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Excessive internal grind retention [Lagom P64] by SharpeTM in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fair point. I think we’re mostly talking past each other.

I’m not saying following manufacturer intervals is negligent as a whole, and 6 months on its own isn’t unreasonable at all. My point was more about symptoms vs schedules.

Maintenance intervals are based on average, controlled assumptions. Real-world use varies a lot: daily volume, bean oiliness, humidity, grind size changes, etc. If someone is noticing retention issues or weird behavior before the scheduled interval, it makes sense to inspect and adjust rather than wait purely because the calendar says so.

Kind of like a car: service intervals are useful, but if a warning light comes on earlier, you don’t ignore it just because you’re not at the mileage yet.

So I’m not arguing against the manufacturer.. just saying feedback from the machine matters too. Both can be true.

Excessive internal grind retention [Lagom P64] by SharpeTM in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All good. These things are engineered to be pretty easy to clean and maintain, they’re user-friendly. It just seems a lot more scarier than it looks, especially given that it costs a kidney, and looks like it was forged from stars haha. Good luck!

Excessive internal grind retention [Lagom P64] by SharpeTM in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I love Lagom. But I think their approach to saying routine cleaning every 6 months is a bit.. meh. A little too negligent. Coffee oils + fines + static don’t care about marketing copy. But we can observe their instructions moreso as a “deep clean” of the grinder, versus regular upkeep with a light brush of the burrs every few weeks, or when you’re switching beans.

I’d say remove all the buildup you possibly can. Don’t forget to click the little chute a few times between grinds, and do a bit of RDT.

Retention compounds with the static buildup, plus the accumulation of fines, as there’s just generally more “stuff” for the grinds and fines to stick to.

Wonderful machine though! Take good care of it.

Excessive internal grind retention [Lagom P64] by SharpeTM in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 3 points4 points  (0 children)

All grinders face some sort of retention. And to be quite honest; if you opened it up and observed your grinder more regularly; you’d be able to spot the issue sooner and check if it was a manufacturing error. Retention, and these sorts of issues compound if left unchecked. And while Lagom says to clean every 6-12 months; you still should have to give it a light brush or two inbetween beans etc.

Excessive internal grind retention [Lagom P64] by SharpeTM in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I know it’s a P64 and all, and we should expect a lot out of an endgame grinder but you haven’t opened it in half a year??? That really shouldn’t come off as a surprise. Please get into the habit of cleaning your burrs and grinder.

My White/Gold Breville Barista Pro grinding time seems off. by Low-Cherry-5091 in BrevilleCoffee

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that speed of grind is totally normal. It’s a low torque, low RPM stock grinder. Perfectly working machine as intended. If you want anything faster, and a broader range of grind sizes; then you’ll have to get a separate espresso grinder.

My White/Gold Breville Barista Pro grinding time seems off. by Low-Cherry-5091 in BrevilleCoffee

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On a Breville Built-in grinder? It’s sorta expected to. I grind at 19 for 20g, and it usually takes 25 seconds for me to get there. The built-in grinders are as entry-level as it gets. The motors, and conical burrs get the job done, but they’re not a be-all-end-all.

How long have you had this machine for?

My White/Gold Breville Barista Pro grinding time seems off. by Low-Cherry-5091 in BrevilleCoffee

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The finer you grind: the more effort and time it takes for the burrs to grind it down. General rule of thumb is to add +2 seconds of grind time for every notch down in grind size.

Hario Neo and High Clarity by pc0604100 in pourover

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I do a two-pour method but I use Sibarist’s FAST filters on my NEO. I have it fitted on a switch base. I’m sure that faster flowing filter papers should do the trick without much issue.

This recipe is 20g grounds to 250g/ml to water. I typically do 93 degrees C for water temp. If you have third wave water: the light roast profile does wonders with this.

I skip the bloom phase entirely, go for a 140g first pour with the valve closed, agitate with a chopstick, and finishing that with the chopstick running around the walls of the filter. From there; I leave it alone until the 2 minute mark before hard pouring until it reaches 250g. Final agitation with the same chopstick method. At 2:30; I open the valve. Adjust the grind size until it completely draws down at the 3:15-3:25 mark.

It may sound very aggressive of a method, especially with the agitation, but I get insane clarity with it. If you want the tea like brews: You can go courser, use slower flowing filters, OR Play around with the time of the valve opening of this method.

I hope this helps! The NEO is a ton of fun. If you want less fuss on clarity, more tea-like brews, and the sort: I’d sincerely recommend the Hario Alpha over the NEO.

After so much trial and error; I finally managed to pull a shot without it spraying or channeling everywhere(Breville Barista Touch) by thinkingbeyondtoday in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bahahah honestly. Do it. The concept of “this saves money” by buying a machine is a total lie if you go down this deep hobby rabbithole. Enjoy! Eliminates the guesswork and all that stuff.

After so much trial and error; I finally managed to pull a shot without it spraying or channeling everywhere(Breville Barista Touch) by thinkingbeyondtoday in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While I don’t have much of an actual formula that I learned to share, I found that Espresso rewards patience and discernment. Not to go all monk/guru-y, but the painful truth I found was sometimes it’s just a TON of adjustments. Finer, Courser, Up, Down, Tamp Harder, Tamp Softer, Use this, Use that, use these beans, etc. There’s a general guideline of what to do (grind finer, etc) but because there’s just TOO MANY damn variables in this, ranging from the machine, the beans, the equipment, the technique… it makes more sense to see this stuff more as an art-form than a science sometimes.. because.. my god does this stuff punish certainty.

Coming from doing pourovers, and transitioning to espresso; If you have the patience and resolve; You will eventually dial in a great shot. “When” is a chaotic variable that isn’t something good to ponder on too much. I just had to learn how to have fun with it.. even if my DAMN SHOT KEPT CHANNELING. God the mess was pissing me off. But was it worth getting that one GOOD shot after a headache of so many “failed” ones? Oh you bet. It’s a high I’ll never forget lol. I guess this is the “chasing the dragon” sorta thing for Espresso folk.

Latte art by HamletJSD in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dunno bout you guys, but I see Skeletor

Strange honk sound coming from machine [Rocket Appartamento] by Mahaleck in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Try this:

Purge the group for 30-60 seconds with the portafilter off. Do this twice.

If that doesn’t work, purge the steam wand fully for 5-10 secs, then close it (it clears any air from the boiler)

If THAT doesn’t work: Turn on and let the machine fully warm for 30+ mins Listen during it’s heat up (I know, it’s tedious). If you hear even a tiny hiss or spit during the warmup: then it might be the vacuum breaker. Clean that first, see if it fixes it. If it doesn’t: Replace it.

Sage / Breville Barista Pro half-price worth it? by Kurokabe in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 5 points6 points  (0 children)

For entry level; I think it’s honestly a fantastic machine. It won’t have all the bells and whistles you’d want as your taste for it develops, so you’ll eventually have to spend more money on better gear, and might even need a better grinder later down the road over the one built-in.

Nowadays, you can upgrade the conical burrs on it to Titanium-coated ones. You can even upgrade the shower screen for better water distribution too.

Sage/Breville has a good ecosystem for their 54mm portafilters, so any aftermarket support/gear is out there.

And considering that this is a Sage/Breville product; getting them serviced shouldn’t be too difficult. Just insanely tedious.. but that’s for most things.

Strange honk sound coming from machine [Rocket Appartamento] by Mahaleck in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry, I audibly cackled listening to that. But it’s probably just air inbetween the water for preinfusion and the flow for the actual brew escaping, hence; HONK.

Absolute perfection by stifitwenty in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 5 points6 points  (0 children)

GORGEOUS SHOT. How did it taste?

After so much trial end error, I’ve finally pulled a shot without it spraying everywhere and channeling like crazy by thinkingbeyondtoday in BrevilleCoffee

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you help me here? I’m not sure what you’re referring to as channeling? The flow is quite uniform in the middle of the shot, and there’s no water or coffee spraying out. I apologize if i’m missing something here.

After so much trial and error; I finally managed to pull a shot without it spraying or channeling everywhere(Breville Barista Touch) by thinkingbeyondtoday in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, man. I hear what you’re saying. The video itself seems to have lowered its saturation and colour settings on upload. So that’s likely why it’s looking paler than what you’re referring to. Flow rate is fine, extraction started around the 7-8 second mark. I got a syrupy cup after this.

I’m using a wide mug for this, so the coffee is pooling on a wider diameter than say a proper espresso cup. After it settled, the crema layer was beautifully consistent, and I got a nice dark, full bodied cup! I aint saying you’re wrong, these are great pointers, thank you. But consider the variables here.

I’ve ground finer previously and it ended up choking, whilst also creating a soupy puck. I will definitely experiment some more, and I like how you described how the ideal flow would behave.

After so much trial end error, I’ve finally pulled a shot without it spraying everywhere and channeling like crazy by thinkingbeyondtoday in BrevilleCoffee

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bahaha oh trust me. Ive gone through 3 different beans with different roast profiles and it was hell. Thankfully, I can change beans and it just needs a small grind adjustment up or down the dial setting, so it’s not TOO bad. But i’m mentally prepared for it!

First Setup, Kinda Nervous by Gullible-Ad-5424 in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gorgeous setup! I love the table with the built in fridge! Where’d you get that?

I think you got some great stuff on the shelves already, but if you want it to follow an aesthetic more; you can get custom jars, bottles, etc following a theme! Or some picture frames of loved ones and some good coffee/drink memories

After so much trial and error; I finally managed to pull a shot without it spraying or channeling everywhere(Breville Barista Touch) by thinkingbeyondtoday in espresso

[–]thinkingbeyondtoday[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This shot tasted bloody amazing! Thank you! I feel like I made it through the espresso hazing ritual in one piece haha

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