I then remembered that my last time at the cafe I purchased a darker roast bean than I normally buy. I will use less tamp pressure next time. GUESS WHAT? So the actual pressure gauge not working doesn’t bother me, but the coffee is weak. Except that when I again made an espresso, I was still getting the same poor pressure readings and watery crema as before. Optimal espresso flavoris achieved as the brewing temperature in maintained. Did I get a bad batch? The fact there’s no pressure has nothing to do with calcification it’s some weird electrical problem where the second solenoid only sometimes operates despite being brand new and only having had a few coffees go through it. Without being able to correlate TDS with flavor, the experiment has little value, regardless of the quality of the results. A good barista can taste the espresso and know what changes need to be made for next time. Great, right?! Great tasting coffee and lots of crema.You rock red thanks so much just completely solved my issue. Hopefully this helps some of you narrow down the causes for you low pressure readings or even fixes the problem all together. But why do I still see many machines high pressure? Espresso machines are, by default, steam driven, piston driven or pump driven.

I’ve used both machines a lot, and can recognize watery or thick coffee coming out. Similarly to that scenario, if your espresso has a texture that is ‘overly strong’, the crema will eat up the ‘liquid’ part. One of the advantages of the air-pump-driven machines is that they are much smaller and lighter than electric machines. The pumps are $45 bucks. Lower temperatures make the coffee to acidic and higher makes the coffee too bitter. FYI coffee is important, I like the oily decaf medium roast and mix in 20% of caffeinated.

Keep that in mind.

This actually started to make the pressure too high. The reason why I say this is because we are not the only ones who have discovered that the optimal espresso brew pressure lies below 9 bars, where optimal is defined as ideal for even and higher extractions instead of speed.Other coffee professionals like Scott Rao, Matt Perger from St. Ali, Socratic Coffee and numerous others have had similar findings within their own research. This week, we will be setting out to test the impact of brewing pressure on the resulting espresso and it's extraction percentage.For those who might be unfamiliar with statistics, you can read the conclusion of our previous article to get a quick explanation on statistical significance here: Great coffee doesn't just happen. I’ve made a very nice living repairing restaurant gear, I’m now a retired refrigeration guy, I’ll do this repair myself, thanks.I wanted to share my experience with low pressure on my Breville and what ended up being the FIX. Without experience, you shouldn’t get your hopes too high up – apart from following strict recipe and steps, you’ll need to gain a ‘feeling’ for your roasters, grinders, and brewers.Even if you are using an all-in-one coffee maker (a device that encompasses all coffee-making processes), you’ll still need to oversee the process.We said it before and we’ll say it again – 9 Bars is the standard pressure for making espresso. Be prepared for the unexpected. If the BAR pressure is too high, the tastes will be weak and vice versa. There are many valid points raised. I still maintain the pressure gauge is a design fault as it shouldn’t go faulty so quickly.Any one have any ideas for high altitude? Thanks.I almost never post on forums but just had to add to this growing list of accolades. Funnily enough the coffee still tasted as good. Great tasting coffee and lots of crema. In the past little while, there has been some email server re-routing.

If it’s not been cleaned for a long time you may need to try a stronger vinegar mix or do it a few more times.I bought a well cared for 860XL used it cleaning when necessary, etc but in a short period of time it lost pressure. Lots of black, followed by abundant beautiful caramel coloured crema. I believe its a manufactures fault.

Sadly folks, just because the Bialetti is inexpensive, comes from Italy (home of espresso), and incorporates steam into its brewing method doesn’t mean you’re getting real espresso. The solid heavy duty tamper is designed to fit the portafilter exactly to allow for a precise, even tamp.3. Temperature is also important. I poured through your site, found an email address, and poured out my soul. You might get lucky and have an espresso machine that will do all the important stuff for you, but chances are you’re going to have to pay for it if you decide you want to become a master barista.