# Goodness; this could take a lot of beans...



## Ritch (Aug 23, 2015)

As I've been lurking for many, many months now, I thought I'd better just register on the premise that, fairly shortly, I reckon I'm going to have to dig out my begging bowl and ask for advice. Pre-empting the inevitable, basically.

Cutting a long story short, I've gone from learning how to pull a half-decent espresso on a La Spaziale S5, through to, literally, spending the last couple of months deciding what to get for home, through to finally getting a Breville/Sage Duo Temp Pro and a Breville/Sage Grinder Pro from Lakeland; that lifetime guarantee added a good bit of weight to the decision.

That was two days ago and, a kilo of beans and a book of notes later, I'm still struggling to get what I'd call a decent shot. Dose is consistent and a small set of scales have been a god-send. Tamping is (pretty!) consistent. Result are, well, inconsistent. In amongst some rather bitter shots, there have been a handful that have been full of deliciousness, but I'm struggling to replicate the successes, so I'm obviously not as consistent in some respects as I'd like to think I am. Increasing and decreasing extraction times have had limited success and I'm still not quite sure how much to adjust times by in order to take the pre-infusion into consideration.

I'm sure it'll come with time; time and beans and practise. I'm at coffee saturation and my taste-buds are done for the day; her indoors is complaining the kitchen smells like a coffee shop. I've consoled myself by finishing with a (surprisingly) decent latte; the Duo Temp is doing a good job of creating some really nice microfoam in a pretty short space of time, so it's not all bad over here.

Anyhow, that's a short introduction that's turned into something a bit more long-winded; I'm off to partake of some air that doesn't smell like a coffee shop!

Ritch.

Sorry; just realised I've totally put this in the wrong section. That'll teach me to look twice and post once...


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

I think the sage duo temp pro is a relatively good machine for its size. I think @dfk tried one of these so he may be able to advise on if the machine could be causing inconsistency. The grinder again is good for its class but grinders in this class can struggle with consistency, you will also need to season the burrs whic may take a kg or two, you may find things settle down after this. That said for the price of a new sage grinder pro you could get a much more capable grinder second hand, it is worth considering if you want to take advantage of that Lakeland garuntee to do this.


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## Ritch (Aug 23, 2015)

Dylan,

Ta very much for your reply, particularly the grinder and seasoning which, to be honest, I hadn't even considered or knew could be an issue, so I may get some sacrificial beans and start feeding them to the grinder to see if things improve over the next few weeks.

Thanks to an online department store I'd never heard of, Lakeland's price match dropped a hundred quid off the total price; fifty for the grinder and the same for the Duo Temp. It made the initial hit a little easier to manage! I'll see how things pan out over the next few months and, if all else fails, I may just see how that guarantee works in practise.

Ritch


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

Have a look at this thread, maybe have a punt yourself - I'm sure they will be far better suited to burr seasoning than drinking lol


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Also don't run the sage grinder pro constantly through a whole kg, users of the first model reported burning smells and overheating motors on back to back grinding so no more than 2-3 at a time before giving it a rest.


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

Dylan said:


> Also don't run the sage grinder pro constantly through a whole kg, users of the first model reported burning smells and overheating motors on back to back grinding so no more than 2-3 at a time before giving it a rest.


Now that's 'Sage' advice.. I'll get my coat..


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## Ritch (Aug 23, 2015)

Apparently the Sage Grinder Pro really isn't keen on bulk grinding; slight whiff of an overworked motor after a few minutes. Still, it's now a kilo and a quarter in and improvements have been noted, although I've no idea whether that's down to the grinder bedding in, me getting more familiar with the Duo Temp, both of the above or none of the above. Regardless, an improvement is an improvement, so fingers crossed...

Oh, and cheap as they were, I still feel guilty for feeding all those sacrificial beans into the grinder...

Ritch


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

I know what you mean, a member and roaster here foundrycoffee will send you a KG of 'stale' beans for a fiver I think, I got one of these when seasoning burrs and all I could think was 'I bet these 'stale' beans are still a gazillion times better than those they sell in the supermarket'.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Check your instructions for the Sage Grinder. They were pretty specific about running time and rest time - as far as I recall. I know you have a good warranty backing you up, but you don't want to be without one now you've got a good machine . A few people on here had the original Sage Grinder die on them (the motor apparently) so be gentle with it, just in case.


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