Dosing and Tamping - Breville Barista Express

[@mexicanoflife]

Hey Mr. Hoon! Something I noticed that can help your consistency, technique, and shot flow is something called "settling" the coffee. When I settle, I simply tap the portafilter on the tamping map to "settle" the coffee. What I do is fill up half way, settle, fill up the rest, settle. Then I distribute, and then I tamp accordingly. The reason I mention this is because I noticed your grinds fill up nice and tall in the middle and then you place your distributer directly on it. As a result, you compacting the middle grounds by accident (the distributor can only distribute so much)--you are accidentally "pre-tamping." Also remember when you distribute don't add your own pressure downward, let the weight of the distributer do the work. By settling, distributing, and then tamping my shots have become more consistent and better.

[@HoonsCoffee]

Great point! So when you dosing, you press single dose and settle and then another single correct?

[@mexicanoflife]

@@HoonsCoffee Correct. The overall point is to end up with a flatter coffee bed to allow the distributer to work more effectively and therefore not permit the distributor to prematurely/accidentally tamp your coffee.

[@daisy180709]

@@mexicanoflife When he is grinding though he is shaking the portafilter to allow the mound to dissapate into the sides of the basket. Only way to tell would be to see the puck after extraction

[@2522james]

What do you mean when grinding the beans you put some in and settle and tamp it, then the rest and repeat? What you mean by single dose? (Iam new)

[@mexicanoflife]

@@2522james you just simply want to let the coffee fall into the basket as evenly and completely as possible filling every space. Shaking it for example helps with this. Then after all that you can apply the distributer or tamper. Just little things that help with technique that’s all.

[@runs_on_coffee]

Just found your site and I have the same machine, so it's great to find a channel that's in depth on the Breville Barista Express. Your cleaning video was great it reminded me that mine needed cleaning and I didn't have to pull out the Manuel to remember how to do it. I don't agree with others about using R.O. (Reverse Osmosis) water... I use it all the time. The water here has high concentration of lime in the water and the city dumps enough Chloramines in the water you can smell it from the tap, so an R.O. system removes those nasty elements. I have several saltwater fish tanks so water purity is high on my list and minerals in water are bad news in a saltwater tank so I also have to use a deionizer as well for the water to the aquarium. Minerals are not completely removed by a R.O. system it takes a deionization filter to remove minerals. My water will still have about 10 to 12 parts per million after the R.O. process and thats what I use in the Barista Express. All those other nasty elements the city pours into your water to make sure it's safe & drinkable I feel ruins the flavor or changes the flavor. I learned a lot watching your channel especially if the extraction taste bitter. Can't wait to try your tips.

[@clydefortune3405]

Nice thing you demonstrated that only changing 1 position of grind setting makes difference

[@burakhoroz9984]

Hoon Hi, This is Burak from Turkey. Thank you very much for the precious informations and videos. No need to read the manual, you describe all very successfully at your channel. Kind Regards

[@HoonsCoffee]

Thank you for watching!

[@einsaan]

I have been using the same machine for over 4 years now and I must say getting consistent perfect extractions are difficult. There are too many factors that effect the extraction and in my case it is usually the coffee beans. Even same coffee beans out of the same bag would need retweaking of dose, grind, extraction time or tamping pressure if they get a bit old. I usually follow the same procedure of shaking the porta filter while dosing and then tapping it on kitchen counter to settle grinds before tamping. I use grind size of 4 and dosage quantity at 11 o'clock position. I usually use Lavazza type of bagged beans but occasionally get freshly roasted ones too.

[@HoonsCoffee]

Do you have any issues with mechanically over the years?

[@einsaan]

@@HoonsCoffee Nothing significant so far. Once I had issues with the grinder giving inconsistent grind and dosage but I cleaned it thoroughly just like you did and everything is fine since then.

[@fadedxdreamer0]

Thanks for this video, very helpful! I have the Breville Barista Pro, it is really trial and error. I’ve seen people use 18-21g for the coffee grounds - is that the standard?

[@ami.ability]

Hey 👋🏼 I bought a Breville espresso machine, The Bambino so I wanna buy a tamper. What's your suggestion? Which size of tamper do you recommend? 53, 53.3~5 or 54mm? Thanks for respond

[@airrun76]

Hoon, really appreciate you sharing your love of making espresso. Just got my Barista Express . Used about 2 pounds of coffee dialing in, so far. I was practicing with store bought Dunkin' Donuts. The B.E. grinder could not get Dunkin' bean fine enough to build pressure with this coffee (under-extracted and sour). I adjusted top burr down to 1 and grind size dial to 1 so that was far as I could take it. I had to use my Capresso grinder to get fine enough grind to get pressure high on the B.E. for the Dunkin' beans. The grind is so fine that it doesn't fill basket as much as coarser grind does. I switched to a local roasted bean brand only 6 days old. Much better results happening now. I've moved burr to about 3 and grind size dial to 7. This morning, got a decent shot (18g dose, 2.72 yield, infusion 11.8 seconds, extract time 28.4s, total brew time 40.25s). So, moving in right direction. I'm realizing that the grind size does effect how "full" the basket will be toward top edge with the tamped coffee. I feel like I'm too fine still as the tamper line (this is the Barista Express tamper that comes with it) goes below top of porta-filter basket line creating more head room between coffee and screen of group of. I'm wondering how close to top line of basket should tamped coffee be? Is it good to go up in grind size and tamp harder? Or is this just preference and experimentation? Tamping pressure really makes a difference in proper extraction I am discovering. Thanks again for you videos.

[@HoonsCoffee]

In the begging of dialing beans you do waste a lot but that is part of fun owning an espresso machine. Get some LaVazza coffee and practice on it. It is a lot better than Dunkin. Once you're feel comfortable with dialing in then start buying some local roasted beans.

[@airrun76]

@@HoonsCoffee I will try that. Thank you.

[@AvivRaphael]

Cute cat!

[@chucklombardi67]

Is there a list of optimal grind sizes for this machine the popular Whole Bean Espressos? There must be something somewhere.

[@HandmadeCreations]

It's a machine. I love mine. My husband got it for me last Christmas. I had to take it back because it didn't work right. So I ordered a new one that was on backorder for nearly 7 weeks because they had sold out during Christmas. The second one I got works great. It seems to need an adjustment on the amount of water it brews. It doesn't always short me on my water. Maybe I am doing something wrong. Is there a way to adjust the water? I love watching your video's, you are always my go to for learning how to use my machine. You do a great job with your tutorials. Easy to learn and understand. Thank you for all you do.

[@HoonsCoffee]

Thank you for watching!

[@S.MESHAL]

In your opinion what is the best grinding setting, Also what is the best packed coffee beans you bought until now. love your videos by the way keep up.

[@HoonsCoffee]

That is very difficult question to answer. Depends on bean quality, moisture in the air, and water temps. Or just use pressurized basket and not worried about anything. So far I loved the Caffe Espresso the best.

[@charlietighe]

Have you looked into the palm tamps, similar looking to the distributor? Curious to if they would be better since they have a hard stop.

[@RIP662]

Great Videos! I've had mine for a few days. It's an upgrade from my Capresso Pro with a Bottomless Portafilter. I needed a grinder and for a little more, the BES870XL has it built in, so why not save counter space! Anyway, I'm struggling pulling single wall single shots. I notice there is about 0.25-.4 ounces of liquid extraction happening during the pre-infusion. Since the it's not a bottomless, I can't really tell what is happening but suspect this is due to the edges and the slope. When I do a single wall double shot, it works fine and nothing escapes during the pre-infusion, which might be due to the thickness of the puck. I'm going to buy a spare BES870 portafilter and drillout the bottom to have a bottomless one, but that's a future project. Can you do a video showing how you pull a single wall single shot? I've tried all the tricks from grind to tamp and I still get some runoff. I haven't tried different beans, but like I said, I have no issue with the single wall double shot or my Capresso bottomless... Thanks!

[@HoonsCoffee]

Try Baratza coffee grinder. They are pretty good! Using single shot is pretty tricky. Let me work on it this weekend. Thank you for watching by the way!

[@lindaadoff-valdez8011]

Hi; we have had our machine for about 1 month, first making very BITTER coffee. Now we are able to follow some of what is going on more clearly. Here is my current problem; 1. grind, 2. tamp well and evenly, but on 3. after making my expresso shot, there is still a layer of water that has not gone through the porta filter. I assume this is lack of pressure, how do I check or adjust? Thank you for your response.

[@HoonsCoffee]

What kind of bean are you using it now?

[@daisy180709]

This could be a couple of things , how quick are you removing the portafilter after extraction ? You can try grinding it one notch coarser but mainly how is your coffee tasting ? if it is good , dont worry about it .

[@AvivRaphael]

Hi, didnt you say the best dosing control is made by the dosing wheel tool?

[@HoonsCoffee]

You mean distribution tool? There is no perfect way to do it. Just trial and error! But it is fun doing it!

[@AvivRaphael]

@@HoonsCoffee but the distribution tool is essential right?

[@HoonsCoffee]

@@AvivRaphael Not really but it is very usefully when you starting learn how to making good espresso. Take out the guess work.

[@AvivRaphael]

@@HoonsCoffee ok. I bought it on Ali express so waiting for it

[@mrsbevoi]

Hi Mr. Hoon, I have this type of machine since 2018 but I’ve never known how to make a good espresso shot until I found your channel. I did learn alot from your videos, thank you very much for all your hard work on posting those videos. Could you please also help me with one problem I am having now?These few days when I made my espresso, it didn’t drip all out, I still see the coffee ground very wet, left a little water on the top of the coffee ground. I don’t know how to fix it, please help. I am using Starbucks Espresso Dark Roast Beans. And it’s pretty bitter as well.

[@HoonsCoffee]

I had a same issues with Starbucks espresso. It is the bean. Do you have local roaster near by? If not, try Good Brothers Coffee 25% Off- goodbrotherscoffee.com/discount/hoon25. I really like Sumatra from Good Brothers. From Amazon, I really like LaVazza.

[@mrsbevoi]

Hoon's Coffee oh I see, I don’t know if we have any local roaster near by but I will try the link you gave me. Thank you very much for your kindness of responding to my message, wish you have a great weekend.

[@danielrece9775]

why are you using your scale to weigh only what goes into the grinder.. you can put 20g in and get 17 out one time and 22g out the second time on that specific grinder. hit the hopper once and 3 more grams fall out..

[@rottiejakeluke]

Does the tool to set the leveler come with the leveler? I did not see it when looking at the link???? Thanks

[@HoonsCoffee]

I got the leveler from Amazon.amzn.to/2PPxzGz

[@yuiotre]

I just thought of an idea for consistent tamping pressure. What if you placed the porta filter with grind for the last step of tamping onto the scale, zero-ed it out, and then applied tamping pressure to precise 30g?

[@toshevmstr]

Hello! IF I use the razor I cant reach the pressure levels. What I should adjust ?

[@HoonsCoffee]

Check out the video tomorrow. I'll address the pressure issues.

[@icewolfy1]

Lol I was just about to ask what happened to your grinder! Oh well, your kitchen looks much more clean without it! Love your videos as always, and it's great to see your subscription number grow by every video!

[@HoonsCoffee]

I know. I'll be making new video about my new grinder this week. I just got it last night. It works this time.

[@analynsonvlogs2296]

Thank you for sharing💕 I learned a lot New friend here 😊

[@HoonsCoffee]

Thank you for watching!

[@AvivRaphael]

So im gonna use the razor and distribution tool like you, just waiting for it to come.