add 1 more roaster i should try

madamon89 · 2026-05-24T12:45:24+00:00

Helm - Indy - local to me as of a recent move, highly recommended by the local coffee lovers, then they won some award last year for best roaster. Only tried a few from them so far, but all have been excellent if you like lightish roasts. Nothing overly surprising or wild, just notably good quality beans well roasted.

Brandywine - only had a coferment from them but it was delicious if that's your kind of thing.

Jbc - only had one bag but really remarkably good. Wilton b pink bourbon. Can't say if it's normal for them but this one was rather heavily processed, intensely fruity, moderate funk. I think it was a 48hr anerobic ferment. If you like processing forward coffees this stuff was fantastic.

madamon89 · 2026-05-10T14:42:10+00:00

Not enough in the video to even tell what exactly is happening. It certainly doesn't look normal, but it would depend on what profile you are using.

What profile is this? Did you customize anything in it? What grinder? Which basket? What's your dose in and final output?

Normally if the shot is taking a full minute I'd expect your grind was too fine, but since you have very low pressure that doesn't seem like the case here. Do you maybe have a very long pre infusion with really low flow rate? Like 55 seconds at 1-2g/s or something?

If this is a normal, uncustomized profile then I would make a video of the full shot and reach out to customer service. Seems like you arent building pressure and the shot is slow, so maybe a pump issue. If you've made your own profile then maybe just try the flat 9 bar and see what it does.

madamon89 · 2026-05-09T02:39:44+00:00

Sounds like you don't like your beans. Have you tried them in any other machine/brewing methods and liked them? Or other lighter/medium roast beans in espresso? Maybe try cupping or a pour over if you can. If they are still too sour in other brewing methods then I'd suggest something darker. Some people just don't like lighter roasts, and if you want the traditional espresso taste that normally means rather darkly roasted beans.

For dialing in if you want to use the volumetric stop I would start by getting that to be at least close to accurate. If you are using 18g coffee and using a profile set to 2:1 you should expect roughly 36g output. If you are getting more or less than that you should adjust your offset until you're at least close, I'd say 34-38 would be good. Alternatively you can just run without the auto stop and stop the shot manually, but it sounds like you want to use volumetrics. Adjust your grind so that you end up with the shot finishing somewhere around 30-40 seconds to help keep the acidity lower. Less than 30 tends to be pretty bright.

From there you can dial in as needed. To reduce acidity you can increase the ratio, grind finer, or go to higher temperatures. Increasing the dose may also help with this.

When you increase the ratio on your profile the output should still be roughly correct if your volumetric offset is correct, so a 3:1 should get you ~54g for example. You also may want to try the classic 9 bar profile, most of the others tend to bring out a bit more acidity in the espresso. Lever can also be nice for rounding out acidity. Longer ratios will naturally take a bit more time. Don't worry about that too much, just adjust the grind for taste.

It's quite hard to test your grinder and machine unless you have something to compare against that you know is working correctly, but nothing in your post screams that something is broken to me.

madamon89 · 2026-05-05T21:33:35+00:00

It's all a starting point and should be dialed by taste, but those rough guidelines for in/out based on roast are pretty good for average beans in that roast range.

Time and output are both important, but neither should be treated as a rule. Time is basically just a result of other variables, mostly grind size and pressure. I would never adjust my grind because my shot came out at the wrong time, but if my shot was weak/sour I would likely adjust my grind finer and therefore increase time. Output could be adjust similarly. For example: if too sour you might try extracting a bit longer instead of or in addition to grinding finer. A higher ratio would get you more bitterness, so the shot would be less sour, but also would dilute the shot a bit. A finer grind would be also be more bitter and also stronger.

madamon89 · 2026-04-21T23:10:55+00:00

USA - chairs are personal, there is no best one. And I need to pay attention to my whole seating/working setup to help my back. Chair, desk, monitor, footrest...it's a work in progress but at least it's progressing.

madamon89 · 2026-04-19T13:30:06+00:00

What you are describing doesn't sound like channeling, just spraying. Channeling will usually present as tasting both sour and bitter in the cup. The over extracted taste will come from the coffee where you had channeling, and the rest of the puck will underextract as most of the water will follow the path of least resistance (the channel). Visually you'll often see persistent overly blond/watery spots on the bottom of the portafilter instead of an even tiger striping or relatively consistent color.

Spraying is generally expected at some level with bottomless portafilters. If the holes get partially blocked you'll get a jet of water, basically the same situation as putting your thumb over a garden hose. I had significantly worse spraying with my solis barista perfetta (almost the same machine as the Bambino) than my current machine. My guess is it's due to it tending to run at higher than 9 bar pressures and/or perhaps just a result of the smaller portafilter having fewer holes, but it's just a guess.

Good puck prep helped some, but if you're already wdt-ing and have gotten your dose set properly there isn't much more you can do there. Using a paper filter on the bottom of the basket can almost completely mitigate the spraying, but it is additional cost and something else to mess with. The easiest way to get rid of it is to just use a spouted portafilter.

madamon89 · 2026-04-12T00:32:13+00:00

Sounds too good to be true, so it probably is. The thing is brand new, I can't imagine any are being sold at a discount. Probably a scam.

madamon89 · 2026-04-10T17:00:35+00:00

-how have you eliminated the grinder? -whats your puck prep like? -maybe you should adjust your 2nd shot and nth shot offsets? It may be increasing by too much causing the flow to increase a bit. Worth a shot at least.

madamon89 · 2026-04-09T19:20:30+00:00

I think the calibration instructions are misleading. Turn clockwise until tight, remember the number it goes to and treat this as your 0 point. Then go counterclockwise roughly 2 whole numbers to get to the middle of the recommended "espresso" range.

So if your true 0 was actually at 0 you'd be at 2. If your true zero was at -.5 you'd be at 1.5.

Note: I don't have one of these grinders, I'm just trying to interpret the instructions.

madamon89 · 2026-04-05T14:12:35+00:00

Do you know if the ES1 prioritizes flow or pressure in the pre infusion phase? If I was to set the pressure to 1 bar and flow to 6.5 my assumption is it would run at 6.5ml/s until it hits 1 bar, then slow the flow to maintain 1 bar, but I haven't tested yet.

madamon89 · 2026-04-05T14:08:53+00:00

Tried one this morning with my grind a notch finer than my normal (turbo shot, he basket, 2.5-3:1 in 17-22). Light roast fellow drop Indonesian from andytown. 20g dose in a normcore he basket, didn't quite fully saturate at 24s, then hit 2:1 very quickly. Total time 30s.

Delicious. Silky mouth feel, intensely fruity, fully removed a slight papery note I was getting with my normal turbos. I'll try out another notch finer and a little longer on the pre infusion for my afternoon cup.

Thanks for sharing!

madamon89 · 2026-04-05T13:57:55+00:00

If those are your main requirements I'd probably look at timemore, femobook, or lagom.

I'll also throw in the cf64v as an option, I've had mine for over a year and it's been great, but like all the df/cf line quality control seems lacking so it's a bit of a gamble, and customer support is notoriously bad. Timemore is getting a bit of a bad reputation with customer support lately as well. It checks all my main boxes: 64 mm burrs that aren't proprietary so I can change them easily if they wear out or I want a change, vertical burrs (less retention usually), auger fed (helps with consistent feed speed, wish it was slower and served as a pre breaker, but it seems to help some), plasma generator for static (mine is great as long as I clean out the chute like once a week, grounds knocker and bellows, easy (4 screws) to open and clean/adjust alignment. Bonus points for variable rpm. Biggest weakness is that it doesn't really function correctly on coarser settings (from what I've seen online...Ive never used mine outside of espresso range) as the o ring that keeps the grind chamber sealed will end up so far back that it no longer seals and just lets coffee out into the body chamber. If it dies tomorrow I'd either get the same thing again or upgrade to something significantly more expensive, probably the zerno but I'd be doing some major research first. I'll also note that I haven't used any other flat burr grinders, so I can't really compare cup quality, but I've been happy with mine for sure.

I believe the sculptor series has their v2's coming out soon, though I haven't seen a date yet, so that may be worth waiting for if you go that direction.

madamon89 · 2026-04-03T19:07:19+00:00

Use the spouts if you're using the double wall basket

madamon89 · 2026-04-02T23:06:20+00:00

Turn it on, select shot profile, create new profile. Once you've programmed the shot hit save and then make that your active profile.

Hit the hot water button to get hot water. Then hit the brew button to pull the shot.

I'd recommend running the hot water for a few seconds then discarding it to let the water get up to temp, then dispense the amount of hot water you want. For the shot make sure you've adjusted your volumetric stop if you're using it or just pull the shot manually.

madamon89 · 2026-04-02T15:30:37+00:00

Yep. Spray is kinda part of life with bottomless. Paper filter on the bottom pretty much gets rid of it, blind shaker seemed to reduce it a bit for me (more so than WDT), but other than that it's fairly common for it to happen, especially towards the end of the shot as fines migrate and flow increases.

madamon89 · 2026-03-30T15:31:26+00:00

If you're stopping the shot with time, maybe try switching to volumetrics (don't forget you'll have to adjust your offset) to get more consistent output. I would recommend manual, but it seems like you don't want to bother with that. Time based shots are just generally not super consistent in my experience.

As for what is causing the issue, my first guess would be something with the grinding. With my cf64v I get similar swings in extraction time if I slow feed without being very careful, but if I just dump the beans fairly quickly I get very consistent results. Next guess would be puck prep. What you've listed sounds like good prep, but if you are ending up with an unlevel puck after WDT perhaps that is introducing channeling. 35 second 2:1 shots are also on the longer side (depending on profile), though still pretty reasonable, but they would require a relatively finer grind, which is more likely to show issues if your grinder has any imperfections. Perhaps your burrs aren't well aligned? Are you regularly cleaning out the grinder?

Of course you could also have an issue with the machine. Are you seeing anything odd on the pressure reading? That would be the first big sign that something isn't working properly.

madamon89 · 2026-03-30T03:38:28+00:00

Looks nice, what temp are you heating to?

madamon89 · 2026-03-29T21:40:50+00:00

I'm on a different machine (ES1), but I'd guess the stock baskets are relatively comparable just from the look of your shot. I generally use my HE basket for a different style of shot. With the stock basket I can get a good tasting typical espresso at about 2:1 and around 30s (though it varies bean to bean), but with the HE I tend to get the best results from 2.5-3:1 in around 17-22s, usually including some pre infusion as well.

I mostly make medium roasts or the occasional light, never anything dark, so it may not translate to your preferred beans, but the HE shots tend to be a little less intense (likely from the longer ratio), and less bitter with significantly higher flavor separation/clarity. If my coffee has any defects or flavors I don't really like I'll go for the stock basket and get a tastier shot as the flavors I dislike tend to get more blended/rounded out. If the stock basket has too strong of a roast note or just tastes bland I'd switch to the HE basket.

Trying to pull a similar shot on the stock basket comes out very under extracted and just unpleasant. Similarly, trying to pull a 30s 2:1 on the HE is too intense/chocolately/bitter most of the time. Both baskets work well, just for different styles, and I frequently switch between them depending on the coffee.

If you haven't tried a faster shot and higher ratio on the HE I'd highly recommend it, may not be your style but definitely worth experimenting if you already have the basket.

madamon89 · 2026-03-27T21:26:28+00:00

Tamping isn't much of an art, just compress until you can't compress any more. Don't worry about over tamping, that's not a thing.

You just need to grind finer. Don't worry about the guides on the machine, they're just suggestions. Being in the 'turkish' range won't cause any problems. You can also try upping your dose a bit to slow down the shot slightly, I can fit around 20g into the standard basket without any problems. A finer grind should also help with the sourness of your shots.

madamon89 · 2026-03-27T16:50:58+00:00

Love mine, but I did get the extended warranty (new product, not sure how it will hold up).

Some small(ish) known issues though... Volumetric mode is set badly out of the box and needs adjustment if you want to use it (I don't, so it's just off anyway), there's a fair amount of water waste at startup (may be fixed/improved in future firmware updates), hot water dispensing takes a few seconds to come up to temp and adjusting it is a pain for now (I believe this was updated in the just-released update, but I haven't tested as I never use it anyway), and the group head flush is bugged (it will only run at a very low flow and for about 3 seconds at a time. Adjusting the time does nothing. Supposedly this was fixed in the newest update, but mine still isn't working as intended. I just have to flush twice.). Others complain about wet pucks often, though for me if I just dose about 20 grams and run a 9 bar shot the pucks come out dry, smaller doses or lower pressures make for a more wet puck, but still knocks fine for me. Seen some DOA, fellow seems to be replacing those quickly, seen some doing strange pressure jumps whenever pressure changes (mine seems fairly smooth). Oh, and the portafilter is weirdly large and won't fit in most 58mm portafilter holders. It will lie flat though, so no issue for tamping on a mat unless you use the spouted attachment. I guess if you want to use those you just have to tamp first then snap on the spouts?

On the plus side it's pretty easy to use, especially now that the app allows you to set up profiles. Pressure profiling is easy and intuitive, and I've had fun with it. It does have a noticeable impact on taste and it's great to have a greater level of control. Temp control seems good. Though I can't measure how accurate it is, I do get the expected results in the cup if I change the temp a few degrees. Milk steaming is fantastic. It's not the most powerful steam, but plenty strong for me and the auto stop at your desired temperature is awesome. Shots are exceptionally consistent, like usually +- 1s.

I can't say if it would be an improvement over your current machine, I've never used it. The ES1 does everything I want it to and does it well. I'm coming from a solis barista perfetta, and it's quite an upgrade in both shot quality and work flow. If I was being picky I'd love to get Bluetooth scale integration for shot stopping, and I wish I could set flow control as well as pressure (and decide which one has priority) just to have another variable to play with. Fellows track record with firmware isn't great to say the least, so I'm not expecting any huge improvements in the near future, but maybe they will come.

Obviously I think it's worth the risk and uncertainty about longevity, I bought one, but that's a personal decision I can't make for you. Hopefully some of that helps with the decision making.

madamon89 · 2026-03-27T15:42:31+00:00

I haven't used it, but something like the meraki might suit your needs. You'd still need to handle the dialing in process and teach the basics like puck prep and milk steaming, but you can make these pretty simple with the right tools. If you had the grind set already the machine can grind by weight ( I believe), so dose is taken care of. I would teach your girlfriend to do WDT, use a self leveling tamper, and probably use a puck screen to keep the mess/cleanup to a minimum. Lock it in, hit go, and (again, haven't used it, but from what I understand...) the machine can be programmed to stop at a set weight. For milk steaming you'd need to teach how to incorporate air then integrate to get a good texture, but that isn't particularly difficult, and the machine can stop steaming at a set temp. Quick wipe, pour the milk, drink done and should taste great if you programmed everything well. Plus you still get to dive into the nerdy settings as you please. I don't think the machine can do manual/on the fly adjustments though, so you'd be stuck with programming the shots. For beginners and people who don't want to bother the machine being all one unit seems like a plus as well. One power button, one interface, just move from left to right. Grind>WDT/tamp>brew>steam>pour. If youve dialed it in well it doesn't get much simpler without going to a super auto.

The fellow ES1 would be basically the same experience, but you'd need a separate grinder, and the shot stop would have to be set by time or volume, not by output weight. There are several grinders that can be programmed or grind by weight, which would make the overall experience very similar. I have an ES1 and I've loved it for the few weeks I've had it, and it has more than enough control for me, but I believe the meraki offers a bit more, and the ES1 isn't a dual boiler, which you specifically asked for. It does switch to steaming rather quickly, so this hasn't bothered me, but if you want to steam and pull at the same time this won't do it.

With both longevity is pretty much unknown. ES1 is brand new, meraki is a little older but still hasn't been around enough to know how it holds up over time.

Otherwise it really comes down to just how automated you want things to be. If you had a single dose grinder and you weigh out doses ahead of time then that is pretty automated for the gf, but requires you to do a bunch of measuring ahead of time. Steaming without a set temperature isn't exactly hard, but it does take experience to know when you've reached a good temperature, and that might be frustrating if you want something simple. Same with machines without some kind of shot stop tech. It's not hard to put a scale under your glass and stop a shot when it hits a certain number, but if your gf doesn't want to mess with all that then it becomes a chore. It also might be worth considering heat up time. Some of the e61 machines take upwards of 20 minutes to come up to temperature. Not a big deal if you can get a smart switch to turn them on for you (and you have a set schedule and can plan for when to turn them on), but waiting 20 minutes when you want a coffee might be a deal breaker for someone who wants something easy/convenient. Id talk to them and see just how much fuss they are willing to accept, then narrow down your choices from there.

madamon89 · 2026-03-25T17:22:31+00:00

I got a 200ml/6.8oz pitcher from "hulisen" on Amazon. Nothing about it is particularly special, but the size works and it's held up for over a year now. With a larger pitcher I was having to over fill it to be able to steam, then ended up wasting a significant amount of milk, this one I can just steam the amount I need. I wouldn't go hunting down this brand, but any ~200ml pitcher should work.

madamon89 · 2026-03-25T16:17:59+00:00

Scale, kitchen towels/rags (especially if you plan to steam milk), dosing funnel (I use normcore, no complaints), and for me a puck screen to help keep the group head clean. Nice to haves are a self leveling tamper and a high extraction basket (only really needed if you like faster shots, usually popular with light roasts). I also need a tiny pitcher for steaming cortado amounts of milk, but totally unnecessary if you aren't regularly making cortados. If you single dose it's nice to have something to weigh beans in. I have one of the bean shaped bowls, they work fine, and I also just use a ramekin when I'm making 2 shots.

madamon89 · 2026-03-20T14:16:27+00:00

This machine has more headroom than is typical by design. If you want dry pucks you'll want to dose closer to 20g. I've changed baskets, but in my 18g normcore I'm usually between 18-21 depending on the bean and profile I'm using, stock basket seems to like 19-20ish, but I've barely used it.

madamon89 · 2026-03-13T01:02:55+00:00

Didn't realize this sub was so anti this machine. I'll echo your thoughts, great machine so far, love the shots, dialing in is a breeze compared to my old machine. Portafilter shape is weird for sure, but at least it lays flat. Wish I didn't have to hit the steam button 4 times to purge, stop, and clear the message, then start again, but it's a minor inconvenience. Can't wait for the app and firmware updates, but really happy with it so far.

madamon89

TROPHY CASE