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Espresso: Espresso Machines
Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

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MerleApAmber
Senior Member

Joined: 13 Nov 2012
Posts: 156
Location: Atlanta
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville BES900
Grinder: Baratza Preciso + Esatto
Vac Pot: Yuma
Drip: bah-humbug
Roaster: Hot Top 2K P

Posted Sat Feb 9, 2013, 12:46pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Cordes Said:

And although I will play with the scale and see if I get any improvement, I'm not convinced that it will be necessary.

Posted February 9, 2013 link

Paul,
I wish I had your reflexes. For me it's been life long lessons about management of the quantities of whatever was in front of me, be it chemistry to measure radiation in nuclear power plant coolant water, micro-grams of a given drug or nutrient as medication, or gram/ounce scale measurement in baking. The benefit I see with dosing a portafilter is literally the 1/10th gram mass adjustments possible when the grind seems right but the timing or pressure is a couple seconds off or half a bar off the sweet spot.

All the same, I can totally get the synergy of free-styling a run of drinks and everyone around the bar being happier than when they came in.

Welcome to CG! Enjoy your new toy. Variety and all that wot?
-Chris

sae
Senior Member

Joined: 5 Nov 2010
Posts: 56
Location: Canada
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville Dual Boiler,...
Grinder: baratza vario
Drip: Melita one cup
Roaster: Behmor, Popcorn popper

Posted Sat Feb 9, 2013, 1:04pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

So are you saying that the volumetric dosing is done before the opv? If so then that is a terrible design and could explain why my volumes are a bit off from time to time.

AlexKilpatrick
Senior Member

Joined: 30 Jan 2013
Posts: 117
Location: Austin

Espresso: Breville Dual Boiler
Grinder: Bairtiza Vario

Posted Sat Feb 9, 2013, 4:40pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Can anyone offer tips on milk steaming for the BDB? I am either getting no foam, or I am doubling the volume of the milk and having way too much. Can someone describe the technique they use to get microfoam? (or even better upload a video)

D4F
Senior Member

Joined: 15 Mar 2012
Posts: 1,189
Location: USA
Expertise: I like coffee

Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID
Grinder: Preciso

Posted Sat Feb 9, 2013, 5:12pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

How about general tips, not BDB specific. Helped me on Gaggia. Click Here (www.home-barista.com) http://silviaschool.com/node/9

PrescottCR
Senior Member

Joined: 19 Dec 2012
Posts: 46
Location: Prescott
Expertise: Pro Roaster

Espresso: Breville
Grinder: Baratza
Roaster: Diedrich

Posted Sat Feb 9, 2013, 6:29pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

sae Said:

So are you saying that the volumetric dosing is done before the opv? If so then that is a terrible design and could explain why my volumes are a bit off from time to time.

Posted February 9, 2013 link

RE- Preprogrammed doses on ALL espresso machines:

I believe the volume pushed through your puck is not only affected by the blend & dose, but also grind. You can also set the volume yourself if you wish. So whatever the buttons are set at from the factory, they can not be perfect for everyone. You can set them to your preference. If you switch coffees the dose may be off for the new coffee.

Thanks to the boards here and at CS, I started weighing my shots. I prefer a normale, or roughly 2x the weight (in the shot) of the ground espresso in the basket. That is, 18g in the basket gives 36g of espresso in the shot glass. I use the manual button to start & stop the shot, not the pre-programmed double button. However, once I have my grind set I generally find the pre-programmed double button to be pretty close to what I was doing manually. Some prefer a 'ristretto' which would be a tighter grind giving only 18g in a similar amount of time. At least that's my understanding of the terms. There is a pre-infusion which adds to the time counted by your machine. It's 7 seconds pre-infusion, but can be changed. This gets confusing when people quote shot times, but generally something around 30seconds for the pour after the pre-infusion is considered about right and a good starting place.

Measuring shots by volume is tricky and inconsistent. If you are looking for consistency, use weight. Use a scale to check your tamping, use a scale to check the espresso in your basket. Use weight. Use a scale to check your shot weight as it pours. By doing that your only variable left is - grind. The Breville will keep your brew temp within 1ºF of what you set it at, so that's not a variable.

A pro Barista does this enough everyday to know a correct dose and tamp from training. S/he must pump out drinks quickly. Most of us here aren't pulling that many shots and have the time to do the math. As a Roaster I do want to point out that once you have ground your coffee you should move quickly. Coffee ground that fine stales easily. I also recommend purging the stale coffee from your grinder if it's sitting for a few minutes. Just a few seconds of running most grinders will do the trick.

If you get adventurous then you can create variables with the brew temp and pre-infusion parameters. Personally I set brew temp higher for lighter roasts, lower for darker roasts. Heck you can even mess with the dose if you want to. Before you do all that, get consistent with the dose, tamp, and liquid output.

It's ALL opinion, which doesn't help. Work with one variable at a time and you will likely experience less frustration! By managing your variables one at a time you can find what YOU like and then REPEAT IT! Which is the point. So try shots that go long or short, you never know what you might like.

That's my unsolicited opinion. I read through 140 pages on one site and 70+ on another and that's what I've taken away.

BTW- I use a $10 bathroom scale for checking my tamp and a sub $20 scale that measures to .1g for everything else. Not a huge investment.

Rich

AlexKilpatrick
Senior Member

Joined: 30 Jan 2013
Posts: 117
Location: Austin

Espresso: Breville Dual Boiler
Grinder: Bairtiza Vario

Posted Sat Feb 9, 2013, 7:24pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

D4F Said:

How about general tips, not BDB specific. Helped me on Gaggia.

Click Here (www.home-barista.com)

http://silviaschool.com/node/9

Posted February 9, 2013 link

Very helpful, thanks.

Here is my first try at videoing a naked pour. A little long, but it tasted great. Pretty happy with the distribution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFFj6fZhNfI

D4F
Senior Member

Joined: 15 Mar 2012
Posts: 1,189
Location: USA
Expertise: I like coffee

Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID
Grinder: Preciso

Posted Sat Feb 9, 2013, 7:52pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Happy it helped. The tip on noise vs depth helped me, and I was staying at the foaming stage too long.

AlexKilpatrick
Senior Member

Joined: 30 Jan 2013
Posts: 117
Location: Austin

Espresso: Breville Dual Boiler
Grinder: Bairtiza Vario

Posted Sat Feb 9, 2013, 8:07pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

D4F Said:

Happy it helped. The tip on noise vs depth helped me, and I was staying at the foaming stage too long.

Posted February 9, 2013 link

One of the things I was confused about was where the microfoam was supposed to be. I thought it was just a layer on top, but those links seem to say that the foam should be evenly distributed throughout the milk. I originally thought you poured milk, then poured the foam at the end.

D4F
Senior Member

Joined: 15 Mar 2012
Posts: 1,189
Location: USA
Expertise: I like coffee

Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID
Grinder: Preciso

Posted Sat Feb 9, 2013, 8:24pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Some of the experts at microfoam and art can answer better. There are microfoam threads not related to a specific machines. In my limited experience there is not going to be 100% microfoam in a pitcher, and air/foam floats. Seen through glass, there will be some milk at the bottom of foam.

D4F
Senior Member

Joined: 15 Mar 2012
Posts: 1,189
Location: USA
Expertise: I like coffee

Espresso: Gaggia Classic PID
Grinder: Preciso

Posted Sat Feb 9, 2013, 8:57pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

AlexKilpatrick Said:

Here is my first try at videoing a naked pour. A little long, but it tasted great. Pretty happy with the distribution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFFj6fZhNfI

Posted February 9, 2013 link

It looked like about 40 seconds from coffee showing at the basket until stop, for about 1.5 oz. Longer by pump time of course. I also note that this is a fairly new machine to you, and I have no experience with BDB. The shot seemed long, and seemed quite light colored, possibly blonded at the end. Perhaps a bit fine on the grind. Distribution seemed good and I know that is what you were actually checking. Looks like you are having fun with your new machine and learning :)

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