Got into quality coffee making a few years ago. It has been an fun and interesting journey. Started with a nice little De'Longhi Icona Pump Espresso machine. Made some good coffees for 3 years or so. But it was never amazing.
Then I replaced my spice (coffee) grinder with the Breville Smart Grinder Pro and that was probably the biggest game changer. I had flavor consistency, no more hoping for a good cup, it was good every time. Grinding and grinders can be complicated but there are a few nice guides out there; just search there are thousands of videos, guides, articles and books on the subject, they all say basically the same things... just find one that resonates with you or talks about the grider you have or thinking of getting. One thing I will say that having a professional/quality grinder is essential. Same goes for the beans, but beans are personal and have to be selected to (your) taste. I use and recommend coffeesnobs, I say they roste some of the best beans in Australia if not the world.
Ok so, frothing milk is not easy and time consuming... I wanted to up my milk skills, so I got a milk frother and that worked ok... I got somewhat close to making a cup of coffee as good as the best in Melbourne. I know that is a big claim, but I did say; somewhat close.
Ok so two year ago I found out the there is this a new coffee machine that steams the milk automatically by using a temperature sensor and frother/steam setting. Best of all it had a introduction price of $350... ok I became a proud owner of a Breville Bambino and this is where I am now. I am considering upgrades but I consistently make a perfect cup of coffee that rivals or even surpases Melbournes best. Not much room for improvement with perfect.
So with all that (necessary) information out if the way. I just want to share a few ways I have recently improved my coffee making skills. Well I thought that the taste of the coffee I made was very good, and it was. But now I know there are many easy and inexpensive ways to take the coffee taste and texture to much higher levels.
I started by using a pressurised basket and the coffee was quite good but no comparison to the flavor and crema that comes from the single wall non pressurised basket. Ooo and yes the bottomless portafilter (handel/holder) makes a huge difference. Additionally I also use a small fork to declining / distribute the coffee properly (just fluff it up), yes it makes a difference.I must thank Hoon's Coffee for making all this easy to understand
Further more after using many different tampers I now recommend a Palm Temper (tamper / distributor combo).
Oooo and happy experimenting / dialing in the perfect cup... it maybe a lifelong process that changes with every new bag of beans...
