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Bean to cup machines

Posted: March 2nd, 2024, 6:42 pm
by Clariman
As mentioned we've had a bean to cup.machine for about 7 or 8 months since moving house. It came with the house.

I've just had another read through the small manual. I'm left with some questions that it doesn't answer.

It has settings of espresso, small, medium, large and mug. I presume they each get the same shot of ground coffee beans which means the larger ones will be weaker. Is that probably right?

It has strength settings from weak to extra strong. I presume this changes the amount of coffee that is dispensed per cup?

I can change the grind but the manual only suggests changing it if the coffee is running too slowly or doesn't have sufficient crematorium.

In summary, am I correct in thinking that these are all independent of each other: one is size, one is amount of coffee (strength) and the other is just about flow?

Thanks

Re: Bean to cup machines

Posted: March 2nd, 2024, 7:01 pm
by BullDog
I would say, it depends on the brand. I have had several DeLonghi bean to cup machines over the years. There's definitely more to the buttons than the amount of water added to a grind. For other brands? No idea.

If you're really curious. Take 4 cups. Press each of the four buttons in turn. (It has four buttons like my DeLonghi?) Measure the coffee produced and the grounds quantity four times. Then you'll know exactly how it's brewing for each of the four buttons.

Re: Bean to cup machines

Posted: March 5th, 2024, 9:20 am
by redsturgeon
Clariman wrote:As mentioned we've had a bean to cup.machine for about 7 or 8 months since moving house. It came with the house.

I've just had another read through the small manual. I'm left with some questions that it doesn't answer.

It has settings of espresso, small, medium, large and mug. I presume they each get the same shot of ground coffee beans which means the larger ones will be weaker. Is that probably right?

It has strength settings from weak to extra strong. I presume this changes the amount of coffee that is dispensed per cup?

I can change the grind but the manual only suggests changing it if the coffee is running too slowly or doesn't have sufficient crematorium.

In summary, am I correct in thinking that these are all independent of each other: one is size, one is amount of coffee (strength) and the other is just about flow?

Thanks


My guess is that the espresso to mug setting changes the amount of hot water dispensed while the weak/strong setting will determine what weight of beans are ground and brewed for that cup.

For the correct brew the aim is to have a brew time of between 25 to 30 seconds to hit the sweet spot. Any more than this and the coffee will be more bitter, any less and it will be sour.

I would set it up to your own taste in the following way.

Set to medium strength, size espresso. Set grind to medium.

Brew a coffee. Try to time the brew time if that is possible, it should be around 25-30 seconds from the first drops of coffee appearing until the flow stops. If quicker, grind the next one finer if slower then grind more coarsely

Taste the coffee. Ignore strength for moment. Does it taste good? If so, great!
If not, is it quite bright and sour? If so the coffee is too coarse and it is under-extracted. Set grinder for a finer grind.
If it is bitter then it is over-extracted. Set grinder for coarser grind.

Crema is all about the freshness of the coffee and the more recently the coffee was roasted the more crema. I usually get coffee roated in the last week or two for maximum freshness and the crema is Guinness-like.

Bear in mind that if you change your coffee beans then you probably need to readjust the grinder.

Executive summary.

The grind adjustment is the key to brewing a good cup of coffee.

The other two setting merely reflect how much of that good coffee you want and how strong you like it.

HTH

Re: Bean to cup machines

Posted: March 5th, 2024, 9:31 am
by swill453
redsturgeon wrote:Taste the coffee. Ignore strength for moment. Does it taste good? If so, great!
If not, is it quite bright and sour? If so the coffee is too coarse and it is under-extracted. Set grinder for a finer grind.
If it is bitter then it is over-extracted. Set grinder for coarser grind.

Aren't "sour" and "bitter" pretty much synonyms? No wonder I find it hard to judge good wine, coffee etc.

Scott.

Re: Bean to cup machines

Posted: March 5th, 2024, 9:41 am
by redsturgeon
swill453 wrote:
redsturgeon wrote:Taste the coffee. Ignore strength for moment. Does it taste good? If so, great!
If not, is it quite bright and sour? If so the coffee is too coarse and it is under-extracted. Set grinder for a finer grind.
If it is bitter then it is over-extracted. Set grinder for coarser grind.

Aren't "sour" and "bitter" pretty much synonyms? No wonder I find it hard to judge good wine, coffee etc.

Scott.


https://www.javatpoint.com/bitter-vs-so ... rom%20sour.

Re: Bean to cup machines

Posted: March 5th, 2024, 9:48 am
by UncleEbenezer
swill453 wrote:
redsturgeon wrote:Taste the coffee. Ignore strength for moment. Does it taste good? If so, great!
If not, is it quite bright and sour? If so the coffee is too coarse and it is under-extracted. Set grinder for a finer grind.
If it is bitter then it is over-extracted. Set grinder for coarser grind.

Aren't "sour" and "bitter" pretty much synonyms? No wonder I find it hard to judge good wine, coffee etc.

Scott.

Erm ...

Bitter is a virtue in coffee. Though perhaps John is hinting at a need for moderation and a risk of excess.
Sour (aka acid) is good for lemons, but is horrible in coffee.

Re: Bean to cup machines

Posted: March 5th, 2024, 9:57 am
by redsturgeon
UncleEbenezer wrote:
swill453 wrote:Aren't "sour" and "bitter" pretty much synonyms? No wonder I find it hard to judge good wine, coffee etc.

Scott.

Erm ...

Bitter is a virtue in coffee. Though perhaps John is hinting at a need for moderation and a risk of excess.
Sour (aka acid) is good for lemons, but is horrible in coffee.


In general I think you are correct but personal preference plays a significant part I actually prefer a bright, fruity tasting citrussy coffee to a bitter chocolatey one, hence I will often have a Ristretto.
https://parachutecoffee.com/blogs/coffe ... 0ristretto.

Re: Bean to cup machines

Posted: March 5th, 2024, 10:13 am
by Lanark
Clariman wrote:As mentioned we've had a bean to cup.machine for about 7 or 8 months since moving house. It came with the house.

I would strongly advise you to learn how to clean out all the tubes inside the machine, there are some specialised cleaners and tools.

Forget about fancy coffee blends and blends strengths, you need to get the basics of cleanliness right first.

The reason I think Bean to cup machines are vastly over-rated is that the few seconds you save in moving coffee from a grinder to a v60 is instead spent cleaning out the machinery every few weeks.

Re: Bean to cup machines

Posted: March 13th, 2024, 3:57 pm
by ukmtk
I love coffee. I drink about 3 pots (=12 mugs) per day.
I used to have an old style coffee make with glass flask.
This eventually died.

I then bought a great German coffee maker from Amazon (~ £50).
This came with a vacuum flask jug.
It keeps the coffee hot for up to 2 hours.
I normally have to microwave it a bit after 1.5 hours.

I have to run the CALC program about once every 3 weeks.
I noticed some black spots in the water holder - turned out to be mould! :(
When I run the CALC program I now run baby sterilising fluid through it too! ;)