this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
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Coffee
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Forget about the crema. That mostly says something about the freshness of the roasted coffee beans.
I never had this particular machine, but there's one important rule for good espresso: you need a good grinder. It's one of the most important aspects when making espresso.
Seeing as you're using a cheap grinder, this is what you need to improve if you want to improve your espresso.
Maybe I've ground too fine then. I thought crema was an indicator of good pressure!
If budget is an issue (not everyone is able or willing to spend much money), you could look out for a decent manual grinder, those are cheaper than electric ones, but you can get a more homogenous particle distribution from your grind which helps a lot with taste and reproducible results.
I have a manual grinder and an electric one.
Both claim to be burr grinders, but who knows!
The manual one was from aliexpress...
right you will need a grinder that has a fine range of adjustment in grind size around the limit of what you are using now
Grinder and water. Reverse osmosis water is "good enough", despite what anyone else might tell you. It's cheap and works almost as good as purpose-built water 4x the price. First, as Zoldyck said, focus on the grinder. Use RO water for now, as you spend your budget on that grinder.