# Dedica EC685 Lacking caffeine kick



## DEDICA LP (Oct 27, 2019)

Hi everyone,

First post!

We have owned the above machine for about 9 months now and it has always produced rich, well flavoured coffee with a nice crema but has never really given us that kick you get from a 'proper coffee'. After a bit of nosing around, i noticed that most coffee shops grind around 18-21 grams per espresso. The dedica comes with a 7g or 14g size basket. We always opt for the larger.  Anyway, I've thought about two options: make a double followed by a single, or use fresher beans. We do sometimes buy beans from a local producer but didn't notice much difference apart from cost ?

Any feedback appreciated.


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## L&R (Mar 8, 2018)

Simply because it doesn't produce real espresso, such machines have crema device in the portafilter to produce fake foam on the top of the underextracted coffee tea.


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## DEDICA LP (Oct 27, 2019)

L&R said:


> Simply because it doesn't produce real espresso, such machines have crema device in the portafilter to produce fake foam on the top of the underextracted coffee tea.


 Ok, thanks, I appreciate your brutal honesty ? It was one of those machines or a nespresso. Opted for the dedica hoping to have more variety in bean options. What would be the entry level 'proper espresso' machine you'd recommend? Thanks for your time.


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## L&R (Mar 8, 2018)

If you are already here, you will find the right direction. Please define your budget for an espresso machine and a suitable grinder to complement it.

BR


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## Deidre (Aug 13, 2019)

@DEDICA LP Until you are ready (& bank-rolled ?) to upgrade to the next level, you may want to try a couple of things, just to see if you get closer to the drink you want with the machine you have.

Beans freshly roasted, no more than 3 days old.

Grind your beans finer & see if you taste an improvement.

What are you using to grind your beans? A very good burr grinder will elevate the espresso experience on any machine.

And search online to see what work-around other owners of your machine have found helpful.

There are some hints from Dedica users here:

https://coffeeforums.co.uk/topic/41965-delonghi-dedica-ec685/


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

DEDICA LP said:


> Ok, thanks, I appreciate your brutal honesty ? It was one of those machines or a nespresso. Opted for the dedica hoping to have more variety in bean options. What would be the entry level 'proper espresso' machine you'd recommend? Thanks for your time.


 If you want to produce espresso, an HX machine, does require some skill and flushing. I think around £895, if you want a dual boiler around £1250. Then the absolute minimum required grinder would be around £285. All new pricing, you can save by going used, but as always caveat emptor.

Or you can go the usual recommended route of used Gaggia Classic, used commercial grinder and work with that sort of kit....before you inevitably upgrade.


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## DEDICA LP (Oct 27, 2019)

Deidre said:


> @DEDICA LP Until you are ready (& bank-rolled ?) to upgrade to the next level, you may want to try a couple of things, just to see if you get closer to the drink you want with the machine you have.
> 
> Beans freshly roasted, no more than 3 days old.
> 
> ...


 Thanks for the reply.

We have a delonghi burr grinder, pretty basic, about £30. If ground too fine it blocks the one hole in the bottom of the basket. We will try and keep our beans fresh as possible.

Thanks for the link, I'll have a look around there for tips.

Much appreciated


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Where are you actually based?


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## DEDICA LP (Oct 27, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> If you want to produce espresso, an HX machine, does require some skill and flushing. I think around £895, if you want a dual boiler around £1250. Then the absolute minimum required grinder would be around £285. All new pricing, you can save by going used, but as always caveat emptor.
> 
> Or you can go the usual recommended route of used Gaggia Classic, used commercial grinder and work with that sort of kit....before you inevitably upgrade.


 Hi Dave,

Thanks for the info.

Sounds pricey but will definitely check out the used Gaggia ??


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## DEDICA LP (Oct 27, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> Where are you actually based?


 I'm in Guildford, Surrey area.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

If the OP needs to use none pressurised baskets etc a grinder will be needed. One option would be to get that and do what ever is needed to cure the dedica baskets. I assume that the portafilter is aluminium. If so a junior hacksaw would be a much better option than a dremel






Really there is no need to remove as much as is shown. Just the bottom really which will leave a stronger portafilter. Perhaps just cut it off below the handle joint or if as per the video angle the side cuts each side of the handle joint at 45 degrees to spread the load a bit and give a wider joint to the basket holding point.

What grinder. Price range as I see it is from £180 to say £500. I picked Niche for the top end. It might be a grinder for life and never upgraded. Sage Smart Grinder Pro for the bottom end. Or if some one wanted to around £2500 for an EK43S. Personally I don't rate the cheaper Eureka. People will suggest upgrades what ever is bought in this range even the Niche. Sage makes a lot of sense. £180 new and £100 if sold later, maybe a bit more and it is capable of doing the job.

A replacement machine is a bit of a nightmare in the lower price range. Lots of them have rather small boilers and this makes it difficult to achieve the correct brewing temperatures. PID can be added but that still really needs a minimum size of boiler to be really effective. This is where the £1250 dual boiler comes in. That was designed to work well with PID. I have used one machine with a small boiler without pid that actually has a slightly larger one than many. Net effect very nice coffee but taste does differ to machines that can hold better brew temperature stability.  Machine choice starts getting difficult in this area as taste is related to who is drinking it. So when some one says my machine makes excellent coffee buy that - take care, might be all that person has ever used. It's still not that easy what ever some one has used. I for instance like the drinks that have come out of all of the ones I have tried but they do differ and more pound notes tends to help in other areas as I see it.

At the lower price range that just leaves Sage thermothingies. Similar from other makes all seem to have one problem or another. The main drawback with them is the need for regular descaling but all machines need that unless steps are taken to avoid it so it's more a case of it being wise to do it more often. At the cheap end afraid this is where i would tend to point people. The above also explains why I added the comment to my signature. Some one else has one that says Sage is not an upgrade. I'd say from what to what.

John

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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

DEDICA LP said:


> I'm in Guildford, Surrey area.


 Well I'm In Byfleet, Surrey area, if you want to come and see some machines and understand where you are and where you can be, you are welcome to pop in for a coffee. just PM me with contact details.


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## Deidre (Aug 13, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> Well I'm In Byfleet, Surrey area, if you want to come and see some machines and understand where you are and where you can be, you are welcome to pop in for a coffee. just PM me with contact details.


 @DEDICA LP Oh my gosh, jump on this offer!!! You won't find better advice, nor better assistance! (This man is very knowledgeable & has an excellent reputation. You are very lucky!) ??


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

I must have frightened them away...


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## DEDICA LP (Oct 27, 2019)

> On 28/10/2019 at 11:11, ajohn said:
> 
> If the OP needs to use none pressurised baskets etc a grinder will be needed. One option would be to get that and do what ever is needed to cure the dedica baskets. I assume that the portafilter is aluminium. If so a junior hacksaw would be a much better option than a dremel


 Hi John,

Thanks for the in-depth reply ??

Lots of info to digest there. May well get the hacksaw out and have a go at that if no improvement ?


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## DEDICA LP (Oct 27, 2019)

DavecUK said:


> I must have frightened them away...


 Haha, sorry Dave.

I run my own business and have a young family, hence the odd reply times!

It sounds like a great idea just not sure when i could get over there in the near future. Absolutely flat out at work, and now you can see the reason for the original 'lack of caffeine kick' i need right now ??


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

DEDICA LP said:


> Haha, sorry Dave.
> 
> I run my own business and have a young family, hence the odd reply times!
> 
> It sounds like a great idea just not sure when i could get over there in the near future. Absolutely flat out at work, and now you can see the reason for the original 'lack of caffeine kick' i need right now ??


 No problem at all, I made the offer, it's down to you if and when you can make the time....I've been there as well, so I know what it's like to not have time.


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