You have the same machine as me. The shot buttons, the single and double, just dictate the amount of water that the machine pours - you can program each to be the same amount if you wanted - I've programmed the double button to be a large double lungo (about 4x the liquid weight as coffee weight). So, about 16g of ground coffee to 64g of output.
What you should be using is the double basket, loosely fill it to the top, then tamp it down firmly - enough to be compact but no need to do it hard (it's the small hole in the bottom of the basket that dictates the output flow unlike a non-pressurised basket which needs the coffee itself to dictate the flow - by how fine it's ground and by the tamp pressure.).
The type of coffee you use will also dictate how strong your coffee tastes of course, as will how finely/consistently it has been ground.
I used to have a bean to cup machine, a Jura which produced very nice coffee indeed, at least when it was paired with French roast bean from Black cat. I sold that machine a while ago and this year I decided to start making proper coffee at home again (I went back to tea for a while, actually spice "tea" as real tea gives me headaches).
So, I bought a Delonghi Dedica (E680) a month ago - because of the good reviews for such an inexpensive machine and because of the footprint - I didn't want a big machine in the house. I also wanted to try Espresso from scratch, rather than a bean to cup.
After reading for a bit, I realized I'd made the mistake of getting a machine with 1) non-standard sized portafilter/basket (51mm) and 2) it has pressurized baskets. Now, these in and of themselves are not necessarily bad things, but they do limit you to what you have with the machine - tamping makes no difference, no naked/bottomless portafilters available, etc.
I've been trying to source non-pressurized baskets - I received one back the other day which is an almost fit - you have to remove the plastic inside the portafilter for it to fit in the portafilter but the seal against the shower head is not tight enough unfortunately so it leaks slightly when making a shot. I've a different one on the way from ebay so hopefully that will fit better. If not, I'm thinking a 1mm silicon gasket under the first basket may push it up far enough to seal it, if I can find one that will fit.
The benefits of a non-pressurized; better crema and more control over your shots.
Oh, I also bought myself one of these grinders; Eureka Mignon Instantaneo Espresso Coffee Grinder Auto/Manual - Matt Black which are very good for fine espresso grinds.
just been used as I made a cup, then took the picture!!
Machine pics in the coffee thread? data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Been looking at them for a while, nice machines and the latest can be controlled via a smart phone but I wonder if it's just to much wanting to time temps and altering it during a draw. Seems odd having the smart phone control too.
There's quite a few YouTube channels showing a number of machines that seem to have a keen following in that price bracket. Some come in different versions.
My old Jura is knackered, was not great from the start and never produced a nice coffee and then packed in. Can't be bothered having it repaired for it to just go belly up again.
I keep looking at Bellas site to see any offers.
err yeah....how else do you get coffee beans to make a cup of coffee?
I was meaning this thread was created to get away from the machine thread and we're getting machine pics already.I think a merge and a rename might be in order so people aren't posting across 2 threads
Have you seen this one? DE1 Decent Espresso Machine : Italy, meet Seattle
And the pro version too. Can control most of what it does through a tablet and have many different temperature and pressure profiles - the pro version allows you to draw these with a finger which is kinda cool. Looking forward to hearing more about it when it ships.
So this was supposed to be a purely coffee bean thread? Rather than a detailed thread about all things coffee?
Not really, the other thread was about pod machines. I think pics of new "proper" coffee machines in the fanatics thread is fine.