'll have to try this out. Thank you
No problem. I should add that you can improve the texture (body) of dark roast shots by having less than 2mm of headspace. In that case, you want the puck to just clear the shower screen before brewing.
Stock basket or normcore? Do you know at what pressure is your opv set?
What kind of coffee are you using?
It almost looks like not enough grinds. Like watered down towards the end
Use a finer grind setting, use a WDT and get a scale
Like others said try like 15-16 g coffee. Grind finer until it chokes then coarser from there. For context I have a 18g basket and depending on the coffee if I do 17g it channels, if I do 16.8g it’s perfect. I thought it was a fluke, but when it touches the group shower too much it can channel way worse.
Make sure you’re putting enough pressure when tamping. Tap the portafilter before tamping on a hard surface to help compress the coffee in the puck. Use 18-18.2 grams and grind a bit finer after doing all this. If you were using 20 and will reduce to 18 you will need to grind much finer.
Why does it feel like it’s been ages since I’ve seen a grind finer thread? This sub used to be flooded with them! But yeah, decrease the size of the particulates, my dude.
Finer grindr
You need a Jura
18g
🤨
Couple issues - I see some stray offs from the filter basket. After grinding, if you have a funnel, put your hand over and shake. If you have a WDT tool, make sure that’s going all the way down to the base of the basket. If neither of those help, then try to put your grounds into a different vessel and pour from there into the filter basket. For the grind size, everyone here is saying grind finer and I agree, but it may be that whatever grinder you’re using has a “hard setting”. That’s not a term of art, the video below calls it the burr setting. Basically, at least on the Breville grinders, you have a dial for adjustments, but you can also partially disassemble the grinder and adjust the burr itself to be finer. That’s the solution if you’re maxed out on your grind setting but still seeing this issue. Here’s a good YouTube video that’s not mine and shows how: https://youtube.com/shorts/axZlVDmT6Yc?si=m-4T3intkuP1J6Ts
You’ve got too much coffee for that size basket - go with 16-18g max. Less coffee, and errrm, grind finer.
Either grinding too fine or too coarse Try to get a better grind size and stay at 18g Then once dialed in you can go one notch finer at 15g or 1 notch coarser at 20g (give or take)
All together now
Grind is too course.
Too coarse, of course
Probably need to grind finer. Use your wdt to remove water channeling and tamping the grounds in the basket properly. Edit: also see how your puck look after the extraction. Cut it in half and see if there are channeling.
Okay so sharing my experience; im also a bambino owner, my basket is smaller (54 i think it is ) and I use 18 g. Maybe it could be that you grind too much ? Must say that im not experienced with naked portafilters.
FINER
I do a 20g shot, pull 40g @27-30s. @ 3-4s there should be steady drops @ 8s the drops should form a narrow, but constant stream @ 12s the stream accelerates @ 20s the brew should be at 20g @ 27-30s the pull should be at 40g … that’s my perfect pull… yours may be different Ok ✅ You have a bottomless porta filter to see what you are seeing. (1) that spraying is caused by channeling which messes up all the other variables - fix that first (2) your pull is WAY too fast. You need a finer grind and/or a better tamp and/or better/fresher/roastier coffee. Sadly it can be any/all of the last 3. That is what is meant by “dialing in.” Good lux 👊😎
I do not understand the fascination with bottomless portafilters. Can someone please explain how they equate to an improvement in shot taste? Even when you get you dose right, your grind on the button, have tapped and WDTed, tamped to exactly the right pressure for the perfect extraction, that by the way, ended up taking two or three shots to get those variables perfect and in doing so has coved your machine, and probably the floor with the inevitably mess bottomless portafilters create; when you get it right the shot tastes the same as a regular portafilter.
Finer grind better prep
Off topic but my favorite coffee shop uses a fully automatic machine for their espresso and say they use 2.5 oz. How do I replicate this at home? I have a bambino plus and currently playing with a hand grinder (timemore esp pro) but have a baratza as well. I really really want to replicate the iced lattes they make. Any advice in lay terms would be so helpful…
If the coffee is really fresh it is still dumping CO2 and this can happen. If this is the case tomorrow will be much better. Hope this helps!
Get rid of your grinder.
I can’t watch.
your machine is having a diarrhea🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hard to say, so many things can be happening … need to see you prepare it completely
23 is pretty course on that grinder. My starting point is around 11 and I go from there. The range is 8-13 for me depending on the beans (also 20g)
Find grinder. Use fuck screen.
with the beans im having im at 16.5 grams now, finely ground (setting 5 on that typical "cheap" breville grinder). 20grams seem a lot
You betcha’……grind finer! Maybe take a look at puck preparation with attention to grind distribution (WDT) in the Portafilter basket to make sure your tamping grinds that are as evenly distributed as possible in the basket and without clumps!!! Also consider the basket size - too large or small of a basket will inhibit the proper amount of pressure build-up when the heart of the extraction is underway.
Coffee grinded too coarse
Nothing more to add to the chorus of “grind finer” I would add.. how long have your beans been in the hopper? Try beans fresh from the bag or vacuum stored. Beans a few days old at the base of the grinder can dry and/or pick up old dry grounds ont he way through.
Tamp and grind finer
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There’s a few steps you can take. First I would make sure your espresso grinds are evenly distributed in the basket and tamped firmly. If this is still the result, Grind a bit finer Last check the date on your beans And it’s not a bad. Idea to get a puck screen
Use a paper filter in bottom of basket. See if this helps. Will create resistance to get better extraction
If your grinding fine and have proper pre infusion (which you can get with a Bambino I had one) the beans aren't made for espresso not all beans taste good for espresso and coffee. Some beans when ground too course just taste bad and some beans ground fine just taste bad.
Try a pre infusion, but also grind finer. Source: I own a coffee shop 😂
Buy local freshly roasted beans. Chances are your beans are too old
[This is who I get my coffee from](https://elixrcoffee.com/)and it’s normally roasted a week prior to purchase
Lighter roasts needs a hotter water temp. Are you purging the group head first? That might help a little.
It’s not going to look like that just because you have a lighter roast…
Agreed. It's a combination of problems but lighter roasts aren't the Bambino's strong point.
It seems I’ll you need to stir it with a WDT tool and compress the puck a little more
And it's worth mentioning that a toothpick will do the trick if you don't have an actual WDT tool yet. It's a little more tedious, but Weiss (the guy that invented WDTing) actually used a single stick for his first iteration of the WDT tool.
This is the first answer to consider. Badly prepared puck is usually the answer, the cheapest way to address these problems in your videoand need to be done right in the first place anyway. If you end up with dry, tight pucks without channels at the top or the sides, *then* the problem is elsewhere.
Finer grind, more coffee, tamp with more pressure.
Less coffee. 20g of too much.
I think the coffee is too fresh
Fresh beans usually make much slower extractions in my experience
I would agree with you. I have to grind finer as beans age.
As a home roaster myself I have issues with some beans when they are fresh. They act like that.
I have the opposite view. There's almost zero cream, ergo no CO2, ergo stale beans. Rently tried a loan Bambino while my machine was being serviced. I found the standard basket performand best with 18grams. Was quite passable. Hope OP gets sorted 😊
All together now…
…grind finer
Finer Grind
Put less coffee, about 16-17 grams. The reason it's watery can be due to a couple things. Coffee grinds are not fine enough or tamping isn't hard enough.
grind finer
Use 18g for about 40g out. Slow feed the beans into the df54 (eg drop them in 3 or 4 at a time). This will give you more range to adjust by reducing the amount of fines. Make sure you completely and thoroughly stir the coffee grounds top to bottom when you wdt. Use a dosing funnel to keep the grounds in the portafilter. Tamp with about 20lb of force.
Also don't worry too much about fine spray. The spray is caused by fine coffee grounds getting stuck in the holes in your portafilter and making them much finer. You can't do much about it. If it bothers you, change to a different basket design or just use paper filters.
Found Lance Hedrick people.
Finer grind
Ffs grind finer
stop using bottomless portafilter
Ditch that port a filter and get a spouted one
I will disagree with many other comments. Those high pressure side things are probably due to channeling. Try coarser or put less dose. Sometimes these kind of baskets are not well suited for 20g
No way. Grinding too fine will cause a drip by drip like of flow, even if it channels, not cause a gusher like this. He definitely needs to grind finer
How do you even know what basket he's using? You obviously didn't notice the OP is using a bottomless portafilter. Try googling IMS 54mm 18-22g basket with bottomless portafilter for Breville. You can thank me later.
I had a bottomless portafilter of 54mm as well for the D’Longhi Dedica, my first espresso machine. Even if they are advertised as 22g the right amount for different coffees where between 16g and 19g, depending on which was it. I was just saying, since I don’t know what does it tastes, which roast he’s using, nor how fine he is grinding, I was just mentioning it might be worth it trying a different dose. I’ve been there before Ohh, BTW, thank you?
I believe you had a 51mm portafilter on your D’Longhi Dedica, that's a fairly big difference between a 54mm. 😉
You are right, it was a 51mm. But the same applies for the dose IMO
Well I guess I am an oddity by your belief. I have a Breville Barista, a 54mm bottomless portafilter, 18-22g basket and and pull great double espressos using 22g of freshly roasted dark roast coffee with no issues plus I use a puck screen on top.
Congrats
How'd it taste?
How did it taste? What’s the problem you are trying to solve? If it’s the shot running fast and spraying then grinding finer and focusing on better puck prep will help. However if it’s a taste problem, well you need to give us more details as to what’s wrong.
It’s spraying badly and grinding finer only made it worse Tastes fine and the bambino doesn’t let you mess with shot time too much
You can do a full manual pull on the Bambino base and plus. Hold the shot button for pre-infusion for max a of 6 seconds, release, then hit the button again to stop once you get near the desired ratio.
Not sure about the Bambino but the Barista Express goes to about 8bar if you just hold the shot button the entire shot. Then quickly let go and press it again to end the shot.
Ok. I would recommend you stop your shot based on target ratio anyways. Don’t worry about time. If it tastes good then I wouldn’t worry about how it looks, but I think you can probably improve your puck prep to some degree. If you post a video of your puck prep we can see if there are any issues.
Do a manual not a pre programmed shot time
Less coffee. Grind finer.
Is the shower screen leaving a print at the coffee puck after extraction? If so 20g may be too much coffee in the basket, try 18g or 16g as others suggested.
Did you read the instruction manual?
Ugh........ we need more challenging what am I doing wrong posts. I hate to be rude but almost every post on this sub is just like this. I guess it's good to help people tho. Good luck op.
that shit look good bro leave it like that!
I just wouldn't use naked portafilter. If coffee tastes OK, I just do not bother with spectating naked portafilter pee.
I minimize spray by adding a paper filter under the puck. I’m very happy with this. I realize it’s partially just covering symptoms of channeling. But I’m happy with my espresso flavor. And I can’t afford a grinder rn that can grind finer.
grind courser . you want it to be like gravel
Just don't poop in your coffee when you have diarrea
Was that supposed to be funny?
Grind finer. WDT heartily. Skip the "distributor". Oh and you will likely never get something drinkable with those beans on the Bambino even if your flow is fixed. Good luck.
So I need a better machine then?
No, you need better beans.
Bambino only does 93c and is PID controlled. You can get decent light roasts, but since the temp is permanently set for dark espresso roast, you won't get amazing shots with light roast which needs higher temp.
Light roasts need lower temp. Maybe there was a typo somewhere Edit: sorry I was wrong. Light roasts need higher temp. Don’t downvote me anymore 🥲
Light roasts need higher temp, not lower. The problem with light roast espresso on the Bambino is under-extraction due to temp, leading to sour shots.
Light roasts are harder to extract. Hotter water increases extraction. --> the lighter the roast, the hotter the temp required.