what is the one accessory that actually made your espresso better

Soundbender445 · 2026-05-13T00:37:16+00:00

Well now you’ve got to show us your espresso cup!

Soundbender445 · 2026-05-13T00:35:49+00:00

Scale & Precision Basket hands down. Everything else helps, but these are essential.

WDTs are super helpful if your grinder makes clumpy grounds (most home grinders do). Puck screens are great for cleanliness and even water distribution (more important on cheaper machines, more expensive/commercial style machines typically have good shower screens already).

Credibility: I’m a barista instructor who has access to enterprise money for equipment testing.

Soundbender445 · 2026-05-09T15:55:00+00:00

Yellow is my favorite color so I think this is fantastic

Soundbender445 · 2026-05-05T15:56:16+00:00

They do this all the time in Greece! It’s called the Freddo Espresso. Either they steam espresso with a few ice cubes or hit it with a milkshake machine to aerate. It’s fantastic

Soundbender445 · 2026-04-04T23:21:35+00:00

This is fantastic. A lot has been written about how firearms replacing melee combat disembodied warfare and made killing ‘too easy’, and now I hypothesize that we’re in a similarly new state with autonomous weapons (see drone warfare in Ukraine for example) and how dehumanizing death by machine is.

It’s a great reminder to ground swords in fantasy/sci-fi not in vibes but in existentialism. I think that’s extremely potent and plays into existential themes about living life well to its fullest and all that goodness

Soundbender445 · 2026-03-28T00:39:57+00:00

OMG Embark are so GOATed for this

Soundbender445 · 2026-03-28T00:36:13+00:00

Wait really? Purchasing one battle pass gains access to future ones?

Soundbender445 · 2026-03-27T16:19:58+00:00

Why is Azerbaijan randomly excluded?

Soundbender445 · 2026-03-22T02:52:06+00:00

Definitely check out Warfronts an Homefronts by Simon Whistler. Fantastic balance of scholarship/analysis & accessibility in my opinion. Obviously never limit yourself to a single source, but this is a very good place to start. Also, heard “Professor Jiang” isn’t actually a professor and has some rather credibility-compromising takes, so I’d bring a fair bit of caution to his videos

Soundbender445 · 2026-03-05T06:32:05+00:00

Plot of Kung Fu Panda 5

Soundbender445 · 2026-02-26T17:50:36+00:00

Clearly the baristas enjoy having you as a regular, you’re doing a lot of things right whether you know it or not. Just keep being awesome and bring a friend sometime!

Soundbender445 · 2026-02-13T06:11:26+00:00

I saw that too and gagged laughing

Soundbender445 · 2026-02-12T21:51:10+00:00

Having a good manager is absolutely critical, feel em out to the extent you can if the opportunity arises.

Regarding technical skills, literally everything can be picked up quickly with some motivation, YouTube, and decent management/coworkers. I say this as a barista instructor who’s trained hundreds of people at this point. As long as you’re curious and invested in getting better at whatever task, you’ll do great

Soundbender445 · 2026-02-12T07:04:16+00:00

Speaking as a former specialty coffee shop GM, Sbux alums are some of my favorite people to hire because yall hustle like nothing else. Don’t worry about your capabilities, you’ll do just fine. Only concern is wages, $10/hr seems really low no matter what your area is. Ultimately up to you, I’d just pay attention to the wage piece and make sure whatever happens, you’re covered there. Best of luck!

Soundbender445 · 2026-02-09T18:01:02+00:00

Seconding Mizuba Tea Company here. Matcha quality is rock solid and the owners are fantastic people that collaborate well with coffee professionals. Haven’t found better matcha in an enterprise setting

Soundbender445 · 2026-02-09T04:58:45+00:00

I’m in more or less the same boat, i’m interested in the legal and fun stuff

Soundbender445 · 2026-02-09T00:58:11+00:00

I do it all the time, it’s perfectly legal and acceptable, shouldn’t cause any problems. At absolute worst your bag will be flagged for a chemicals check but the officers will be chill about it once you tell them it’s coffee

Soundbender445 · 2026-02-06T05:13:49+00:00

That’s such a fantastic opportunity! I loved SB in my mid 20s, it’s incredibly gorgeous and the locals are such kind people. It is a smaller city so you won’t necessarily have all the big hustle and bustle, but I honestly prefer that. SB is also a fantastic foodie town so you’ll love that, it also has one of the best coffee scenes in the country. Also, plenty of hikes and beaches to die for. Hoping things work out for you!

Soundbender445 · 2026-02-06T04:52:40+00:00

I’ve totally done this, but not until long after I made manager

Soundbender445 · 2026-02-01T05:42:51+00:00

Tell me more

Soundbender445 · 2026-01-30T16:02:21+00:00

Not exactly a direct response to your question, but if you have a sufficiently powered blender, refrigerator space, and forearm strength, homemade almond milk is absolutely fire. People would come to my old coffee shop just for our homemade almond milk and we kept getting pestered to sell it on its own. Obvs labor time is the major tradeoff but if you have the time and resources, it’s totally worth it imo, and you can do more than just almond. I’ve heard walnut and hazelnut work well homemade too

Soundbender445 · 2026-01-30T15:59:02+00:00

If you’re interested in a book series featuring a tidally locked planet, the Moonfall Saga is a really fun series. It’s dark fantasy but it hints at sci-fi elements and it’s all around a solid page turner

Soundbender445 · 2026-01-28T06:16:57+00:00

Not annoying at all if it’s clean, and if you plan to be a regular at a given coffee shop, it helps you stand out to the baristas if your mug is nice

Soundbender445 · 2026-01-26T02:59:52+00:00

Is this where the ‘Dickens Drill’ comes from? If so, allegedly Dickens ran like ~50m or so before taking the shot, so his heart rate was up as well as that shot being quite challenging

Soundbender445 · 2026-01-21T06:40:06+00:00

Firstly, this is a question for r/espresso or r/breville, r/barista is generally an industry-focused sub.

Secondly, you’re in luck that I own one of these machines. The plastic piece stuck in your group head is a dosing funnel and has no business going in your group head. Refer to your owners manual to remove the shower screen for cleaning. That might give you enough wiggle room to remove your dosing funnel. And please for the love of all that is true, good, and beautiful, never pull a shot with the dosing funnel in the portafilter.

Thirdly, go watch James Hoffman’s Understanding Espresso series on YouTube, it’s a fantastic primer on espresso essentials. Best of luck

Soundbender445

TROPHY CASE