We love our Barista Express machine. You should be aware of a few things: you’ll have to run water through the frothing wand for 5-10 seconds to get steam; the little drip tray has to be emptied after two uses; to get to “espresso range” with your shots, takes trail and error; set your grinder on #1 fine and use the tamper and distribution blade so the grounds are tight and there is about an eighth of an inch of space left. Under filling or overfilling the portafilter or poor tamping will lead to disappointing extraction. Be sure and flush your foaming wand after each frothing to prevent clogs. It’s a really fun and easy machine to use and upkeep once you learn its peculiarities. We grind exclusively manual as we found the auto grind function led to coffee bean waste. We recommend you invest in good quality espresso beans. We love Black Cat by Intelligentsia, Hair Bender by Stumptown, Carver’s Dream by Red Bay and The Core by Highwire. Regardless of whether you can access these particular brands, we’ve found the key is to look for a dark roast/not too oily. The beans we’ve had success with look dry but smell incredibly fresh. Check the roasted date and try not to buy anything that was roasted more than a month ago. Happy drinking!
