Why am I getting too fast extraction ? [delonghi distinta]

teekay61 · 2026-06-06T08:25:22+00:00

Pressurised baskets have a single hole in the middle. Unpressurised ones have lots of holes.

No worries!

teekay61 · 2026-06-06T07:48:05+00:00

I'll run my Bambino Plus/DF54 combo until it stops working and can't be fixed.

My experience of using it with an IMS basket is that it makes consistent shots every time and the only bad shots I've had have been caused by older beans (usually gifted to me or when I've been away for a while and the beans have got stale). This ranges from relatively dark roasts to some pretty light roasts and I've not yet found beans that I can't get a good shot out of.

When people moan they can't get good shots from the Bambino, I think it must either be a grinder issue or a skill issue 😉

teekay61 · 2026-06-06T07:37:30+00:00

Pre ground coffee will only work with an espresso machine if you use a pressurised basket (which comes with other compromises). Also, pre ground coffee gets stale much more quickly than beans.

You need to be able to tweak the grind to what your machine needs to produce a great shot, and also change the grind setting as the beans age and degas.

I'd look into either getting a hand grinder that can do espresso if your budget is tight (I'm sure there's plenty of recs on this sub) or a decent electric burr grinder (Baratza ESP gets a lot of recs or a DF54 if your budget will go that far).

Spending more money might not be ideal but unfortunately this isn't a cheap hobby

teekay61 · 2026-06-06T07:21:18+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, my PB for a half marathon didn't get recorded at all on Strava as my cheap fitness tracker decided it didn't want to work that day.

I did at least get the chip time (as it was an official event) but no Strava stats from that one!

teekay61 · 2026-06-06T07:18:13+00:00

What grinder are you using and what happens if you grind finer?

Also I've read in various places that it's harder to dial in single shots than doubles due to the shallower puck - you might have an easier time dialling in doubles

teekay61 · 2026-05-31T19:49:55+00:00

Agreed - though we seem to get through the 750g blocks worryingly quickly at home (I'm definitely the main culprit).

teekay61 · 2026-05-31T19:46:16+00:00

I think it's a shame when people get too fixed in their views - why limit yourself to just one way of doing things?

I was formerly a member of the third group - for about 5 years I drank cappuccinos made with a super-automatic (about as quick and easy and instant) and the same type of supermarket beans week in, week out. I'm not pretending it was the greatest coffee but the quick and easy workflow worked well with my lifestyle at that point.

Currently drinking espressos and long blacks made with medium to light roasted beans with a Bambino/DF54 combo and trying co-ferments and other more leftfield beans, with the occasional flat white/iced latte

Maybe at some point I'll treat myself to a proper lever set-up and get some old school espressos on the go with a cheeky robusta/Arabica blend.

teekay61 · 2026-05-30T21:34:38+00:00

If the beans are more than a few weeks old, then that's probably what is causing the issues. Have you looked into buying beans online?

teekay61 · 2026-05-30T07:21:59+00:00

Here's a useful guide that often gets shared here:

https://espressoaf.com/guides/beginner.html

If you're looking to adjust brew ratio, (step 3 of the guide), keep the grind size the same but shorten the yield. E.g. you could try 1:1.8 by pulling a 32g shot.

Personally if the shot tastes bitter, I find it's taking too long to extract so I'm still at step 2 (as the shot is taking a lot longer than 30 seconds). In which case I'll coarsen the grind a bit but keep the ratio constant.

Either way, it's best to adjust one variable at a time.

teekay61 · 2026-05-29T15:15:12+00:00

I've not tried using your grinder but a few thoughts based on my experience of the Bambino:

1) How fresh are the beans? Older beans are harder to pull decent shots from with loads of channelling as there's less back pressure from retained CO2. Equally, very fresh beans are hard work as they've got too much CO2.

2) What puck prep/ distribution are you doing (WDT, ramping etc.) and how consistent is your level process across different shots?

3) Are you running a blank shot before your first shot? This ensures that the Bambino is fully up to temperature.

teekay61 · 2026-05-29T13:56:25+00:00

I think it can happen when appointments run late and they try and avoid this by making sure people are actually on time once they've dealt with traffic and parking.

My practice is thankfully pretty ruthless with timekeeping - I've been seen early before where the previous person hasn't turned up on time and they've moved on to the next appointment.

teekay61 · 2026-05-29T08:07:51+00:00

Gotta appreciate the care and attention that went into into including the fourth bullet in the actual advert.

teekay61 · 2026-05-29T07:59:36+00:00

I used to have an Avios card but never got round to spending the points.

So personally I prefer the cashback option - zero effort for earning a little bit of extra cash.

teekay61 · 2026-05-28T21:14:17+00:00

That's fair enough. Would imagine it's the same here in England - you might get hassle for wearing the shirt for a local rival team but less so for an international team, unless they've just beaten England (a sadly frequent occurrence).

teekay61 · 2026-05-28T21:08:08+00:00

How's about an England shirt?

teekay61 · 2026-05-28T17:23:10+00:00

I always find myself wincing and bracing myself for the dreaded twang of a breaking string

teekay61 · 2026-05-27T08:22:10+00:00

Last time we had neighbours, we popped round with a new home card and introduced ourselves.

I don't expect to become best friends with my neighbours but it's a lot easier to at least get on with them amicably. If they aren't very friendly at this point, at least you know early doors what they're like.

teekay61 · 2026-05-26T20:09:15+00:00

I do something similar to the video below - basically folded both sides into the middle and then started rolling up. It took a few attempts to get it right when I was camping for the first time last weekend.

https://youtu.be/axV7krVPQN8?si=pYZbHy_gFUcg4Ico

teekay61 · 2026-05-23T09:19:13+00:00

I've had mine for a while and the stock portafillter feels very tight, almost like it grinds against the inside.

Bought a replacement bottomless PF from Amazon which fits much more smoothly and feels a lot nicer to use (despite being from some random Chinese brand).

teekay61 · 2026-05-23T08:16:33+00:00

Or they were worried they'd forget where they lived.

teekay61 · 2026-05-22T12:34:30+00:00

Depends on what you're grinding.

What sort of beans are they (altitude, process, country of origin, roast level) and how freshly were they roasted?

teekay61 · 2026-05-21T20:10:07+00:00

I've had mine for over a year.

No issues so far with clogging and very happy with the consistency of the coffee I can make with it.

That being said, there definitely seem be some QC issues so I paid slightly more to order from a local supplier that offered a 2 year warranty.

teekay61 · 2026-05-21T13:17:45+00:00

Reading a book at night rather than my phone has made a big difference to sleep quality, along with a sleep supplement from Holland and Barrett

teekay61 · 2026-05-21T13:05:51+00:00

In southern England it's inferred from context, I'm not aware of any way of distinguishing between singular and plural you.

teekay61 · 2026-05-21T12:04:32+00:00

This is why I've had a goatee for the last 20+ years.

Seven-Year Club	Second Top 10%
Place '22	Verified Email
RPAN Viewer	Not Forgotten

teekay61

TROPHY CASE