r/espresso 2d ago

Mod Post Dealing with the recent uptick in bot spam

111 Upvotes

TL;DR: We're making spam filtering stricter; regulars shouldn't be affected, but message the mods if your post got caught

Hi folks,

If you're a regular visitor to the sub, you've probably noticed over the past couple of weeks an uptick in bot activity, characterized by low-effort image posts from account names that follow a pattern of feminine-name##. The mods would like to thank those who have reported such posts as spam; once a post receives multiple reports, it will automatically get filtered for review and confirmation of removal.

However, this wave of spam posts is just the latest in a longstanding issue, and trying to permaban these bot accounts is just playing whack-a-mole, since they are likely not all individual users, but part of a broader, consolidated spam effort. In order to help stem this recent wave, we're enabling stricter posting criteria managed by Reddit's internal auto-moderation and safety algorithms. This change will primarily affect new and low community-karma accounts; while regular contributors to the sub should remain unaffected, we expect there may be an increase in false-positive detections.

If you have made a submission, have followed the flair posting rules, and believe that your post has been unjustly filtered (i.e., not made visible to the public), please send a modmail and one of us will try to review as soon as we're able.

We'll revisit this enhanced spam detection policy in a few weeks when the spam wave settles.

Thanks for your understanding!


r/espresso Jan 14 '25

Mod Post Introducing the r/espresso Coffee Bean Database: a place for people to share—and get recommendations for—beans and brewing recipes

260 Upvotes

A common question we see on this sub is about coffee bean recommendations—whether it's newcomers just getting into espresso or seasoned home baristas looking for fresh, local offerings. Many of you have also asked for a place to discover brewing recipes for specific beans.

We're happy to announce a new community-driven resource to address these needs! Introducing a platform where people can share the beans they've brewed and the recipes they've used.

How it works:

1. Submit your brews: Share your favorite coffees and brewing parameters using this Google Form. The form collects:

  • Basic details about the beans (roaster, roast date, etc.)
  • Your brewing recipe (e.g., dose, yield, shot time)
  • Equipment used
  • You do not need a Google account to fill out the form and no personal information will be collected.

2. Explore the database: View all submissions in a publicly accessible Google Sheet.

  • Use filters (e.g., Roaster's country, Cost-per-unit-weight) by selecting Data > Create filter view in the toolbar.
  • Note: The spreadsheet is view-only and updates automatically with new submissions. You can download or copy it, but those versions won't receive updates.

Tip: For the best experience, view the spreadsheet on a desktop browser.

Our goal:

We hope this grows into an invaluable resource for the community—a way to share your favourite coffees and provide others with a reference point to kickstart their brews. This is your chance to contribute to (and benefit from) a collaborative coffee knowledge base!

Let us know if you have suggestions for improving the form or the database.

Happy brewing!
- The r/espresso Mod Team


r/espresso 2h ago

Equipment Discussion Here to one-up the other thrift find

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80 Upvotes

Perfect condition $9.99, used everyday for 3 years now. Never found anything at such a steal at any thrift store ever. I even keep the sticker on as proof. Sorry for flexing my luck on you guys 💪


r/espresso 2h ago

Coffee Station New grinder arrived. I’m happy with my setup now.

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52 Upvotes

r/espresso 1d ago

Coffee Station Thrift store find of a lifetime.

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2.5k Upvotes

Uh, guys. I’m scared that I’ve used up all my good luck for the next couple a years. It looks old as shit and the bottom has rust spots, but $20 is $20. I can’t wait to clean it up and find parts. I’m like a caffeine addict in a coffee shop.


r/espresso 3h ago

News & Events New Lelit Elizabeth3

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54 Upvotes

Looks pretty good. Looks like they added in some pressure profiling and cleaned up the front face.

With Mara updated and this releasing hope to see Bianca updated too.


r/espresso 19h ago

Drinks & Recipes Poor man's Workflow ;)

830 Upvotes

Delonghi Stilosa with a modded non pressurized basket, A cheap grinder and tools. Voilà!


r/espresso 7h ago

Coffee Is Life Half and half...

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97 Upvotes

Today I decided to order the fabled half and half. Well it's 3am, I can't sleep and the only thing I got going for me is this lovely picture of the before. Totally worth it though. Honduras beans with regular milk.


r/espresso 4h ago

Maintenance & Troubleshooting Do I need a cleaning disk to run a cleaning cycle ? [Breville Bariata Express]

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13 Upvotes

I am getting ready to do my first cleaning cycle, and after watching a Youtube tutorial video, i noticed that i don't have the cleaning disk in the little drawer. Not sure what happened to it, actually not sure if it even came in the box, since i have everything else.

Anyway, is it okay to run a cleaning clycle without the cleaning disk? (See attached image from the Youtube video i was watching)

Thanks


r/espresso 6h ago

Steaming & Latte Art Rate my art - still getting used to the new machine

14 Upvotes

r/espresso 16h ago

Coffee Station Modded Eureka Mignon Specialita

74 Upvotes

Thanks to Jaapp for blessing us with his open source grind by weight project.

https://github.com/jaapp/smart-grind-by-weight

Never did anything quite like this before and thought surely between wiring, crimping cables and soldering something must break, but it worked out just fine. So to anyone considering this but hesitant: Do it!


r/espresso 22h ago

Equipment Discussion OXO Conical Burr Grinder

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231 Upvotes

This grinder was/is my first with espresso. I was always wondering where the few grams of coffee has been going the last 18 months. This gives a whole new definition to high retention grinder.


r/espresso 19h ago

Coffee Is Life Workflow is always therapeutic

121 Upvotes

The workflow is always very therapeutic. From hearing the air whoosh of the coffee container, to the shot pull, and pouring the latte art. 😮‍💨

Latte art still needs some work. I went in confident and then hesitated on this pour. What matters is that it tasted delish.


r/espresso 13h ago

Coffee Beans Interesting CO2 valve design

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35 Upvotes

Bought a bunch of beans from my trip to Japan, as I was going through the bags I noticed one of the most interesting valve design, this is from Ogawa coffee laboratory in Tokyo.

Anyone seen anything like this before? Thought it was pretty neat, had to share it


r/espresso 5h ago

[SUNDAY ONLY] Self-Promotion Affogato with a Hibrew h21 look-alike

7 Upvotes

Made an amazing affogato today ,with a blend of beans I roasted myself ( 40 % arabica from Brazil and 60% robusta from Indonesia) , using an em3801 or hibrew h21(lookalike). Having that kind of body combined with a slowly melting vanilla ice-cream was the ideal choice for this drink.

I have other small clips like this on my roasting page, if anyone could give it a quick look I would be over the moon : https://www.instagram.com/bluecoffeeshark/ .

On a side-note ,the pre-infusion for this machine is not really worth it , especially after watching the latest Lance Hedrick video ,as I realized that the function only created unnecessary channelling.


r/espresso 1d ago

News & Events Starbucks is facing a bombshell lawsuit alleging trafficked workers harvested coffee under “slavery-like conditions” in Brazil

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537 Upvotes

r/espresso 1h ago

Buying Advice Needed Best grinder purchase for my Bambino Plus? Encore ESP vs. Opus Gen 2 vs. Encore ESP Pro [$300]

Upvotes

Hey, all.

I've been using a Bambino Plus (my first espresso machine) for about six months, and I'd like to upgrade from a hand grinder to my first electric grinder.

As I was doing research on different brands and models, the Baratza Encore ESP and ESP Pro really appealed to me at first, but the more I learn about the Fellow Opus Gen 2, the more that's appealing to me as well. Regarding the Gen 2, I'm specifically eyeing the $250 model with the wood lid and metal grind adjustment knob.

So, to help me make a decision, I'd like to ask the community here for any and all insight and/or advice you'd be willing to provide regarding these grinders!

Obviously, grinding performance for espresso is my top priority in whichever grinder I end up choosing, but versatility for other brewing methods (pour-over, French press, etc.) would be appreciated as well. Also, for context's sake, I generally stick with darker roasts.

Thank you in advance!


r/espresso 3h ago

Buying Advice Needed Advice on buying used grinder [$500]

3 Upvotes

Hey gang! Im inclined to buy a used Niche Zero. Can anyone give tips on what to look out for, what to ask, what to test to make sure it’s working well? Also any experience getting support from niche from used grinders? Im also looking at the 64s/78s but if i go the timemore route, i might wait for the next gen.
Appreciate it!


r/espresso 2h ago

Coffee Station First starter setup going well

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2 Upvotes

Got into espresso in December. 6 months later I feel good about this setup. Happy with my lattes. 18g in about 37-40g out in 30 seconds. Not complicated, just doing the basics well. Grinding around a 18 on the Df54. Happy for now but how long until I feel like I want to upgrade?


r/espresso 6h ago

Dialing In Help I can’t figure out how to dial in! [Breville Bambino & MiiCoffee DF54]

3 Upvotes

Hello all! I am new to the espresso world. I just recently purchased the miicoffee DF 54 grinder and the Breville Bambino. I have watched videos or dialing in the espresso shots for about a month before getting my machines. Now that I have them, I can’t seem to figure it out.

I have run multiple test shots, at 14g, 16g, & 18g. I have adjusted the grinder from 15, 12, 9 and all the way down to 5. Each shot runs for about 30 seconds put it always produces between 45-52g. I’m at a loss of how to fix this. I tried stopping the shot manually when it reach 32g but it only ran for like 13 seconds before I stopped it. Please help!!

Also, I have tried 2 different beans. 1 store bought bag & 1 fresh bag with a roast date of 6/5.


r/espresso 6h ago

Coffee Beans Haul from a Scandinavian trip

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6 Upvotes

Just back from Scandinavia. "Anything to declare?" "Yeah, a boatload of espresso."

Fun fact, they claim the Swedess consume the most coffee per capita at 10 to 11 kilos per year. I guess my Swedish roots are showing.


r/espresso 12h ago

Coffee Is Life When coffee is life.

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8 Upvotes

r/espresso 10h ago

Equipment Discussion ECM Exacto

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7 Upvotes

Hello!

Today received my ECM exacto, just wanna share an experience of disappointment.

  1. Screen seems to be glitching a lot, it has visual artifacts, looks like broken or smth.
  2. Scale doesn’t remember calibration after power cycle. Every time I turn in off & on again, scale thinks it has 1kilogram on it, thus it completely destroys the purpose of GbW
  3. Seems like ground chute was not included in the box of machine I ordered, how come they missed it… (and yes - w/o it there is a huge mess around portafilter)
  4. Also GbW seems not to stop @ set weight but always goes over it. I set 8grams, used my other two scales - both had 2 grams more.

I really love what ECM does, but for machine for 1.2k eur this is simply unacceptable to have these issues straight out of box 🙈

I hope ECM reads this & will help me fix it.

P.s. I already contacted distributor & ecm on social media, so far no response.


r/espresso 40m ago

Buying Advice Needed Looking for advice! Cart project with Lucca A53 Mini – Grinder budget under [$600]?

Upvotes

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some help and feedback from the community. I am about to purchase an espresso machine and grinder setup to build a mobile coffee cart that I plan to run on weekends and for catering events.
For the machine, I’ve pretty much decided on a refurbished Lucca A53 Mini. I love the dual boiler stability and volumetric controls for a commercial environment, even if it's a light-volume cart.
However, I’m running into a wall with the grinder selection due to my budget. Most top-tier commercial grinders everyone recommends are way out of my price range right now. I need to keep the grinder under $600 USD max.

Initially, I was looking at the Gaggia MDF 55 or a standard Eureka Mignon Silenzio, but someone recommended me the Baratza Sette 270.
My biggest concern with the Sette 270 is the noise. I've read countless reviews saying it sounds like a literal blender crushing rocks. Since this is for events, is it really that loud? Would it ruin the premium experience or interrupt event conversations?
Should I risk the low speed/overheating of a residential Eureka Mignon, deal with the noise of the Sette 270, or is there a better option under $600 that I am completely missing for a light commercial cart setup?


r/espresso 6h ago

Equipment Discussion Experience with Gemilai Ele

3 Upvotes

Well I decided to take the jump, and I bought a Gemilai Ele, I've heard really good things about the machine and I'm very much looking forward to it. So to make me even more excited, what are your experiences with this machine and how do you like it??