It’s not always easy to get the coffee you want when you travel or of you cannot or do not want to spend a fortune. But with scales (yes I know) supermarket coffee and a basic but decent espresso machine I was able to get (ok force) 15g of coffee into the 15g basket and get the machine to pull 30 to 40g in around 30 seconds and honestly, after trying different brands and different random tamps… the result was very drinkable….

One of the first issues is coffee grind: if you are buying supermarket coffee, chances are it’s not fine enough for espresso… which means you can only get 11g where 15g should fit… and so the shot ain’t gonna be great. Even with some tamping, I only got 13g and a crema that was very meh… with a bit of experimentation we got the full 15g in, which while not ideal, is at least likely to give enough resistance for 30 seconds to pul 30g of coffee and hey presto… we have a nice, dense, balanced, decent espresso that makes me want another one to follow and not miss a capsule machine in the slightest…

Is it great espresso? No.

Is it better than capsule coffee? - that depends on taste but for me yes. It’s more compex, has more variety and more… coffee!

Was it better than most high street chains using much more expensive machines - yes!
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So next time you venture abroad or are faced with a basic gaggia… whip out your scales and go play
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