# Sage/Breville Barista Exress single shot extraction problems



## accca

Hello Baristas, please help me.









I got my new Sage/Breville Barista Express coffee machine and I am not able to make a decent single shot. It seems that the settings that I use are not good, but whatever I change, it doesn't have impact on the extraction, which is always really is fast.

The single shot double wall filter is used in the portafilter. /By the way a black plastic thing is inside the portafilter, I am not sure if it should stay or not./ I use 8 gramm of grind coffee and I use fresh beans. Even I change the grind size from minimum to the maximum the extraction is very fast (far less than 10s). The pressure builds up in a strange way and the end it's too high. And the coffee tastes bad in the end...









I posted my coffee making process here:






Can you advise me what to do, please? What should I do different?

Thank you!!!

Attila


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## joey24dirt

Single baskets are a nightmare to use.

If I were you I'd switch to the double non-pressurised basket. Dose about 17g. You will need to distribute the grinds a little better I'd say. Use a cocktail stick or similar just to knock out all the clumps. Nice level tamp, keep it consistent. Go from there and see how it works out


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## MWJB

Use scales under the cup to check what you are getting out. Put 10.0g of grinds into the PF, aim 50g out in the cup to start with.

Don't grind straight into the PF, grind into a cup/jug, give the grinds a shake, then trsnsfer to the PF, a couple of downwards & sideways taps to level, then tamp.

Use the single wall basket.

Start & stop the shot manually.


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## ajohn

The double wall baskets should swing the pressure gauge to roughly mid way - near vertical even with no coffee in it. So sounds a little odd to me but have never measured the output like that.

The razor tool can give you a good idea of how much coffee to put into the basket. Use that as a check or to razor off any excess. Depending on bean the single can hold from just over 9 to a bit over 10g of grinds. I generally found that the razor tool set it a little lower than it could be but found it fine for sorting out a grinder setting. Each time you change the grinder setting waste some grinds to get rid of the previous setting ones as there will still be some in the grinder. Rather noticeable on the single even though it's only a couple of grams. When close to where you need to be I'd suggest running 2 shots through. The 2nd one may differ from the first. I've no time at the moment to go into why.

The razor tool can save you messing with the timer setting while grinder is being set. Just set the timer to give say 11g and razor off the excess. You can also weigh beans in.but it will take a number of shots to get the output to be stable. The same thing happens when the hopper is on and the grinder was dead clean. While playing around you will already have probably stabilised the output from the grinder which ever way it is used.







Something to bear in mind though when you clean it at some point.

The grinder on the BE doesn't tend to clump so I would disregard comments about not grinding directly into the portafilter. The machine is meant to be used like that and actually works rather well that way as it does on the Oracle which also weighs and tamps the grinds. The smart grinder pro is more prone to problems with some beans. Poking around and stirring the grinds up with a cocktail sticks etc is more likely to do more harm than good as well.

This all assumes that you are using the grinder. The output from that should go into a single walled basket and you shouldn't have any problem grinding so fine that the machine chokes. Same with supermarket beans as well providing they aren't really stale. Some one bought me some as a present that showed the symptoms you have what ever the grinder was set to.

If you are using preground which I suspect you may be they are a mixed bag mostly used in a french press etc. One that will work out is Lavazza Espresso. People who have used their products on other methods might go for Rossa but will probably find it tastes entirely different via an espresso machine. You might find with either that you need to use the double basket, depends on size of drink. Amazon is probably the best source as it's likely to be fresh. Double - make use of the razor tool.

John

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## MRH1818

HI,

Ive just bought one of these BE machines and have exactly the same probglem as shown above. No matter what grind size I choose, the pressure is always high and I get a rubbish expresso using the single basket. (doubles are more consistent but a double espresso is too strong for me some of the time so want to master a single espresso shot)

I use the razor tool to ensure I have the correct dose, use fresh beans and have tried varying tamping pressure from light to really firm and everything in between.

Single shots last about 15 seconds and tend not to have any cream and be 'over extracted'.

The over extraction does not seem to be a particular issue with the double basket and the needle maintains a rough 12 o clock position.

Should I expect the same when making a single espresso as I do when making a double in terms of what the machine will show on the dial and the time it takes? Seems a real PITA to get a simple espresso ?

Thanks for any advice...

Robin


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## MWJB

Stop looking at the needle.

A 15second shot is far more likely to be under-extracted. Forget over/under-extraction.

Put 10.5g in your single basket. Tamp light, but flat & level (observe the metal band around the tamper). Don't vary tamp weight, doing so will change shot time but not extraction in a consistent way.

Pull 50g of espresso into the cup, on scales on the drip tray.

Grind finer so that it takes more than 20s

Note grind setting, check weight of grinds going into the basket (to 0.1g at least), weight in the cup.

How long does it take for the pump to deliver about 42g of espresso into the cup? What does it taste like? Think about the shot, come back & tell us, then make the next shot...take your time & don't get into a frenzy.

BTW double & singles are usually about the same strength, double shots are usually just bigger (may have more crema, but don't worry about crema).


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## ajohn

Old post now really but remember that the BE is volumetric so people who use the shot button might get a little confused. It will tend to put the same amount out what ever the grind. Not totally accurate but that is what the machine does.

What the programming tends to do is steer things in the right direction when something changes such as grind and dose weight just as many machines used in coffee shops do. They are not spectacularly accurate but will help keep shot weight more consistent when there are small changes in the prep.

So amongst other considerations the OP probably just essentially needed to tighten the grind - but there can be complications one of which is clearly shown on the pressure gauge. Another could be the default programming.

 Just add that if the OP did tighten the grind they may have found that the gauge didn't behave as Sage suggest it should. However that can also show when it wont work as it should whatever the user does. Actually the markers on the gauge are better than the manual.

John

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