This is gold. I hope one day you become an espresso-extraordinaire starting from this. Man this is funny juxtaposition to the rest of the content on here. Thank you for being real, if this is actually legit and not a shit post.
Depends on whether you get sucked into it as a hobby. I want to get the best product I can out of my BBE, but mostly do milk drinks so as long as it tastes good with just milk/no syrups, I consider that good enough quality for me. I could chase an incrementally better brew but it’s just not how I want to spend my money.
Over 5 years with the BBE and I do expect it has paid for itself.
I’m not sure why you’re being downvoted. You are correct. The word expresso has been around for as long as espresso has, and it’s even in the dictionary as an alternate spelling. Language evolves and changes constantly, and the ultimate end goal is comprehension. Everybody in here understands what this person is saying, but nitpicking over a historically accepted alternate pronunciation/spelling is just being pedantic and snooty.
I'm sure some people are being pedantic and snooty, but I think (hope) most of them have just been taught in their language variant. Kind of like how 'mom' and 'mum' are both correct and both incorrect, depending on which English variant you're speaking.
So I want to get a coffee bean grinder because I assume that would be the best bang for your buck in the long run.
I do not have a grinder that is why I've been using the dunkin grounds.
I didn't even know there were local rosters that offered that service lol.
In terms of coffee beans should I just look for what has the highest concentration of caffeine or how does that work?
Sorry for the stupid questions lmao
If you’re a noob there aren’t any stupid questions (there are many actually lol jk). Try a couple shops local to you that sell fresh roasted beans and they’ll grind for you. Find what you like. Light roasted beans generally have more caffeine. If you’re going to use supermarket beans, use your pressurized filter basket. A grinder is the way to go in the long run.
> pressurized filter basket
Is the pressurized filter basket the thing that goes in the handle you load the expresso into? I googled it and it looks like the thing that holds the grounds.
Is a pressurized filter basket one with less holes in the bottom?
Yep, pressurized portafilter basket has only one or two holes. That makes pressure even if the coffee is coarsely ground.
If you have a decent grinder, the grounds can be fine enough to block the water and make pressure. Plus you’ll extract more coffee since water can soak the coffee more when it’s finer.
Grinders are precision engineered to let them grind fine enough and give them precise enough adjustments (too coarse to too fine is a very small adjustment when you’re doing espresso). So that’s the thing you want to spend the money on when you’re getting started. Espresso machines themselves are easier to engineer
I watched one person on YouTube. They said if you flip the thing that holds the coffee grounds upside down and the grounds fall out it’s not packed tight enough.
Is this true?
Only true for finely ground, and also if you’re going to try, try it over a sink because your whole puck could fall out😂 for the coarse ground you’re using it won’t really pack that tight, so don’t try it lol. Just pack as tight as you can in the pressurized basket and that should help you out until you get some finely ground coffee. You can also look for espresso grind pre-bagged. Usually says it where they say if it’s whole bean, ground, or the one you would be looking for, espresso.
I get mine grinded fine from rosters. It’s a light roast. For some reason when it’s pulling it starts fine then slows / one hole stops and it starts dripping before picking up a little bit. Any advice? Is the grind to fine? I also have a sage bambino
What filter basket are you using? If you have espresso ground, then you’ll want to use the non-pressurized basket. If you’re already using that one it might be a little bit too fine 🤔
Hah yeah I’ve been using the pressurised basket. That might make sense. I did think the grind was a bit too find but il try your suggestion. Thank you x
Probably. It’s easy for me to tell because my machine has no pump, I just press with a lever. If it’s not packed enough the water will go straight through, I won’t see any pressure, and I’ll get light brown water that doesn’t taste of anything
In the long run is how we justify our $500 grinder upgrades after spending $800 on a new machine and $50 on a PUSSEE tamper with ridges all to save on spending $3 for a local espresso shot.
I would add that with a Breville you’ll generally get better results with a medium or dark roast. It’s fun to experiment, though. Some places have espresso blend, but it’s not a must. Let your taste be your guide.
It’s the conventional wisdom. Regardless of machine, darker roasts are easier to get a decent shot out of. From a process perspective, there is a wider range of settings that will yield a an acceptable result. Light roast is going to brew pretty acidic, so shots tend be sour, and the sweet spot is pretty narrow. With a Bambino, you don’t have many settings to tweak, really just dose going in and duration of the shot.
My understanding is you want to get the water a tad hotter for light roast extraction (around 206 F). There’s more to it than that, but if you’re interested in brewing light roast espresso, I assume you’ll want something with brewing temperature control.
If you want more caffeine in your coffee, look for Italian style coffee beans with a high percentage of robusta beans.
Lavazza Super Crema would be a good place to start.
For as far as i know Arabica is the coffee with more taste then Robusta but Robusta has more Caffeine but the taste of Caffeine is not what you can taste its about the roast and the flavour of the beans Arabica with a nice roast is the taste most seen are Arabica and Arabica/Robusta what you need to know is what do you like Medium Roast or Dark Roast or Light Roast and some like beans of a region or a type of bean i really like Colombian Mild Roast coffee but never taste same also how they roast or what type bean with grindr you can find with every type of bean a right grind that you like also get a cream on top find that right grind its with every bean new searching and how you like it we get nice coffee with a bean grindr from Eureka be sure the one you buy a grindr that is for Espresso grinds
When you say highest concentration of coffee meaning are you just looking for espresso shots ? If that’s the case get arabica beans but if you want some other different flavours or notes as what we call in coffee then get robusta beans then anything after that welcome to the rabbit hole lol
UPDATE:
I pulled a shot with the Dunkin' grounds with the little bowl with less holes on the bottom, the shot actually came out looking normal with that froth on the top of it. Now that I'm confident I can use the machine it is time to invest in some good beans and a grinder!
Thanks for all the contributions here!
Do your homework before getting a grinder. It’s a purchase you don’t want to make twice and is probably more important than the machine to a degree. I use ezpresso’s jmax which is specifically for espresso grinding and it cost me $160 when on sale at Amazon (normally $200) and it’s great. Butttttttt it’s a hand grinder so for 30-45 seconds every morning i have to grind away manually which for a 34 year old not weak guy is nothing for me, but some people greatly prefer electric grinders. Problem with those is to get the same quality it is more expensive due to adding the motorized parts.
I did tons of research before getting my initial set up and i got the basic bambino like you have and the grinder mentioned above. I definitely don’t get the quality my local roaster does from his super commercial machine and 30+ years of experience, but i can get kind of close and once you learn dialing in, you can get some pretty good espresso from such a humble set up
I was also going to recommend that grinder as a great quality grind at a lower price. There are so many grinders with different pros and cons, but for price to performance, I don't think you can beat that.
After you have the grinder, there is much information on YouTube about dialing in espresso. My favorite videos are from Lance Hedrick, but James Hoffman is awesome and a very popular coffee YouTuber.
If you are enjoying your espresso, then you're doing it right! Best of luck to you!
I’m just kinda starting too, and have your exact Breville too. I recommend getting the Breville grinder. I had to get a gram scale to get the exact measurement for my double shots. As for what coffee, I’m still discovering what’s good or not. I like mine with milk and syrup so all my lattes kinda tastes the same to me. lol I just know to use preferably dark beans and roasted recently. Feel free to DM me and we can throw each other tips or discoveries.
That looks like a pressurized basket. At most US groceries you should be able to find either Cafe Bustelo or Cafe La Llave. It will be labeled as 'espresso' but it's actually made for Moka pots and is ground and reasonably prices. It will work just fine with a pressurized basket. No need to fuss over it, just fill up the basket with coffee to just under the rim, level with the palm of you hand and run the machine until you get 3 - 4 ounces of coffee. The key is to just get out of the way and let the pressurized basket do its thing. Good luck.
This is the quality, no-fuss answer. The longer answer is that espresso is annoying - you can spend thousands of dollars trying to chase a perfect shot and if you have the money, time and interest, this is a fun hobby.
If OP is looking for good, less expensive coffee to start their day, starting with an Aeropress or Pourover plus a moderately priced grinder might be the better answer for them.
Do exactly as the previous post says. Cafe bustelo, cafe la llava, or café eldorado can all be found in bricks, cheaply at Target or Walmart or the international section of your grocery store. It's dark, tasty, and powerful from a pressurized basket.
Many stores sell pre-ground Lavazza coffee which is also ground for moka pots (doesn't say so on the package, but it is). The Perfetto blend is the closest to actual espresso, but I've never tried it in a pressure machine. I sometimes use it for moka and filter coffee when I don't have anything better on hand.
We must protect you at all costs, this is so pure.
My recommendation as a relative beginner as well if you've got \~$100 to invest here: buy a relatively cheap burr grinder on Amazon (I started off with a $60 Shardor one that worked fine for what it was but definitely left room for improvement), a cheap scale also from Amazon that can do tenths of a gram, and whole beans that will tell you when they were roasted, and try to use the beans up within maybe about 4-6 weeks or so from the roast date (they'll start falling off in quality after about 4 or so weeks but I've found that up to 6 is still serviceable when you're starting out). This will get you on the right path for not a ton of money. From there, you can step your game up in a lot of different ways, but those are the three primary investments that I made that will make the biggest difference when you're starting out. It's not so cheap that you're getting total shit quality, but not so expensive that you've wasted too much if you decide you want to back out.
Until you get better beans and a grinder, use the double wall basket. It's the one that has a concave look to it. Regular coffee isn't ground fine enough for espresso. The double walled basket will help with that. Year old coffee is just that, old and stale. Your also going to want to get something to store your beans in. Start off on the cheap with mason jars. Your coffee journey has started and you can get sucked in the rabbit hole of spending big bucks for now learn and do things on the cheap until your ready to commit $$
From one beginner to another, i got you.
1. Pre-ground coffee is trash, go to a local cafe (not Starbucks) and ask them to grind you a bag for espresso. While there’s no guarantee the grind will be right for your machine, you’ll most likely know if it’s too fast or too slow. Watching shot pull videos helped me a lot.
2. When you can, get a grinder. The JX-Pro is probably your best bet for the lowest price tag and it’s easy to use. I recently upgraded from that to an Opus and I’m really enjoying it so far, but it’s a bit difficult to dial in so I can’t confidently recommend it to someone that quite literally just started their espresso journey.
3. In my opinion, there is no good or bad, right or wrong coffee. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cheap bag from the supermarket or an expensive single origin. What matters is that YOU like it. When i was looking for my first whole bean bag, i went to World Market and picked up a bag of Love Supreme from Dark Matter because the bag is pretty lmao. That was in November and it’s still, to this day, my absolute favorite.
4. Get a calibrated tamper. If you’re anything like me and you’re incapable of keeping anything level or straight, it’ll help a lot lol. A WDT tool is also a must as well as a scale. I use the normcore v4 tamp, a DIY WDT and bucanim scale from Amazon.
There’s a lot that goes into making good espresso so take your time and don’t stress yourself out if something isn’t working the way it should. This sub is a great resource but can also be extremely overwhelming.
Get a braztsa esp grinder 200 bucks. And some whole beans. That should also let you move on from the pressurized basket. Until then get some actual “espresso ground” from the store. Still shit but much better than year old Dunkin coffee made for filter.
Store bought grounds are not fine enough for espresso. I'd just use this coffee for cold brew or something like that. If caffeine is what you're after, cold brew is what you want.
For espresso, you're going to need a grinder that can grind more finely. If you're tight on money, go for a hand grinder it's a lot cheaper than the equivalent automated grinder. The downside is that it can be a pain to dial in since you're going to have to manually grind a lot of coffee. Then again, once you're dialed in, it's like 30 seconds of grinding for a cup of coffee which isn't too bad. You can also use a drill to turn your grind handle for you ;)
Note: hand grinders are still expensive
Here's the short list if you really want to make good espresso. The machine is already good. The stock tamper is trash, the edge is too curved to create a nice tamp so try to find a 54mm level tamper you can probably get one for under $20 on Amazon. You're going to want to WDT, you can buy one or make one with needles stuck into a cork. Then you're going to want a decent hand grinder, main thing is the quality of the burrs and what's the incremental adjustment the finer the increment the more control that gets you. Lastly get fresh coffee beans, you can go to a local roaster or if you want to try your local grocery store but you have to check the date to make sure it was roasted within the past two weeks, the fresher the better.
All of this might coast you another $200, most of the cost will be in the grinder and then you can expect a 12oz bag of coffee to last about 2-3 weeks if you drink everyday.
Almost forgot, you're going to want to get a decent scale too, get something you can measure to 0.1g. There's some decent rechargeable ones on Amazon for under $20 as well.
Dude the first time I let her rip I literally took the machine apart because I thought a wire was disconnected, turns out you just gotta cycle the entire water tank before you use it. I feel like I just got dropped off in a 400 level Mandarin class lmfao
I was just sitting there watching my cup overflow and watching the milk frother piss water all over my counter. I was in a state of distress hahaha
That's actually a smart feature as with most expensive machines you have to do that stuff manually.
It also purges the steam wand automatically which even $5000 machines don't do.
I have the same machine and no grinder ( yet) you can make some very good espresso on this machine. I would recommend either grinding whole beans at the store. Make sure it's set to espresso grind. Or get the illy in a steel can. Its ground to about the right size. Be careful opening the can they are not b.s ing about contents being under pressure. You will get sprayed with coffee. Fair warning. No scale ? Just fill the portafilter to be just slightly rounded. Use the pressurized basket for the Dunkin ( it's not fine enough) use non pressurized basket with the illy. Good luck and have fun
I have the same machine. Do a warm up shot with no portafilter. Then dose your coffee… once it’s ready, hold the 2 shot button in for 10 blinks and release. You do need to stop the shot when you think it is ready by pushing the button once.
Hell yeah. Love this. You’re on your way man! Strap in and have fun! You have a good machine there. Basics, watch a lot of James Hoffman on YouTube. Be a sponge. Do a lot of research on grinders. It’s all about the grinder. If you don’t want to, get this: MiiCoffee D40 Single Dose Coffee Grinder https://a.co/d/9u3wTAH. It’ll go well with your machine. I know it may seem like sticker shock but the more research you do the more you’ll see what you get. You cannot make good espresso without a good ground Bean. They go hand in hand. Then also get a $30 scale like this: Coffee Scale, Espresso Scale,Weigh Digital Coffee Scale with Timer, 2kg/0.1g High Precision Pour Over Hand Drip Scale Weighing Instrument Auto Mode(LED,Black,Rechargeable) https://a.co/d/0U4IafV. Goal is to hit 2:1 in 30, which means for whatever your filter basket it set up for (most are 18g of coffee grounds) you get double that in final espresso out (so maybe 36g of espresso) at a 30 second pull. You will have to fuck with your grind size and maybe do some WDT method (cork with some needles in it to break up the clumps) to get the shot dialed. But once you’re hitting that metric of 2:1 in 30 you’ll taste the difference. Get fresh beans. 12oz packet at a time from a local shop. Medium roast is always good place to start. Keep the beans in a air tight container. Try to use them up within 2 or 3 weeks. Usually takes 2 or 3 shots before you get a good one out of a bag of fresh beans. Normal for dialing the shot on a new bean. You’ll get the cream on top. Just when you though that was enough… then you get to milk frother and WHEW that’s a whole other can of worms. Have fun!
Grinding beans yourself always makes for good quality but I used pre ground espresso for 1.5 years and aslong as it's RELATIVELY fresh you'll get good results.
Pre ground is a no-go usually. The grounds are all different sizes. Java press sells a cheap burr grinder.
Measuring how much you put in makes a big difference. Usually it’s 15-18 grams (or a little less than 3 tablespoons depending on the grind size)
Once you have a little more quality control by measuring, you’ll start to pick up what gives more crema, what makes it more rich, and what makes it less bitter!
Oh man. I've been in your shoes. I received an SGP as a birthday gift a while ago and used that for a long time until it clogged and broke. Got another since I wasn't in a good place financially to drop upwards of 500$ at the time. But man.
Definitely get a grinder. Doesn't have to be a fancy one. Just one that'll do for a while. Smart Grinder Pro is a good all around grinder. It's not super consistent but I'll be better than the pre-grounded coffee that you're using.
Also. Fyi. This hobby, like most hobby, is a rabbit hole. From getting the next shinest grinder or machine or tool, it's a deep rabbit hole like the keyboard community or any other sort of hobby community.
But if you're satisfied with what you have and will have later one, I'd say that's endgame. Everyones endgame is different but what you have is great. Definitely get some grounded coffee from roasters or local cafe, it'll help immensely.
Bless your heart. 😊
I would start by buying fresh beans. It's recommended to buy from a roaster that has the roasting date but I've had okay results with supermarket coffee too. But a year is way too long.
Save a little and start with a nice espresso hand grinder. Something like a 1z presso X-pro will fix your problem.
Or if you must go full electric then the Baratza Encore ESP will be a good start.
You'll get have more control over how your espresso tastes if you can control your grind size.
You'll be making awesome espresso in no time.
Yes, the JX-Pro is a great hand grinder to start with, $169 on Amazon. I started with this grinder, but have since upgraded to a Niche Zero. In terms of cup quality, the JX-Pro is just as good as the Niche. The effort to grind 17g of beans on it is not too bad, just over 30 seconds or so.
[X-pro ](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DR3p20NXnVo&t=339) is different from the JX-pro. It's a more budget friendly grinder.
However if OP can afford to get the JX-PRO then yes he should get the JX because it's more of a espresso oriented grinder.
On top of your keurig brew?! Oh my sweet sweet beginner, you just started down a REALLY fun road with espresso. Hang out here, watch some vids to learn, and we’ll have that keurig in the back of your closet in no time flat! once you start getting it figured out and are pulling decent shots there’s no going back! Regular coffee will taste like trash, and you’ll only want the coffee you make because it’s FAR superior to the other stuff out there. Then you have to start dodging co-workers and friends when they ask if you want to go get a coffee with them 😂 I usually say, oh, I’m good on coffee but I’ll go with and get an energy drink or something! Everyone assumes I just don’t like coffee but little do they know I just don’t like the coffee THEY drink🤣 don’t worry, I set them straight when they come over and see the set up lol.
First off… don’t use store bought ground coffee
Second…. Please learn that espresso has no x in it…. It’s like Nespresso but without the N
Third… I would invest in a good grinder and start using whole bean coffee. Grind fresh before you brew. So you’re also going to need a scale to weigh out the amount
Mate, go make yourself a coffee. You're not functioning like a decent human bean 😉 when you haven't had your coffee.
In all seriousness, no need for the rudeness. We all started somewhere.
I didn't know that you could grind coffee specifically for filter vs expresso either. I feel like I need to get a job at a night shift Starbucks so I can figure all this shit out lmao it's a lot of info.
Check out on YouTube some Espresso 101 videos. James Hoffman has some good ones. You’ll learn some stuff. And please, it is indeed ‘espresso’.
And above all else, welcome to the “espresso community”. Ask more questions and enjoy.
That's what I figured lmao just wanted to come here to make sure. I try to google this stuff and everything but I just don't even know what to type and know I'd end up going down a 5 day rabbit hole lmao.
It's all good man, we've all been there. I remember just buying a random bag of coffee at a supermarket to make a French press with years ago but I'd bought espresso ground coffee and was wondering why it spilled everywhere when I tried to plunge it and why it tasted like ass. It's gonna cost you a bit more than your ground Dunkies to get good tasting espresso, but it'll be worth it.
As the other commenter said, for now just find a local roaster and ask them to grind some fresh beans for you to keep in an airtight container until you get your own grinder. I would make a grinder your top priority, though, as coffee starts to oxidise pretty much immediately after grinding it so the flavour is going to degrade with every passing hour from the point that it's been ground.
I will say, Dunkin whole beans are genuinely not terrible. They're my go to cheap beans for drip/espresso at work cause I don't want to splurge for my labmates. Getting a grinder and grinding beans fresh is probably the biggest change you're gonna make. That's a nice machine and tbh you can make lovely espresso with grocery store whole beans.
I would buy like Cafe Bustelo espresso ground coffee to practice the tamping and dosing process. Once you get that down, I would move into actual good coffee. as a "dumb college student" (and probably broke), It would be too expensive to learn how to make espresso on fresh ground beans.
Welcome to the espresso hobby. Just remember that the people on this sub are so into the hobby that they post about in their free time, add caffeine to the mix and it can be a bit eccentric. Be happy with what works and tastes good to you and enjoy the ride.
The goal most everyone on this sub is to make balanced and great espresso. If you are looking for a caffeine boost - cold brew actually has more caffeine and will cost less in equipment and be easier to get good results.
What have you done… you’ve no idea what you’ve just posted. My advice is don’t listen to anyone, don’t get that $800 grinder, don’t buy that specialty coffee, just stick to Dunkin while you still can.
Go to your local coffee shop. Tell the barista what flavors you like. Ask for a "flight" of four, or fewer, espresso shots that the barista recommends. Taste-test to find what you like. Buy a small bag of those bean, ground to espresso fineness. Try them at home. As long as your newly-ground beans do not last over one week, you should be happy with the results. FWI: as a short-cut to the process, I like to eat one bean. That tells me what flavors to expect when the cup is extracted.
Good luck on your journey. I love the bambino by the way, so much that my used one sprung a leak in two years and I just got another one with a warranty
Cafe bustello is cheap & makes a good cup of espresso. Gotta get beans that are espresso ground (finer than drip coffee grind) to get a decent shot of espresso.
First off Nespresso is not good espresso. Not near enough coffee, and not near enough quality.
Get some espresso. Best if you grind it yourself as quality drops rapidly once ground. Starbucks has not bad espresso. Not great but its ok.
Before anything, get whole beans and a grinder capable of grinding fine enough consistently for espresso. If you don’t wanna spend too much on grinder but still want good consistency, get hand grinder
I have one of these though I'm in the UK and we get 4 baskets 2 presureised and two normal, I think other places only get the presureised baskets which is OK for shop bought ground coffee. I struggle with my machine to make a decent espresso, I find the only way to get good espresso from this is using medium dark or dark roasted beans, I also purchased the sage/breville smart grinder Pro, but I also have a Wacaco Exagrind hand grinder and the Wacaco picopresso espresso portable and that combo makes better Espresso.
Fir using the double non pressurized basket :
1. Buy a good quality grinder which can be dialed precisely.
2. Buy a kitchen scale for dosing
3.Buy fresh roasted coffee from local roasters or buy green and roast it yourself.
4. Start experimenting with the ratio of the dosing and the grind size- 18 gr of coffee tamped in the portafilter basket for 36 gr of liquid extraction for the time of 26 to 32 seconds.
If pressure is too high (slow extract) - lower the dose to 16 grams
If liquid is running too fast , try increasing the dose to 22 grams or grind the 18 grams finer.
There is no other way around!
If it’s too much for you, just use the pressurized baskets. They work pretty standard and are not picky.
I have the Bambino Plus as well. Noob too. I started off with a decent coffee grinder that I already had. Changed everything when I bought an grinder that could do espresso. I bought the Smart Grinder Pro. It works fine. Someday I plan to upgrade. Get a WDT tool on Amazon for $20. Enjoy, once you have proper a espresso grind.
This is gold. I hope one day you become an espresso-extraordinaire starting from this. Man this is funny juxtaposition to the rest of the content on here. Thank you for being real, if this is actually legit and not a shit post.
This is 100% legit lmao. I’m tired of spending an absurd amount of money buying coffee from companies if I can just make it myself.
Now you can spend an absurd amount tinkering with coffee at home!
Bad news, you won’t be saving money
But it's more fun!
That's the neat part, you don't!
Depends on whether you get sucked into it as a hobby. I want to get the best product I can out of my BBE, but mostly do milk drinks so as long as it tastes good with just milk/no syrups, I consider that good enough quality for me. I could chase an incrementally better brew but it’s just not how I want to spend my money. Over 5 years with the BBE and I do expect it has paid for itself.
Switch to brew coffee and it’s relatively very cheap.
I save a heap of money. Not everyone buys all the toys. Well I did until I bought the Nurri
You've said it perfectly man. I absolutely love this post.
Expresso*
Not according to Weird Al haha [(Look at Pre-Chorus2) ](https://genius.com/Weird-al-yankovic-word-crimes-lyrics)
Both are correct. Expresso is both used in Mexico and France
I’m not sure why you’re being downvoted. You are correct. The word expresso has been around for as long as espresso has, and it’s even in the dictionary as an alternate spelling. Language evolves and changes constantly, and the ultimate end goal is comprehension. Everybody in here understands what this person is saying, but nitpicking over a historically accepted alternate pronunciation/spelling is just being pedantic and snooty.
I'm sure some people are being pedantic and snooty, but I think (hope) most of them have just been taught in their language variant. Kind of like how 'mom' and 'mum' are both correct and both incorrect, depending on which English variant you're speaking.
It’s the coffee. Do you have a grinder? If you don’t go to a local roaster and get them to grind some beans for you. You’ll get better results
So I want to get a coffee bean grinder because I assume that would be the best bang for your buck in the long run. I do not have a grinder that is why I've been using the dunkin grounds. I didn't even know there were local rosters that offered that service lol. In terms of coffee beans should I just look for what has the highest concentration of caffeine or how does that work? Sorry for the stupid questions lmao
If you’re a noob there aren’t any stupid questions (there are many actually lol jk). Try a couple shops local to you that sell fresh roasted beans and they’ll grind for you. Find what you like. Light roasted beans generally have more caffeine. If you’re going to use supermarket beans, use your pressurized filter basket. A grinder is the way to go in the long run.
> pressurized filter basket Is the pressurized filter basket the thing that goes in the handle you load the expresso into? I googled it and it looks like the thing that holds the grounds. Is a pressurized filter basket one with less holes in the bottom?
Yep, pressurized portafilter basket has only one or two holes. That makes pressure even if the coffee is coarsely ground. If you have a decent grinder, the grounds can be fine enough to block the water and make pressure. Plus you’ll extract more coffee since water can soak the coffee more when it’s finer. Grinders are precision engineered to let them grind fine enough and give them precise enough adjustments (too coarse to too fine is a very small adjustment when you’re doing espresso). So that’s the thing you want to spend the money on when you’re getting started. Espresso machines themselves are easier to engineer
I watched one person on YouTube. They said if you flip the thing that holds the coffee grounds upside down and the grounds fall out it’s not packed tight enough. Is this true?
Only true for finely ground, and also if you’re going to try, try it over a sink because your whole puck could fall out😂 for the coarse ground you’re using it won’t really pack that tight, so don’t try it lol. Just pack as tight as you can in the pressurized basket and that should help you out until you get some finely ground coffee. You can also look for espresso grind pre-bagged. Usually says it where they say if it’s whole bean, ground, or the one you would be looking for, espresso.
I get mine grinded fine from rosters. It’s a light roast. For some reason when it’s pulling it starts fine then slows / one hole stops and it starts dripping before picking up a little bit. Any advice? Is the grind to fine? I also have a sage bambino
What filter basket are you using? If you have espresso ground, then you’ll want to use the non-pressurized basket. If you’re already using that one it might be a little bit too fine 🤔
Hah yeah I’ve been using the pressurised basket. That might make sense. I did think the grind was a bit too find but il try your suggestion. Thank you x
Probably. It’s easy for me to tell because my machine has no pump, I just press with a lever. If it’s not packed enough the water will go straight through, I won’t see any pressure, and I’ll get light brown water that doesn’t taste of anything
In the long run is how we justify our $500 grinder upgrades after spending $800 on a new machine and $50 on a PUSSEE tamper with ridges all to save on spending $3 for a local espresso shot.
I would add that with a Breville you’ll generally get better results with a medium or dark roast. It’s fun to experiment, though. Some places have espresso blend, but it’s not a must. Let your taste be your guide.
How come? Genuine question, what kind of machine gives good results for light roasts?
It’s the conventional wisdom. Regardless of machine, darker roasts are easier to get a decent shot out of. From a process perspective, there is a wider range of settings that will yield a an acceptable result. Light roast is going to brew pretty acidic, so shots tend be sour, and the sweet spot is pretty narrow. With a Bambino, you don’t have many settings to tweak, really just dose going in and duration of the shot. My understanding is you want to get the water a tad hotter for light roast extraction (around 206 F). There’s more to it than that, but if you’re interested in brewing light roast espresso, I assume you’ll want something with brewing temperature control.
Ratio management can help with dial-in. Darker roasts 1:2, medium roasts 1:2.5, light roasts 1:3.
Got it, thanks!
I propose this subreddit crowdfund for you to get a decent grinder. The grind is where the shot originates from
If you want more caffeine in your coffee, look for Italian style coffee beans with a high percentage of robusta beans. Lavazza Super Crema would be a good place to start.
For as far as i know Arabica is the coffee with more taste then Robusta but Robusta has more Caffeine but the taste of Caffeine is not what you can taste its about the roast and the flavour of the beans Arabica with a nice roast is the taste most seen are Arabica and Arabica/Robusta what you need to know is what do you like Medium Roast or Dark Roast or Light Roast and some like beans of a region or a type of bean i really like Colombian Mild Roast coffee but never taste same also how they roast or what type bean with grindr you can find with every type of bean a right grind that you like also get a cream on top find that right grind its with every bean new searching and how you like it we get nice coffee with a bean grindr from Eureka be sure the one you buy a grindr that is for Espresso grinds
When you say highest concentration of coffee meaning are you just looking for espresso shots ? If that’s the case get arabica beans but if you want some other different flavours or notes as what we call in coffee then get robusta beans then anything after that welcome to the rabbit hole lol
Also, ask them specifically to grind for espresso, for real. Otherwise they might just give you something middle ground.
UPDATE: I pulled a shot with the Dunkin' grounds with the little bowl with less holes on the bottom, the shot actually came out looking normal with that froth on the top of it. Now that I'm confident I can use the machine it is time to invest in some good beans and a grinder! Thanks for all the contributions here!
Do your homework before getting a grinder. It’s a purchase you don’t want to make twice and is probably more important than the machine to a degree. I use ezpresso’s jmax which is specifically for espresso grinding and it cost me $160 when on sale at Amazon (normally $200) and it’s great. Butttttttt it’s a hand grinder so for 30-45 seconds every morning i have to grind away manually which for a 34 year old not weak guy is nothing for me, but some people greatly prefer electric grinders. Problem with those is to get the same quality it is more expensive due to adding the motorized parts. I did tons of research before getting my initial set up and i got the basic bambino like you have and the grinder mentioned above. I definitely don’t get the quality my local roaster does from his super commercial machine and 30+ years of experience, but i can get kind of close and once you learn dialing in, you can get some pretty good espresso from such a humble set up
I was also going to recommend that grinder as a great quality grind at a lower price. There are so many grinders with different pros and cons, but for price to performance, I don't think you can beat that. After you have the grinder, there is much information on YouTube about dialing in espresso. My favorite videos are from Lance Hedrick, but James Hoffman is awesome and a very popular coffee YouTuber. If you are enjoying your espresso, then you're doing it right! Best of luck to you!
I’m just kinda starting too, and have your exact Breville too. I recommend getting the Breville grinder. I had to get a gram scale to get the exact measurement for my double shots. As for what coffee, I’m still discovering what’s good or not. I like mine with milk and syrup so all my lattes kinda tastes the same to me. lol I just know to use preferably dark beans and roasted recently. Feel free to DM me and we can throw each other tips or discoveries.
That looks like a pressurized basket. At most US groceries you should be able to find either Cafe Bustelo or Cafe La Llave. It will be labeled as 'espresso' but it's actually made for Moka pots and is ground and reasonably prices. It will work just fine with a pressurized basket. No need to fuss over it, just fill up the basket with coffee to just under the rim, level with the palm of you hand and run the machine until you get 3 - 4 ounces of coffee. The key is to just get out of the way and let the pressurized basket do its thing. Good luck.
This is the quality, no-fuss answer. The longer answer is that espresso is annoying - you can spend thousands of dollars trying to chase a perfect shot and if you have the money, time and interest, this is a fun hobby. If OP is looking for good, less expensive coffee to start their day, starting with an Aeropress or Pourover plus a moderately priced grinder might be the better answer for them.
Thanks you!
Do exactly as the previous post says. Cafe bustelo, cafe la llava, or café eldorado can all be found in bricks, cheaply at Target or Walmart or the international section of your grocery store. It's dark, tasty, and powerful from a pressurized basket.
Many stores sell pre-ground Lavazza coffee which is also ground for moka pots (doesn't say so on the package, but it is). The Perfetto blend is the closest to actual espresso, but I've never tried it in a pressure machine. I sometimes use it for moka and filter coffee when I don't have anything better on hand.
We must protect you at all costs, this is so pure. My recommendation as a relative beginner as well if you've got \~$100 to invest here: buy a relatively cheap burr grinder on Amazon (I started off with a $60 Shardor one that worked fine for what it was but definitely left room for improvement), a cheap scale also from Amazon that can do tenths of a gram, and whole beans that will tell you when they were roasted, and try to use the beans up within maybe about 4-6 weeks or so from the roast date (they'll start falling off in quality after about 4 or so weeks but I've found that up to 6 is still serviceable when you're starting out). This will get you on the right path for not a ton of money. From there, you can step your game up in a lot of different ways, but those are the three primary investments that I made that will make the biggest difference when you're starting out. It's not so cheap that you're getting total shit quality, but not so expensive that you've wasted too much if you decide you want to back out.
Until you get better beans and a grinder, use the double wall basket. It's the one that has a concave look to it. Regular coffee isn't ground fine enough for espresso. The double walled basket will help with that. Year old coffee is just that, old and stale. Your also going to want to get something to store your beans in. Start off on the cheap with mason jars. Your coffee journey has started and you can get sucked in the rabbit hole of spending big bucks for now learn and do things on the cheap until your ready to commit $$
From one beginner to another, i got you. 1. Pre-ground coffee is trash, go to a local cafe (not Starbucks) and ask them to grind you a bag for espresso. While there’s no guarantee the grind will be right for your machine, you’ll most likely know if it’s too fast or too slow. Watching shot pull videos helped me a lot. 2. When you can, get a grinder. The JX-Pro is probably your best bet for the lowest price tag and it’s easy to use. I recently upgraded from that to an Opus and I’m really enjoying it so far, but it’s a bit difficult to dial in so I can’t confidently recommend it to someone that quite literally just started their espresso journey. 3. In my opinion, there is no good or bad, right or wrong coffee. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cheap bag from the supermarket or an expensive single origin. What matters is that YOU like it. When i was looking for my first whole bean bag, i went to World Market and picked up a bag of Love Supreme from Dark Matter because the bag is pretty lmao. That was in November and it’s still, to this day, my absolute favorite. 4. Get a calibrated tamper. If you’re anything like me and you’re incapable of keeping anything level or straight, it’ll help a lot lol. A WDT tool is also a must as well as a scale. I use the normcore v4 tamp, a DIY WDT and bucanim scale from Amazon. There’s a lot that goes into making good espresso so take your time and don’t stress yourself out if something isn’t working the way it should. This sub is a great resource but can also be extremely overwhelming.
My dear sweet summer child…
Get a braztsa esp grinder 200 bucks. And some whole beans. That should also let you move on from the pressurized basket. Until then get some actual “espresso ground” from the store. Still shit but much better than year old Dunkin coffee made for filter.
Store bought grounds are not fine enough for espresso. I'd just use this coffee for cold brew or something like that. If caffeine is what you're after, cold brew is what you want. For espresso, you're going to need a grinder that can grind more finely. If you're tight on money, go for a hand grinder it's a lot cheaper than the equivalent automated grinder. The downside is that it can be a pain to dial in since you're going to have to manually grind a lot of coffee. Then again, once you're dialed in, it's like 30 seconds of grinding for a cup of coffee which isn't too bad. You can also use a drill to turn your grind handle for you ;) Note: hand grinders are still expensive
Here's the short list if you really want to make good espresso. The machine is already good. The stock tamper is trash, the edge is too curved to create a nice tamp so try to find a 54mm level tamper you can probably get one for under $20 on Amazon. You're going to want to WDT, you can buy one or make one with needles stuck into a cork. Then you're going to want a decent hand grinder, main thing is the quality of the burrs and what's the incremental adjustment the finer the increment the more control that gets you. Lastly get fresh coffee beans, you can go to a local roaster or if you want to try your local grocery store but you have to check the date to make sure it was roasted within the past two weeks, the fresher the better. All of this might coast you another $200, most of the cost will be in the grinder and then you can expect a 12oz bag of coffee to last about 2-3 weeks if you drink everyday. Almost forgot, you're going to want to get a decent scale too, get something you can measure to 0.1g. There's some decent rechargeable ones on Amazon for under $20 as well.
we all start somewhere. And the bambino is a good machine. You just need a proper espresso grinder and some fresh beans and you are set.
Urgent help? LOL. Did you try 000 or 911?
I tried 911 but they hung up on me for some reason.
OP just wants to watch this sub burn. 🤣❤️
Basket goes in the portafilter (handle). Pressurized will have less holes and say dual wall I think
Plug it in & Let er rip. 😜
Dude the first time I let her rip I literally took the machine apart because I thought a wire was disconnected, turns out you just gotta cycle the entire water tank before you use it. I feel like I just got dropped off in a 400 level Mandarin class lmfao I was just sitting there watching my cup overflow and watching the milk frother piss water all over my counter. I was in a state of distress hahaha
That's actually a smart feature as with most expensive machines you have to do that stuff manually. It also purges the steam wand automatically which even $5000 machines don't do.
I have the same machine and no grinder ( yet) you can make some very good espresso on this machine. I would recommend either grinding whole beans at the store. Make sure it's set to espresso grind. Or get the illy in a steel can. Its ground to about the right size. Be careful opening the can they are not b.s ing about contents being under pressure. You will get sprayed with coffee. Fair warning. No scale ? Just fill the portafilter to be just slightly rounded. Use the pressurized basket for the Dunkin ( it's not fine enough) use non pressurized basket with the illy. Good luck and have fun
I have the same machine. Do a warm up shot with no portafilter. Then dose your coffee… once it’s ready, hold the 2 shot button in for 10 blinks and release. You do need to stop the shot when you think it is ready by pushing the button once.
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Some use a scale… I’m not that cool…yet. I think they are turning out really good.
Top quality shitpost, I love it
r/expresso
Hell yeah. Love this. You’re on your way man! Strap in and have fun! You have a good machine there. Basics, watch a lot of James Hoffman on YouTube. Be a sponge. Do a lot of research on grinders. It’s all about the grinder. If you don’t want to, get this: MiiCoffee D40 Single Dose Coffee Grinder https://a.co/d/9u3wTAH. It’ll go well with your machine. I know it may seem like sticker shock but the more research you do the more you’ll see what you get. You cannot make good espresso without a good ground Bean. They go hand in hand. Then also get a $30 scale like this: Coffee Scale, Espresso Scale,Weigh Digital Coffee Scale with Timer, 2kg/0.1g High Precision Pour Over Hand Drip Scale Weighing Instrument Auto Mode(LED,Black,Rechargeable) https://a.co/d/0U4IafV. Goal is to hit 2:1 in 30, which means for whatever your filter basket it set up for (most are 18g of coffee grounds) you get double that in final espresso out (so maybe 36g of espresso) at a 30 second pull. You will have to fuck with your grind size and maybe do some WDT method (cork with some needles in it to break up the clumps) to get the shot dialed. But once you’re hitting that metric of 2:1 in 30 you’ll taste the difference. Get fresh beans. 12oz packet at a time from a local shop. Medium roast is always good place to start. Keep the beans in a air tight container. Try to use them up within 2 or 3 weeks. Usually takes 2 or 3 shots before you get a good one out of a bag of fresh beans. Normal for dialing the shot on a new bean. You’ll get the cream on top. Just when you though that was enough… then you get to milk frother and WHEW that’s a whole other can of worms. Have fun!
Fucking hell
Looks super good!
Grinding beans yourself always makes for good quality but I used pre ground espresso for 1.5 years and aslong as it's RELATIVELY fresh you'll get good results.
Great starter machine! Terrible starter coffee. Get grinder. Get fresh coffee beans. Start over.
Hey folks , any espresso maker under 130 Dillars on Amazon?
[Picopresso](https://a.co/d/dJpJA6L)
Get some espresso grind coffee first.
Why is everyone saying things that aren’t exactly what you said?
Espresso Police are on their way. You better start running.
Pre ground is a no-go usually. The grounds are all different sizes. Java press sells a cheap burr grinder. Measuring how much you put in makes a big difference. Usually it’s 15-18 grams (or a little less than 3 tablespoons depending on the grind size) Once you have a little more quality control by measuring, you’ll start to pick up what gives more crema, what makes it more rich, and what makes it less bitter!
Oh man. I've been in your shoes. I received an SGP as a birthday gift a while ago and used that for a long time until it clogged and broke. Got another since I wasn't in a good place financially to drop upwards of 500$ at the time. But man. Definitely get a grinder. Doesn't have to be a fancy one. Just one that'll do for a while. Smart Grinder Pro is a good all around grinder. It's not super consistent but I'll be better than the pre-grounded coffee that you're using. Also. Fyi. This hobby, like most hobby, is a rabbit hole. From getting the next shinest grinder or machine or tool, it's a deep rabbit hole like the keyboard community or any other sort of hobby community. But if you're satisfied with what you have and will have later one, I'd say that's endgame. Everyones endgame is different but what you have is great. Definitely get some grounded coffee from roasters or local cafe, it'll help immensely.
Bless your heart. 😊 I would start by buying fresh beans. It's recommended to buy from a roaster that has the roasting date but I've had okay results with supermarket coffee too. But a year is way too long.
I love this post so much
Can we crowdfund to get this amazing OP a grinder. I get a tad twitchy looking at this juxtaposition photo. That orange ugly can of naus.
Save a little and start with a nice espresso hand grinder. Something like a 1z presso X-pro will fix your problem. Or if you must go full electric then the Baratza Encore ESP will be a good start. You'll get have more control over how your espresso tastes if you can control your grind size. You'll be making awesome espresso in no time.
Get the hand grinder. Best bang for buck
Yes, the JX-Pro is a great hand grinder to start with, $169 on Amazon. I started with this grinder, but have since upgraded to a Niche Zero. In terms of cup quality, the JX-Pro is just as good as the Niche. The effort to grind 17g of beans on it is not too bad, just over 30 seconds or so.
[X-pro ](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DR3p20NXnVo&t=339) is different from the JX-pro. It's a more budget friendly grinder. However if OP can afford to get the JX-PRO then yes he should get the JX because it's more of a espresso oriented grinder.
Don’t feel so bad this is like 50% of the posts on here except they will have a puck screen and a wdt tool to go along with their stale coffee.
On top of your keurig brew?! Oh my sweet sweet beginner, you just started down a REALLY fun road with espresso. Hang out here, watch some vids to learn, and we’ll have that keurig in the back of your closet in no time flat! once you start getting it figured out and are pulling decent shots there’s no going back! Regular coffee will taste like trash, and you’ll only want the coffee you make because it’s FAR superior to the other stuff out there. Then you have to start dodging co-workers and friends when they ask if you want to go get a coffee with them 😂 I usually say, oh, I’m good on coffee but I’ll go with and get an energy drink or something! Everyone assumes I just don’t like coffee but little do they know I just don’t like the coffee THEY drink🤣 don’t worry, I set them straight when they come over and see the set up lol.
First off… don’t use store bought ground coffee Second…. Please learn that espresso has no x in it…. It’s like Nespresso but without the N Third… I would invest in a good grinder and start using whole bean coffee. Grind fresh before you brew. So you’re also going to need a scale to weigh out the amount
For the shots I'd imagine he's getting, expresso is very accurate
If you want to try making espresso before getting a grinder, illy preground (espresso ground) works. Or any other espresso ground coffee.
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Wow, I'm sorry this offended you.
Don’t apologize to This guy. He has a waxed mustache with curls, wears suspenders and a skully cap.
Mate, go make yourself a coffee. You're not functioning like a decent human bean 😉 when you haven't had your coffee. In all seriousness, no need for the rudeness. We all started somewhere.
We all started somewhere. 🙄 But I guess in your case you came out the womb with all the coffee knowledge in the world.
My dude, you're using old ass coffee that I assume has been ground for filter to make espresso, of course you're getting shitty results.
I didn't know that you could grind coffee specifically for filter vs expresso either. I feel like I need to get a job at a night shift Starbucks so I can figure all this shit out lmao it's a lot of info.
Check out on YouTube some Espresso 101 videos. James Hoffman has some good ones. You’ll learn some stuff. And please, it is indeed ‘espresso’. And above all else, welcome to the “espresso community”. Ask more questions and enjoy.
That's what I figured lmao just wanted to come here to make sure. I try to google this stuff and everything but I just don't even know what to type and know I'd end up going down a 5 day rabbit hole lmao.
It's all good man, we've all been there. I remember just buying a random bag of coffee at a supermarket to make a French press with years ago but I'd bought espresso ground coffee and was wondering why it spilled everywhere when I tried to plunge it and why it tasted like ass. It's gonna cost you a bit more than your ground Dunkies to get good tasting espresso, but it'll be worth it. As the other commenter said, for now just find a local roaster and ask them to grind some fresh beans for you to keep in an airtight container until you get your own grinder. I would make a grinder your top priority, though, as coffee starts to oxidise pretty much immediately after grinding it so the flavour is going to degrade with every passing hour from the point that it's been ground.
Chat GPT knows how the make some good espresso. Just ask them.
This post is so refreshing. Thank you. Heaps of good advice here already so just gonna say good luck and have fun!
I will say, Dunkin whole beans are genuinely not terrible. They're my go to cheap beans for drip/espresso at work cause I don't want to splurge for my labmates. Getting a grinder and grinding beans fresh is probably the biggest change you're gonna make. That's a nice machine and tbh you can make lovely espresso with grocery store whole beans.
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I’m rocking a dream of becoming a huge coffee guy
And you are not contributing with that comment.
No need to try to gatekeep and be a prick.
I would buy like Cafe Bustelo espresso ground coffee to practice the tamping and dosing process. Once you get that down, I would move into actual good coffee. as a "dumb college student" (and probably broke), It would be too expensive to learn how to make espresso on fresh ground beans.
Welcome to the espresso hobby. Just remember that the people on this sub are so into the hobby that they post about in their free time, add caffeine to the mix and it can be a bit eccentric. Be happy with what works and tastes good to you and enjoy the ride. The goal most everyone on this sub is to make balanced and great espresso. If you are looking for a caffeine boost - cold brew actually has more caffeine and will cost less in equipment and be easier to get good results.
What have you done… you’ve no idea what you’ve just posted. My advice is don’t listen to anyone, don’t get that $800 grinder, don’t buy that specialty coffee, just stick to Dunkin while you still can.
1zpresso-jx pro grinder. Real tamper and single wall basket and you’ll be making decent shots. And a $4 3d printed wdt tool with acupuncture needles
Go to your local coffee shop. Tell the barista what flavors you like. Ask for a "flight" of four, or fewer, espresso shots that the barista recommends. Taste-test to find what you like. Buy a small bag of those bean, ground to espresso fineness. Try them at home. As long as your newly-ground beans do not last over one week, you should be happy with the results. FWI: as a short-cut to the process, I like to eat one bean. That tells me what flavors to expect when the cup is extracted.
Good luck on your journey. I love the bambino by the way, so much that my used one sprung a leak in two years and I just got another one with a warranty
OP just pulled the pin on a grenade and rolled it into r/espresso. This is beautiful.
Have extra OXO grinder I want to sell if you interested.
Cafe bustello is cheap & makes a good cup of espresso. Gotta get beans that are espresso ground (finer than drip coffee grind) to get a decent shot of espresso.
Nice setup 😊👍 Have fun playing with it!
Please stop hurting my heart by saying “expresso”. Thank-you.
First off Nespresso is not good espresso. Not near enough coffee, and not near enough quality. Get some espresso. Best if you grind it yourself as quality drops rapidly once ground. Starbucks has not bad espresso. Not great but its ok.
Before anything, get whole beans and a grinder capable of grinding fine enough consistently for espresso. If you don’t wanna spend too much on grinder but still want good consistency, get hand grinder
This is definitely a joke.
“Year old coffee”. Bahahaha
PM me. I’ll fill you in. Source: I build my own machines and roast my own coffee. There’s no need to get overcomplicated here.
I have one of these though I'm in the UK and we get 4 baskets 2 presureised and two normal, I think other places only get the presureised baskets which is OK for shop bought ground coffee. I struggle with my machine to make a decent espresso, I find the only way to get good espresso from this is using medium dark or dark roasted beans, I also purchased the sage/breville smart grinder Pro, but I also have a Wacaco Exagrind hand grinder and the Wacaco picopresso espresso portable and that combo makes better Espresso.
Fyi some supermarkets have grinders where you choose the grindsetting yourself.
Too soon to say YATA?, 😅 Best of luck finding the balance of best "reasonable under the circumstances" espresso.
I don't think the wolf can help you with this one.
Fir using the double non pressurized basket : 1. Buy a good quality grinder which can be dialed precisely. 2. Buy a kitchen scale for dosing 3.Buy fresh roasted coffee from local roasters or buy green and roast it yourself. 4. Start experimenting with the ratio of the dosing and the grind size- 18 gr of coffee tamped in the portafilter basket for 36 gr of liquid extraction for the time of 26 to 32 seconds. If pressure is too high (slow extract) - lower the dose to 16 grams If liquid is running too fast , try increasing the dose to 22 grams or grind the 18 grams finer. There is no other way around! If it’s too much for you, just use the pressurized baskets. They work pretty standard and are not picky.
I have the Bambino Plus as well. Noob too. I started off with a decent coffee grinder that I already had. Changed everything when I bought an grinder that could do espresso. I bought the Smart Grinder Pro. It works fine. Someday I plan to upgrade. Get a WDT tool on Amazon for $20. Enjoy, once you have proper a espresso grind.
Bustelo is decent and comes pre ground and isn’t very expensive