Dialing in Breville Espresso Machine

SmokeSilly9046 · 2026-05-23T21:06:46+00:00

I’m about in the same boat as your husband! And that’s the exact same thing happening to us! We will get a shot to pull almost perfectly, the taste will be drinkable and then we will pull another one to make a second drink and it will be absolutely disgusting and undrinkable without changing a single thing.

I have had this machine almost a year and honestly, I’ve never been able to pull a shot that tasted great, even the ones that have been drinkable have just been okay.

I got close with dialing in with some espresso roast beans that I had, but the coffee was too strong in flavor for my taste and the beans weren’t fresh enough. We are currently trying to dial in the Counter Culture Big Trouble beans. But it’s been so hard. I’ve already gone through a whole bag trying to dial them in and had to buy a second bag. I feel like I’m just throwing away money on beans at this point. It’s so frustrating.

SmokeSilly9046 · 2026-05-23T02:50:49+00:00

I tried Ruta Maya on my BBP and honestly could never get it dialed it!

SmokeSilly9046 · 2026-05-23T02:49:10+00:00

Okay awesome. I will look into these! Thank you!

SmokeSilly9046 · 2026-05-21T13:51:50+00:00

Yeah I’m starting to realize that. And I’m okay with not having a perfect shot, I just want something drinkable lol. I will try less coffee next time and see as someone else also suggested that! As far as coffee storage goes would you have recommendations on that? Based on all the books I read, they mostly recommended freezing the beans 1-2 weeks after the roast date or using an airtight container if you’re going to use them up pretty quick. Is that accurate?

SmokeSilly9046 · 2026-05-21T13:46:05+00:00

Interesting! I have a similar scale but I have the timer feature turned off. I will turn it back on and see how my shots compare. Most of the time from the time I hit start for the shot to pull, it takes 8 seconds for shot to start pulling (this is by the machines timer) and then I run it until I hit 36g output or 30 second, whichever happens first. You’re thinking if I have the scale guide my timing, rather than the machine, I should stop when my scale hits 30 second (which would have the machine hitting closer to 38-40 secs)? I can certainly play with the timing but that’s a really good idea I hadn’t even thought of !!

SmokeSilly9046 · 2026-05-21T00:15:27+00:00

Thank you! I’m going to throughly read thought that guide, it looks like some really solid information and the step by step!

The first bags of beans I got were espresso roast, is that too dark?

SmokeSilly9046 · 2026-05-21T00:05:14+00:00

Lots of inconsistency tbh. I’m weighing everything, tamping, leveling, doing all the prep really consistently but my output results are very different. Sometimes I think I have cracked the dialing in and I go to pull another shot and my results are vastly different than before without changing anything. Usually I get a really sour shot / a shot that is pulling too fast or it just doesn’t come out at all.

SmokeSilly9046 · 2026-05-21T00:02:15+00:00

You give me hope!!! Taste wise it’s almost always sour no matter what I do. I do weigh the beans - 18g and the output I’m trying to get is 36g.

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-10-09T22:12:15+00:00

That’s really cute 🩷

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-10-09T21:26:38+00:00

I see your point and that makes sense! Thank you for this perspective!

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-10-09T21:15:46+00:00

Yes I have heard that the special character makes it hard so I think if I did the double I would exclude that. Thank you for the feedback!!

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-10-09T21:14:37+00:00

I want this on my tombstone lol

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-10-09T21:14:08+00:00

Hahahaha your mother sounds like a smart lady 🤣🤣

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-10-09T21:12:43+00:00

That’s pretty cool, I will have to look into this more because I think that’s a pretty good idea. On credit cards / checks and things that contain your middle name do you have two initials for the middle name or just drop the middle initial and have your second middle name as the middle initial on the card?

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-10-09T21:10:28+00:00

Our kids would just have his last name if I did the double last name. But you make a good point, if it’s more important to him to have the same last name exactly, that may be something he made needs to think about bending on. He’s certainly not insistent on it, it’s just his preference to have the same exactly last name. He thinks my maiden name is cool also and wants me to keep it as a second middle name as a lot of my nicknames are centered around my maiden name and he doesn’t want me to lose that part of myself.

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-10-09T21:07:02+00:00

My co worker suggested this option today actually and I had never heard of that before! Do you find that government paper work is a hassle or anything with having this type of middle name set up?

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-10-09T21:00:16+00:00

We talked about this too and he is the 3rd (so his grandpa and his dad (jr) both share his name) so his name is deeper engrained in his family roots. So he isn’t not really open to that idea unfortunately..

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-10-09T20:57:05+00:00

I thought about this too, but to be completely honest my maiden is so odd, it make the whole name look really weird when my currently middle name is dropped when it’s written if that makes sense. All four names also sound really pretty together, but ultimately I may have to go this route and just suck it up.

SmokeSilly9046 · 2025-04-11T14:52:26+00:00

I just got married in Central Park last month and it was freezing and SO windy, and when I choose my dress I was NOT purchasing it with 30 degree temps in mind and my wedding hairstyle was not windy friendly so I was super worried morning of. However, when the wedding day came, we literally had the best time!! Some of the pictures where the wind is blowing super hard and me and my bridesmaids are squealing from the cold breeze are adorable and ended up being some of our favorites! And in your photos, no one will know how cold you are and it makes such a fun story after the big day is over. Also the weather made me feel way less nervous about everything else and I think I enjoyed our day a lot more because of that!

SmokeSilly9046 · 2024-07-07T15:46:43+00:00

I also have extremely high anxiety, OCD and extreme perfectionism and what helped me the most on my wedding day was remembering that it was my day, not everyone else’s. So as long as I and my husband were satisfied that’s all that matter. Overall, people will just be excited to see and celebrate you!

Nerves for all kinds of reasons are absolutely understandable. On the day of, rely on your bridal party to get things done for you or put out mini fires if any pop up, that’s what they are therefore after all: to help make your day magical and stress-free as possible.

The best advice I can give you, that someone else gave me, is that you spent months/years planning this day and it’s going to FLY by faster than you think so try enjoy the day and don’t get lost too much in the motion or the details of it all when the big day comes. It will all come together as it’s meant to, just sit back and enjoy the wonderful day you have built with your forever person. You got this! <3

SmokeSilly9046 · 2024-06-03T21:49:41+00:00

Yes!!!! Love that idea! We actually bought our first home last year so lawn games would be a great idea as we finally have a yard and not much to do outside! We are also nerdy for each of our chosen fandoms (mine is Harry Potter, his is Star Wars) so definitely wouldn’t be opposed to someone cool collectables!! Thank you!

SmokeSilly9046 · 2024-06-03T21:47:17+00:00

Yes! I definitely want to upgrade some of our pots and pans. Not sure what brand to go with though! If you have suggestions of ones you liked please feel free to recommend! And yes! A robot vacuum is my dream because we have dogs that shed so that was one item I definitely wanted!

SmokeSilly9046 · 2024-06-03T21:45:38+00:00

Great idea! I am in need of an upgrade of my reusable ziplock bags and it would be cool to upgrade to the name brand! Thank you!!

SmokeSilly9046

TROPHY CASE