First, thank you Hoon for the suggestion to keep going finer and adjusting settings. If anyone is watching this, EUREKA!!! I almost gave up using single walled, non-pressurized basket. BUT, I kept on trying finer grinds and it worked! I changed the internal grind setting from factory setting at 6, down to 5 and pressure still did not build. I went to internal grind at 4 and outer grind setting at 1 and it worked!!! I used 18g of bean and the pressure built up to 12 O'clock direction for the first time, while extraction went up to 26 sec. Keep trying new setting to finer grinds until you get there! Cheers!
Same settings here and it finally worked! It’s a mystery to me how some people can extract a good shot at setting let’s say number 5 and what others get at that number is just brown water. Obviously there is some inconsistency between the grinders and every machine has its own “style” which also doesn’t make sense to me , but it’s a fact!
Hoon - unrelated to this video, I figured out the no crema issue. It was the coffee beans! Went and bought different coffee, and crema galore! Amazing that one coffee been produces no crema and simple change to another bean makes the world of difference. Something to pass along to readers having no crema issues. Thanks for the wonderful videos!
@@AvivRaphael Well, not knowing anything about any of this as I am just a troubleshooter for my daughter's machine, I went to Whole Foods and bought some Jim's organic coffee "Expresso Jimbo, Medium/Dark Roast". What a difference with the Crema! Went from no crema with Trader Joe's Columbia Supreme Medium Roast /Sweet and Rich, to lots of crema with the Jim's brand. The whole point is coffee beans were the driving factor in crema. Not getting cream - change your coffee beans. Good luck.
Loved your channel. After following your videos on cleaning, descaling and still getting a watery expresso, You helped me realized my machine is not working - the needle doesn’t even move - not getting into the expresso range - I did the test you showed us here. Thank You and good luck with your channel! ☕️
I always think I've found the right grind number on the side, then later, even with the same beans it will completely change up on me and be way too low pressure.
Some other issues owning a coffee shop myself. One morning a cold snap came through an the temperature changed dramatically. I had to change the grind setting with same beans. Really annoying 🙈
hello brother Hoon, thank you so much for loving coffee and coffee machines! however i had a problem with my breville barista pro, it works only 5 seconds streaming, hot water, frushing, all after 5 seconds stopped. plse if possible direct me how to solve such a problem. thank u!
Thank you for this! My issue is that my pressure works fine for some beans, but for some other beans, it refuses to work -- it's like the machine just doesn't like the beans! LOL. And oddly enough, these are beans that I have a roast date for, etc., whereas the other beans (the beans it works well for) are more commercial. I've tried adjusting the grind setting but nothing seems to work for these beans. Has this happened to anyone else? Any tips?
My goooooodness! After 4+ hours and a million videos that got me no where, I now have the perfect amount of pressure for an amazing espresso shot due to your video. I’d given up and figured my machine was a bust. Thank you so very much for this!
FYI, low pressure or inconsistent shots could come from coffee that isn’t fresh. I think this should be one of first checks, is the coffee fresh (within few weeks from roasting).
This was my issue. I had been using beans from Fresh Thyme which lets you make custom bags of fresh roasted coffee, I used those beans for 2 weeks and then did not use them for 11 days after. Coming back to use them and the single wall double basket would not produce any pressure, even with the inner grinder set to 1 and the outer knob set to 1. I got new beans (caribou whole bean bag from grocery store) and now the single wall double basket will produce the proper pressure with the inner burr set to 5 and outer knob set to 5!
I was able to raise my pressure by using a different and more expensive bean instead of the cheap generic brand. I use the same amount of grind, grind setting, tamp force as I did with the previous bean and get perfect pressure each time. The more expensive bean also smelled strong and more fresh so maybe that's the key?
When I use my single basket to check pressure, it does great. When I put my double basket back in with coffee, I get no pressure. I adjusted grind size and tamped it. I am not sure what is going on. I even soaked my basket in vinegar thinking it may be clogged.
I tried going finer and it still doesn’t work. So it could be the basket? The coffee still tastes good but the pressure is super low. It doesn’t even go up.
Hi Hoon, awesome video. I seem still be having issues with low pressure. I did the check you recommended and that worked fine. I've tried very fine grind size and very course and still find low pressure. Any suggestions?
finally i find the solution for the problem! i changed the inside grinder settings to nr 1 ! it will make your coffee veeery fine! not all sage coffee machines come with the same inside settings. cheers
Heres one to stump you haha, I am on setting 1 for grind size and with a heavy tamper on a double shot, the pressure needle hardly moves. It barely hits 8 O clock. However with the double wall double shot cup I can get high pressure say 12 O-clock on the gauge on say a 10 - 12 grind. What do you think could be the cause? Any advice would be fantastic!
I've had the express for month now, Hoon's video's have been invaluable to me. I found that no matter what I tried, I could not get good pressure. Then I changed from the Lavazza Rosa beans to Presto beans and now my pressure is at about 2 o'Clock. So from struggling with no pressure, to too much pressure. A good place to be though and my challenge now is to keep the timing and volume the same, but lower the pressure a bit. I'm guessing lowering the dosage (currently using 17g in a double single wall basket) ?.. any thoughts Hoon ? Thanks
Brand new machine Breville Barista Express, just got it today. Out of the box, first 3 espressos single with smallest pressurized basket all had very very low pressure. Then I tried the smallest pressurized empty basket with no coffee which still had no pressure; then tried fine grind settings and now I got good pressure. So I am confused. Hoon, does this mean my machine is fine, or does the empty basket leading to very very low pressure means it is a problem? Thank you for this awesome video!
Hi could you please help with same problem?? I’ve tried these solutions and it works but, it get back to low pressure again 🥺🙄 could you please help? Thank you
I'm confused. The shot is supposed to be double the volume grind everyone says. This machine runs around the 18g mark for the grind so the shot should be double that at around 36g, correct? You said your pour was 58g?! I'm confused but this might be my issue? I find at the 2:1 ratio, 18/36 is too strong. 58 might be perfect as your adding more water but that's not following the recipe, but at 36 ish it's a very small and potent shot. At the end of the day it's what tastes good, but isn't your ratio way off here as far as the "experts" are concerned??
Hoon, I need your help, please. I have a Barista Express. I set the inner burr to 1 and the outer one to 1 as well. I cannot get enough pressure with my dual non-pressurized basket. I get some pressure with my single non-pressurized basket. I am using medium-roast coffee beans from the grocery store. I texted it with the emptied pressurized basket as you taught us and it was until 12 o clock. What do you think the problem is?
Hoon, I need your help, please. I have a Barista Express. I set the inner burr to 1 and the outer one to 1 as well. I cannot get enough pressure with my dual non-pressurized basket. I get some pressure with my single non-pressurized basket. I am using medium-roast coffee beans from the grocery store. I texted it with the emptied pressurized basket as you taught us and it was until 12 o clock. What do you think the problem is?
Hoon, I need your advice. I’ve been away from home for 3 mths. Went to make a coffee first morning back….and no pressure, well very low pressure. A year ago I had the same problem and corrected that my reducing the bur to 3. Should I look a buying a new machine. Can’t reduce the bur much more, nor make the grind finer. Help. Regards Roger
Thanks for the video! After doing all of the steps in this video I was still having issues, so I thought it was the freshness of my beans and turned out it was. I followed the steps here and was still getting zero pressure even on setting 1 and changed the internal burr as well..I got a new bag of fresh beans and got a perfect 12 o'clock pressure, good flow, and perfect crema on the first pull. I thought the issue was resolved but then today when I tried to pull a shot with all the same settings, I was just under the espresso range at about 9-10 o'clock...any thoughts on what changed so fast? The bag of beans was just opened yesterday and new and fresh :/ I tried it a second time as well after changing the external grind from 5 to 3 but still was below espresso range. Getting so frustrated :/
Exactly the same thing happened to me also! This inconsistency is driving me crazy! I think I will get rid of this stupid machine! So much rocket science for a simple espresso doesn’t make sense to me, I just don’t have time for that, and keep on wasting money on expensive coffee which is just wasted in the sink…Were you able to find out the reason for that particular problem?
I've enjoyed your videos and am so far pretty impressed with my machine. I'm in South Phoenix so if you get up this way let me know we'll make a brew. I also roast my own beans. How many days rest should I give them, or are they good to go right away.? Thanks.
Thanks for your videos. But could you please make a description after all the videos - grind size inside the grinder, grind size on the outside wheel, did you use the factory setting or did you adjust the pour time manually, did you pre-soak, how many grams of coffee did you use? Without this data, the likelihood of error is high. For example, to achieve this pressure, I needed to set the grind to 4 inside the coffee grinder, grind to 1 on the outer wheel and use 16 grams of coffee for the bowl.
Having not too fresh beans (2months old), it took me 10 times figuring out the right grind size, each time getting low pressure and undrinkable coffee. It’s the switch to the dual wall filter that got me somewhere decent… I’m still not enjoying the coffee I’m getting uuugh
Just bought this machine but I think not working properly. I tried with dual wall basket but pressure going just little bit more then second line into grey area. Like a watch indicate a bit more then 10 o clock. After that I tryed with plastic cleaning pod and the pressure isn't going to the maximum it's going just to 12 o clock. I would like to know if it s alright or something it's wrong with my machine. The model is barista express impress. And there is no hole in that cleaning disc. I have tried serveral times but the pressure is not going more then 12 even less. What can I do. Is it possible to have a issue with the machine? I will ask the seller to replace it. Thank you!
Hi there! I have this exact machine and having a lot of problem with low pressure. I have the grind in the finest setting and I have grind amount about 3/4 the way around. I temp it heaps and heaps and it still barely makes espresso range what else can I try? My coffees taste yuck! Do I need to clean the grind blades?
My non pressurize basket doesn’t work right. There’s no pressure at all. I tried to ground my coffee from number 3 to 9 and nothing worked. It works a little better with the pressurize baskets. What’s going on?
I’ve had endless issues with my Breville Barista .. (the exact same model as the one in this video). Mine was replaced on warranty a day after it was bought and it’s replacement has been back to the manufactures twice .. this morning it is faulty again. I’m going to cut my loses, throw the damn thing in the bin and buy another totally different brand
Thank you. I was about to call Breville for a service call & have now fixed it by putting grind down to 3, after descaling & cleaning the hopper first (using your videos too)
I have the previous model version and I think the numbers are opposite? Past 16 says finest and the below 1 says dual wall. I have no idea what I’m doing.
Hello, I checked my pressure and it’s working but once I add my coffee beans in and try to make an espresso it doesn’t realise pressure. Can someone please help me, greatly appreciate it ❤
If you still have low pressure after doing everything Hoon has suggested you might have a leaking machine. I've just fixed one of these machines. The seals in the machine deteriorated and started leaking, preventing high pressure build up. The problem was minor but slowly got worse, the leaking over months caused rust in the machine and destroyed the pump which I had to replace. If your machine is over 5 years old I highly suggest opening it up and checking for leaks or rust. There are o-rings that can be replaced (most are size #007). More specifically, there is a pipe going from the vibration pump into the boiler (BES860 and others). When the pump is on, this pipe vibrates and moves a lot, causing extra wear on the pipes seals. When the seals fail the water falls below onto the pump causing it to rust and eventually destroying the pump. Catching this issue early on can save you buying a pump and will only cost a few dollars to replace the o-rings.
Hi! Any tips on how to open the machine and check for this? Is there a video you recommend? My machine is over 5 years old and I have noticed a reduction in pressure when testing testing the pressurized basket. Only slightly about the preinfusion range now... also it makes a strange strangled sound when I first hit the cup button I have a feeling it may be the o rings.
@@Alis-dk1hn it's the same sound the machine I fixed made. It is possible your o rings have gone. I don't have a video on hand, but if you search on TH-cam there are videos on how to open the machine up. There's mainly screws on the bottom, and you need to remove the container for the beans. If your machine is losing pressure because it's leaking I'd highly suggest you open it up ASAP and make sure there's no water pooled in the bottom of the machine causing rust. If there is rust you'll need to clean it and use a rust converter to stop it. You can operate the machine while it's open if you reconnect the water reservoir after opening and check for leaks. Please be careful as there's high voltage all over. I highly suggest replacing your orings regardless if they're the issue or not. Make sure you get the same high temp ones that are already in the machine
@@mennims thanks so much for the help! I am going to get on this in the next few days as I'm sure you're probably right! This machine has been doing so many good things for around 7 years now, so she probably needs some TLC. I will replace the O rings regardless as I'm sure they are well and truly overdue.
I have been using fresh coffee from the same shop for a while now. Usually grind it at 6 and get a great shot. Since last week, i suddenly cant get the pressure to even touch the solid gray on finer settings like 10. The shot still taste ok and not sour but it does flow out pretty quickly.
Followed your steps and the pressure is fine. Yet, I can't get it to espresso range. Hoping there is a video showing how to change the grind size in the burr in the hopper.
You should not change the coffee grind size if your machine was working fine before and now without any reason is not building the pressure. Before going crazy adjusting the coffee grind size which I do not recommend, or taking to the service center, remove the Steam Filter - Shower Head, and inspect/replace the Shower Head Steam Ring. I recommend buying a new one or two ($4.31 each) before removing it as you may damage the seal in the process. You will need the Allen key tool (provided with the machine). It is a seal (Model: SP0001474) made of silicon rubber and even it may look new, most probably in time got flattened, and is losing pressure. I found the seal in my 5 years old machine chipped and aged. If this seal is not in like-new condition, forget about extracting a good crema. Hoon has another video where is giving some tips to remove and clean the shower-head screen if you wonder how to do it. The manufacturer is recommending replacing this seal on regular bases, otherwise, you are losing the pressure and end up with a bad extract. Here is a link with all the replacing parts: www.ereplacementparts.com/breville-bes870xl-the-barista-express-parts-c-116052_116055_290179.html or directly from Breville: www.breville.com/us/en/parts-accessories/parts/sp0001474.html
2 main question, 1. I thought typically you need smaller grind size for espresso? Most other people using the same machine on youtube grinds to 1~5. I understand you can get the ideal pressure at 9, but wouldn't it be better if it was even finer? 2. I am also having the pressure issue, and looking at the comments below, I am getting ready to try some fresher beans, but just out of curiosity, how much difference does it makes? My pressure points at 10 o clock at the moment, but I would really want to see if it would get to 11 or 11:30. I have played with the fineness of coffee grind, and it somewhat helps, but not as much as I was hoping.
If there isn't enough pressure do you have to grind finer or coarser ? Manual says finer, but I went from 8 - 14 same exact pressure, 18g of coffee and calibrated tamp, any ideas?
Hi, I have a question. Just got a new Breville Barista Express and when I inserted a double-wall basket and pressed to pull a shot it didn't show the same pressure as your machine. It was just close to the grey area. But when I added blind (this rubber thing) to the basket the pressure was at maximum value. So what do you think should I notify the Breville or this is just a new machine and I need to give it more time?
Sounds like your machine is fine. You might want to change grind setting to little finer on double wall basket. By the way, have you try the single wall basket yet?
Fantastic tip on changing out to pressurized basket to see if that works. Sure enough that worked for me, so now I need to change internal setting and outer to get the correct pressure and flow duration/volume. Thank you so much. New machine (old one stopped), so resetting up again.
I would like to see a video on proper frothing of milk. I have issues with my new Breville machine and getting it right. Thank you for your knowledge I enjoy your videos.
Hoon's Coffee thank you I struggle with this getting it the right temp for my latte I use half and half:) maybe that’s my issue... thanks again so much!!!
I’m curious. How many people who have a Barista Express will you ever go back to a regular coffee pot? Ours hasn’t seen the light of day since we got one 😂
Thank you for making this video. Very helpful feedbacks in the comments. I am realizing that there is much more that this machine can do. It is perhaps more involved than I figured when I purchased this model. I wonder if someone has written down optimum settings for standard grocery store espresso beans brands. It's almost like a micro recipe for various darkness of roast ect.
Hi, I got my Barista express yesterday. I am using Starbucks Dark Espresso roast beans. I can't get the pressure to up in the espresso range. I've tried fine grind to setting 1. I can't get the pressure to increase. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here. Please help
Another quick note! I had this issue yesterday. It's the burr setting in the grinder, if you set it to about a 3 from the factory setting of 6 it helps a lot with the pressure. My coffee grounds weren't fine enough
Hey Hoon, I watched both your videos on low pressure and sour coffee. I just used my machine for the first time today, and tried 10x and did everything correctly but was still low pressure. I finally used the pressurized basket and it was at the right pressure. Grind setting 3, and about 4 o clock on the grind amount. Any advice?!
This video is supposed to be about lack of pressure not about quality of coffee. My pressure is low even if I put the cleaning rubber in . How do I cure that?
Hoon's Coffee I can get single shots pretty nicely but I always feel like I have to tamp pretty hard. It’s very difficult for me to get double shots into the Espresso pressure zone. This is after playing around with the other settings, trying different beans, etc.
I just tried this out, but the pressure hovered around 4... sounds like I need to reach out to Breville as I've had issues with my machine. UPDATE: So I thought my machine was defective and made the call to Breville thinking I would have to replace the machine. Thankfully, it was just user error. I called Breville and requested a call-back. About an hour later, I received a call and we used video conference to troubleshoot. To test for pressure on the Barista Express Impress - my model - I used the single unpressurized basket and placed the rubber cleaning lid in the basket and ran the machine. Right away, we could tell the issue was not my machine but the grind setting. I had it originally at 16 before and was told to change to 8 as the beans were old. OMG... the crema. Dialed setting down to 6 and got a smaller output. Not sure what happened later, but i was then getting very wet pucks and low output. I was also almost out of those beans and decided to wait until my order for Lavazza Super Crema. Next day with a full bag of Lavazza Super Crema, I restarted but had to change settings several times due to the new bean type. I got decent results at 15, but went down to 13. Finally, things were working as expected. The puck was also drier. One thing to note is the previous day after each dosing, I noticed the portafilter had a lot more grounds on the rim than normal. I realized the basket was not secured. After securing tightly, it was a lot better. Made a nice cappucino, but waiting on my Breville Milk Cafe.
Hoon - I seem to not be able to get the pressure up into the espresso range when brewing. I tested with no coffee and just the single pressurized basket, but my pressure did not move into the espresso range as yours did. Does that mean something is wrong with my machine?
Hi Hoon. I tested several grind settings (pressure gauge reached about 8 o'clock); tried extraction w/o the grinds like you did and the gauge didn't move at all - zero pressure. Any thoughts?
I git this machine from a week more or less, and i figure a good double espresso, pressure was always stable , coffee was amazing, I’ve tried with a single filter and single mode set on machine without touching anything and the pressure was higher than double..as soon as i put the double filter on now coffee runs fast and pressure is low..I didn’t move the grind amount or the size when i exchange it…if i move it now will it fix it ?
Thanks. I always get extraction time around 13 seconds for double shots, though the pressure towards the end of the grey area. Why i cannot get time between 25-35 seconds as per manual?
MY grind size is down to 3, I fill the basket with way more coffee than him, and tamp much harder, and my pressure still doesn't even make it past pre-infusion levels. I was HOPING there was a problem with the machine but when I tested with the pressurized basket it jumped up to 12 o'clock. Does anyone have any other tips??
Apparently you need to adjust the internal burr size from 6 to something like 2, changing the grind size externally will not fix this issue. It comes default at 6, need to change it to 3 or 2 for it to work.
Hello Hoon, thank you your support and tips to help us get better in our Barista passion. I wanted to tell you my experience with a defective single wall basket. The holes were larger than on my other single wall basket and I could never pull pressure over 9 O'clock on the gauge. My good basket gives me 12 and even 1 o'clock pressure which is great.
Every single time I have an issue with my Breville espresso machine, I watch this same video (for the past 3 years) and you always seem to give me a tip or trick I missed the last time I watched your video! Thank you so very much for saving my espresso machine & im sure many others! A true blessing, this man 🫶🏻🥰
Thank you for the video and excellent explanation on how to resolve low pressure issues. I finally get higher pressure, 2.0 oz shots and best all a great tasting brew. I’m using Lavazza expresso Barista. I vacuum pack the beans once opening.
I had that happened before. Make sure you need to warm up portafilter and group head before pulling the shot! If this doesn't work grind the beans little finer.
My machine is about 14 months old. Two days ago I went from about 3/4 pressure in the espresso range to under 1/4 I have not changed my beans or any settings. I use a pressurized basket. Do you think it is my machine or could it be something I need to clean?
I’ve had a bizarre thing just happen with my breville. I’ve been pulling good shots. I always use the double shot single wall. A friend wanted a single shot so I swapped and made hers and then swapped mine and I get no pressure. I’m wondering is somehow my basket is leaking or something? Single shot works, double doesn’t.
I bought the machine from facebook and I was not getting pressure at all with non pressurized basket with nr. 1 grinder setting. I think my coffee was not dark roast also. Was very very upset spend 320$ dollar. And the seller wont take return. then I tried a cheap 6~7$ organic espresso blend from target. Saw another video where he put 17.5 grams of coffee and grind 2 single shot for two times. On the first he put very light tamp just to make room for the 2nd single grind. I also realized head gasket might dirty and have no seal pressure is leaking. So I clean and descale the machine. After that with grinder settings to nr 3 I am getting perfect extraction time under 30 sec with perfect pressure. 1. Right coffee, 2. Clean Machine 3. two single short grinding to make double and light tamp on the first one after 2nd grinding using distribution tool ... working great for me.
Hi Hoon, I’m a new follower to your sharing. I still struggle to low pressure problem. I’ve adjusted grinder to 3, even to 1, the pressure remain low with speed flow out espresso. Is there any way you can help to fix this?
I'm so happy that I stumbled across your video this has helped me fix my problem! I was starting to think my machine was defective 😅 Thank you so much ❤
Thank you, your advice around checking with a pressurised basket saved me a long, painful troubleshooting call with the manufacturer.
Glad it helped
First, thank you Hoon for the suggestion to keep going finer and adjusting settings.
If anyone is watching this, EUREKA!!! I almost gave up using single walled, non-pressurized basket. BUT, I kept on trying finer grinds and it worked! I changed the internal grind setting from factory setting at 6, down to 5 and pressure still did not build. I went to internal grind at 4 and outer grind setting at 1 and it worked!!! I used 18g of bean and the pressure built up to 12 O'clock direction for the first time, while extraction went up to 26 sec. Keep trying new setting to finer grinds until you get there! Cheers!
Same settings here and it finally worked! It’s a mystery to me how some people can extract a good shot at setting let’s say number 5 and what others get at that number is just brown water. Obviously there is some inconsistency between the grinders and every machine has its own “style” which also doesn’t make sense to me , but it’s a fact!
Hoon - unrelated to this video, I figured out the no crema issue. It was the coffee beans! Went and bought different coffee, and crema galore! Amazing that one coffee been produces no crema and simple change to another bean makes the world of difference. Something to pass along to readers having no crema issues. Thanks for the wonderful videos!
what beans did give you creama?
@@AvivRaphael Well, not knowing anything about any of this as I am just a troubleshooter for my daughter's machine, I went to Whole Foods and bought some Jim's organic coffee "Expresso Jimbo, Medium/Dark Roast". What a difference with the Crema! Went from no crema with Trader Joe's Columbia Supreme Medium Roast /Sweet and Rich, to lots of crema with the Jim's brand. The whole point is coffee beans were the driving factor in crema. Not getting cream - change your coffee beans. Good luck.
Loved your channel.
After following your videos on cleaning, descaling and still getting a watery expresso,
You helped me realized my machine is not working - the needle doesn’t even move - not getting into the expresso range - I did the test you showed us here.
Thank You and good luck with your channel! ☕️
Did you end up getting a new machine? I am having the same problem!
Im having the same problem as well!!
Same here. It had been working fine for almost 2months. I'm calling the company right now.
I always think I've found the right grind number on the side, then later, even with the same beans it will completely change up on me and be way too low pressure.
Some other issues owning a coffee shop myself. One morning a cold snap came through an the temperature changed dramatically. I had to change the grind setting with same beans. Really annoying 🙈
same problem after 2 months 😕
Very helpful! Thank you for making these videos.
hello brother Hoon, thank you so much for loving coffee and coffee machines! however i had a problem with my breville barista pro, it works only 5 seconds streaming, hot water, frushing, all after 5 seconds stopped. plse if possible direct me how to solve such a problem. thank u!
Thanks, Hoon!
Your videos have helped me so much thanks
Thank you for this! My issue is that my pressure works fine for some beans, but for some other beans, it refuses to work -- it's like the machine just doesn't like the beans! LOL. And oddly enough, these are beans that I have a roast date for, etc., whereas the other beans (the beans it works well for) are more commercial. I've tried adjusting the grind setting but nothing seems to work for these beans. Has this happened to anyone else? Any tips?
Wow!! Thank you so much for your tip.
My goooooodness! After 4+ hours and a million videos that got me no where, I now have the perfect amount of pressure for an amazing espresso shot due to your video. I’d given up and figured my machine was a bust. Thank you so very much for this!
FYI, low pressure or inconsistent shots could come from coffee that isn’t fresh. I think this should be one of first checks, is the coffee fresh (within few weeks from roasting).
Yes fresh
This was my issue. I had been using beans from Fresh Thyme which lets you make custom bags of fresh roasted coffee, I used those beans for 2 weeks and then did not use them for 11 days after. Coming back to use them and the single wall double basket would not produce any pressure, even with the inner grinder set to 1 and the outer knob set to 1.
I got new beans (caribou whole bean bag from grocery store) and now the single wall double basket will produce the proper pressure with the inner burr set to 5 and outer knob set to 5!
I was able to raise my pressure by using a different and more expensive bean instead of the cheap generic brand. I use the same amount of grind, grind setting, tamp force as I did with the previous bean and get perfect pressure each time. The more expensive bean also smelled strong and more fresh so maybe that's the key?
You have great skin Mr Hoon. Maybe you use a coffee face mask? Very courser!
When I use my single basket to check pressure, it does great. When I put my double basket back in with coffee, I get no pressure. I adjusted grind size and tamped it. I am not sure what is going on. I even soaked my basket in vinegar thinking it may be clogged.
NVM I realized I was using double size basket but not the double wall. So far I got it at 10 and will be working on my grind next.
I tried going finer and it still doesn’t work. So it could be the basket? The coffee still tastes good but the pressure is super low. It doesn’t even go up.
Hi Hoon, awesome video. I seem still be having issues with low pressure. I did the check you recommended and that worked fine. I've tried very fine grind size and very course and still find low pressure. Any suggestions?
can you share what's the IDEAL volume you should set (ground coffee)?
finally i find the solution for the problem! i changed the inside grinder settings to nr 1 ! it will make your coffee veeery fine! not all sage coffee machines come with the same inside settings. cheers
What was your problem? My brewtime is always too short.
@@HendrikHerder yea same, i’m grinding at the finest setting
Saving tired humans in the early hours since 2019. Thank you
Heres one to stump you haha, I am on setting 1 for grind size and with a heavy tamper on a double shot, the pressure needle hardly moves. It barely hits 8 O clock. However with the double wall double shot cup I can get high pressure say 12 O-clock on the gauge on say a 10 - 12 grind. What do you think could be the cause? Any advice would be fantastic!
I've had the express for month now, Hoon's video's have been invaluable to me. I found that no matter what I tried, I could not get good pressure. Then I changed from the Lavazza Rosa beans to Presto beans and now my pressure is at about 2 o'Clock. So from struggling with no pressure, to too much pressure. A good place to be though and my challenge now is to keep the timing and volume the same, but lower the pressure a bit. I'm guessing lowering the dosage (currently using 17g in a double single wall basket) ?.. any thoughts Hoon ? Thanks
Try one clock coarser and see happens.
What inner burr are you using?
Brand new machine Breville Barista Express, just got it today. Out of the box, first 3 espressos single with smallest pressurized basket all had very very low pressure. Then I tried the smallest pressurized empty basket with no coffee which still had no pressure; then tried fine grind settings and now I got good pressure. So I am confused. Hoon, does this mean my machine is fine, or does the empty basket leading to very very low pressure means it is a problem? Thank you for this awesome video!
Hi could you please help with same problem?? I’ve tried these solutions and it works but, it get back to low pressure again 🥺🙄 could you please help?
Thank you
This machine is trash. Complete garbage. Don’t waste your money. Only will last a couple months then will go to shit.
Hello Hoon..my sis was trying to work out the pressure gauge & thanks to you it works now!!!! Thankyou so much!
I'm confused.
The shot is supposed to be double the volume grind everyone says. This machine runs around the 18g mark for the grind so the shot should be double that at around 36g, correct?
You said your pour was 58g?!
I'm confused but this might be my issue?
I find at the 2:1 ratio, 18/36 is too strong.
58 might be perfect as your adding more water but that's not following the recipe, but at 36 ish it's a very small and potent shot.
At the end of the day it's what tastes good, but isn't your ratio way off here as far as the "experts" are concerned??
Hoon, I need your help, please. I have a Barista Express. I set the inner burr to 1 and the outer one to 1 as well. I cannot get enough pressure with my dual non-pressurized basket. I get some pressure with my single non-pressurized basket. I am using medium-roast coffee beans from the grocery store. I texted it with the emptied pressurized basket as you taught us and it was until 12 o clock. What do you think the problem is?
Hoon, I need your help, please. I have a Barista Express. I set the inner burr to 1 and the outer one to 1 as well. I cannot get enough pressure with my dual non-pressurized basket. I get some pressure with my single non-pressurized basket. I am using medium-roast coffee beans from the grocery store. I texted it with the emptied pressurized basket as you taught us and it was until 12 o clock. What do you think the problem is?
Hoon, I need your advice. I’ve been away from home for 3 mths. Went to make a coffee first morning back….and no pressure, well very low pressure. A year ago I had the same problem and corrected that my reducing the bur to 3.
Should I look a buying a new machine. Can’t reduce the bur much more, nor make the grind finer. Help.
Regards Roger
Thanks for the video! After doing all of the steps in this video I was still having issues, so I thought it was the freshness of my beans and turned out it was. I followed the steps here and was still getting zero pressure even on setting 1 and changed the internal burr as well..I got a new bag of fresh beans and got a perfect 12 o'clock pressure, good flow, and perfect crema on the first pull. I thought the issue was resolved but then today when I tried to pull a shot with all the same settings, I was just under the espresso range at about 9-10 o'clock...any thoughts on what changed so fast? The bag of beans was just opened yesterday and new and fresh :/ I tried it a second time as well after changing the external grind from 5 to 3 but still was below espresso range. Getting so frustrated :/
reinstall the basket(evenly push down), put more amount of coffee, and tamp down harder when using taper. See what happens
Exactly the same thing happened to me also! This inconsistency is driving me crazy! I think I will get rid of this stupid machine! So much rocket science for a simple espresso doesn’t make sense to me, I just don’t have time for that, and keep on wasting money on expensive coffee which is just wasted in the sink…Were you able to find out the reason for that particular problem?
Which one is the pressurized basket? Single wall or dual wall filters?
I've enjoyed your videos and am so far pretty impressed with my machine. I'm in South Phoenix so if you get up this way let me know we'll make a brew. I also roast my own beans. How many days rest should I give them, or are they good to go right away.? Thanks.
Thanks for your videos. But could you please make a description after all the videos - grind size inside the grinder, grind size on the outside wheel, did you use the factory setting or did you adjust the pour time manually, did you pre-soak, how many grams of coffee did you use? Without this data, the likelihood of error is high. For example, to achieve this pressure, I needed to set the grind to 4 inside the coffee grinder, grind to 1 on the outer wheel and use 16 grams of coffee for the bowl.
Having not too fresh beans (2months old), it took me 10 times figuring out the right grind size, each time getting low pressure and undrinkable coffee. It’s the switch to the dual wall filter that got me somewhere decent… I’m still not enjoying the coffee I’m getting uuugh
Just bought this machine but I think not working properly. I tried with dual wall basket but pressure going just little bit more then second line into grey area. Like a watch indicate a bit more then 10 o clock. After that I tryed with plastic cleaning pod and the pressure isn't going to the maximum it's going just to 12 o clock. I would like to know if it s alright or something it's wrong with my machine. The model is barista express impress. And there is no hole in that cleaning disc. I have tried serveral times but the pressure is not going more then 12 even less. What can I do. Is it possible to have a issue with the machine? I will ask the seller to replace it. Thank you!
Silly me. I was turning the grind size # in the wrong direction. 😆 figured it out!
Hi there!
I have this exact machine and having a lot of problem with low pressure. I have the grind in the finest setting and I have grind amount about 3/4 the way around. I temp it heaps and heaps and it still barely makes espresso range what else can I try?
My coffees taste yuck!
Do I need to clean the grind blades?
My non pressurize basket doesn’t work right. There’s no pressure at all. I tried to ground my coffee from number 3 to 9 and nothing worked. It works a little better with the pressurize baskets. What’s going on?
I’ve had endless issues with my Breville Barista .. (the exact same model as the one in this video).
Mine was replaced on warranty a day after it was bought and it’s replacement has been back to the manufactures twice .. this morning it is faulty again.
I’m going to cut my loses, throw the damn thing in the bin and buy another totally different brand
I fixed the pressure after adjusting the grind setting but the pressure does not maintain and drops quickly after brewing. Any suggestions?
Thank you. I was about to call Breville for a service call & have now fixed it by putting grind down to 3, after descaling & cleaning the hopper first (using your videos too)
I have the previous model version and I think the numbers are opposite? Past 16 says finest and the below 1 says dual wall. I have no idea what I’m doing.
Can anyone find the video on reducing the bitterness thank you 🙏
Hello, I checked my pressure and it’s working but once I add my coffee beans in and try to make an espresso it doesn’t realise pressure. Can someone please help me, greatly appreciate it ❤
If you still have low pressure after doing everything Hoon has suggested you might have a leaking machine.
I've just fixed one of these machines. The seals in the machine deteriorated and started leaking, preventing high pressure build up. The problem was minor but slowly got worse, the leaking over months caused rust in the machine and destroyed the pump which I had to replace.
If your machine is over 5 years old I highly suggest opening it up and checking for leaks or rust. There are o-rings that can be replaced (most are size #007).
More specifically, there is a pipe going from the vibration pump into the boiler (BES860 and others). When the pump is on, this pipe vibrates and moves a lot, causing extra wear on the pipes seals. When the seals fail the water falls below onto the pump causing it to rust and eventually destroying the pump. Catching this issue early on can save you buying a pump and will only cost a few dollars to replace the o-rings.
Great tips!
Hi! Any tips on how to open the machine and check for this? Is there a video you recommend? My machine is over 5 years old and I have noticed a reduction in pressure when testing testing the pressurized basket. Only slightly about the preinfusion range now... also it makes a strange strangled sound when I first hit the cup button I have a feeling it may be the o rings.
@@Alis-dk1hn it's the same sound the machine I fixed made. It is possible your o rings have gone. I don't have a video on hand, but if you search on TH-cam there are videos on how to open the machine up. There's mainly screws on the bottom, and you need to remove the container for the beans.
If your machine is losing pressure because it's leaking I'd highly suggest you open it up ASAP and make sure there's no water pooled in the bottom of the machine causing rust. If there is rust you'll need to clean it and use a rust converter to stop it.
You can operate the machine while it's open if you reconnect the water reservoir after opening and check for leaks. Please be careful as there's high voltage all over.
I highly suggest replacing your orings regardless if they're the issue or not. Make sure you get the same high temp ones that are already in the machine
@@mennims thanks so much for the help! I am going to get on this in the next few days as I'm sure you're probably right! This machine has been doing so many good things for around 7 years now, so she probably needs some TLC.
I will replace the O rings regardless as I'm sure they are well and truly overdue.
I have been using fresh coffee from the same shop for a while now. Usually grind it at 6 and get a great shot. Since last week, i suddenly cant get the pressure to even touch the solid gray on finer settings like 10. The shot still taste ok and not sour but it does flow out pretty quickly.
10 is a courser grind than 6, the lower the number the finer the grind
Followed your steps and the pressure is fine. Yet, I can't get it to espresso range. Hoping there is a video showing how to change the grind size in the burr in the hopper.
You should not change the coffee grind size if your machine was working fine before and now without any reason is not building the pressure. Before going crazy adjusting the coffee grind size which I do not recommend, or taking to the service center, remove the Steam Filter - Shower Head, and inspect/replace the Shower Head Steam Ring. I recommend buying a new one or two ($4.31 each) before removing it as you may damage the seal in the process. You will need the Allen key tool (provided with the machine). It is a seal (Model: SP0001474) made of silicon rubber and even it may look new, most probably in time got flattened, and is losing pressure. I found the seal in my 5 years old machine chipped and aged. If this seal is not in like-new condition, forget about extracting a good crema.
Hoon has another video where is giving some tips to remove and clean the shower-head screen if you wonder how to do it.
The manufacturer is recommending replacing this seal on regular bases, otherwise, you are losing the pressure and end up with a bad extract. Here is a link with all the replacing parts:
www.ereplacementparts.com/breville-bes870xl-the-barista-express-parts-c-116052_116055_290179.html
or directly from Breville: www.breville.com/us/en/parts-accessories/parts/sp0001474.html
Great information!
Mine hits the right pressure but then automatically stops 😭 even with just the pressurized piece and no coffee
Glad I've found you on TH-cam, thank you man!!!!
2 main question,
1. I thought typically you need smaller grind size for espresso? Most other people using the same machine on youtube grinds to 1~5. I understand you can get the ideal pressure at 9, but wouldn't it be better if it was even finer?
2. I am also having the pressure issue, and looking at the comments below, I am getting ready to try some fresher beans, but just out of curiosity, how much difference does it makes? My pressure points at 10 o clock at the moment, but I would really want to see if it would get to 11 or 11:30. I have played with the fineness of coffee grind, and it somewhat helps, but not as much as I was hoping.
Have you try adjusting internal burr?
@@HoonsCoffee sorry I dont know what you are referring to.
liu leo Check the manual or Google. You can adjust the intern burr for a finer grind. S
I get great pressure when doing single shot but double shot the pressure is weak. It's not my grind.
Hey, thanks for this video. I didn't know you could test the pressure like that! Much obliged.
If there isn't enough pressure do you have to grind finer or coarser ? Manual says finer, but I went from 8 - 14 same exact pressure, 18g of coffee and calibrated tamp, any ideas?
Try 3 and leave everything the same as before.
@@HoonsCoffee WOW thank you.... it worked at 3 (beans were roasted on the 7th May) perfect pressure... How did you know!? Is the manual wrong then?...
When you say you used a pressure basket to test pressure, are you using the one cup basket that came with the machine or what?
Does anyone have a problem with coffee grounds coming out of the hot water?
Great videos. Very helpful. And the tone and pace is very casual and calm. Easy to follow. Thank you!
Hi, I have a question. Just got a new Breville Barista Express and when I inserted a double-wall basket and pressed to pull a shot it didn't show the same pressure as your machine. It was just close to the grey area. But when I added blind (this rubber thing) to the basket the pressure was at maximum value. So what do you think should I notify the Breville or this is just a new machine and I need to give it more time?
Sounds like your machine is fine. You might want to change grind setting to little finer on double wall basket. By the way, have you try the single wall basket yet?
What level on the pressure meter is “decent”? Please add some specifics.
Fantastic tip on changing out to pressurized basket to see if that works. Sure enough that worked for me, so now I need to change internal setting and outer to get the correct pressure and flow duration/volume. Thank you so much. New machine (old one stopped), so resetting up again.
Hi, I can’t increase pressure on double shot 😞 help me please
I would like to see a video on proper frothing of milk. I have issues with my new Breville machine and getting it right. Thank you for your knowledge I enjoy your videos.
I'll make one for you soon!
Hoon's Coffee thank you I struggle with this getting it the right temp for my latte I use half and half:) maybe that’s my issue... thanks again so much!!!
@@kimgeller668 Try whole milk or 2%. I'm still learning it. I have been making coffee for past 5 years.
I’m curious. How many people who have a Barista Express will you ever go back to a regular coffee pot? Ours hasn’t seen the light of day since we got one 😂
Thank you for making this video. Very helpful feedbacks in the comments. I am realizing that there is much more that this machine can do. It is perhaps more involved than I figured when I purchased this model. I wonder if someone has written down optimum settings for standard grocery store espresso beans brands. It's almost like a micro recipe for various darkness of roast ect.
Glad it was helpful!
Hi, I got my Barista express yesterday. I am using Starbucks Dark Espresso roast beans. I can't get the pressure to up in the espresso range. I've tried fine grind to setting 1. I can't get the pressure to increase. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here. Please help
I am having the same issue. I used Costco Starbucks setting 1. The only way for me to get it to espresso range is to use the dual wall filter
@@yh1786 If the pressure filter is giving pressure but non pressurised isn't, it means you need to grind finer and/or your beans are not fresh.
My Barista express has issue with ground quantity. Its always way too much. How can I fix it?
Adjust the grind dial on front panel
Another quick note! I had this issue yesterday. It's the burr setting in the grinder, if you set it to about a 3 from the factory setting of 6 it helps a lot with the pressure. My coffee grounds weren't fine enough
Hey Hoon, I watched both your videos on low pressure and sour coffee. I just used my machine for the first time today, and tried 10x and did everything correctly but was still low pressure. I finally used the pressurized basket and it was at the right pressure. Grind setting 3, and about 4 o clock on the grind amount.
Any advice?!
Whenever you change the grinder setting to lower number. Do you run the grinder?
This video is supposed to be about lack of pressure not about quality of coffee. My pressure is low even if I put the cleaning rubber in . How do I cure that?
What happens when you used pressurized basket?
When I tested mine with the pressurized insert with no beans, the pressure only gets up to about 9:00. Do you think my machine is broken?
"9" seems little low to me. What kind of pressure did get from with beans?
Hoon's Coffee I can get single shots pretty nicely but I always feel like I have to tamp pretty hard. It’s very difficult for me to get double shots into the Espresso pressure zone. This is after playing around with the other settings, trying different beans, etc.
No pressure when i run just water.... so aggravated
can this machine be useful in a coffe shop or its just for home use?
Hello Hoon. Great video. What burr size did you use in this video?
This was 6
@@HoonsCoffee Thanks! I had mine set to 1, which was probably way too low. I'll try with 6 later today. Hopefully things will get better.
Why is my descale light still on after I descale?
I just tried this out, but the pressure hovered around 4... sounds like I need to reach out to Breville as I've had issues with my machine.
UPDATE: So I thought my machine was defective and made the call to Breville thinking I would have to replace the machine. Thankfully, it was just user error. I called Breville and requested a call-back. About an hour later, I received a call and we used video conference to troubleshoot. To test for pressure on the Barista Express Impress - my model - I used the single unpressurized basket and placed the rubber cleaning lid in the basket and ran the machine. Right away, we could tell the issue was not my machine but the grind setting.
I had it originally at 16 before and was told to change to 8 as the beans were old. OMG... the crema. Dialed setting down to 6 and got a smaller output. Not sure what happened later, but i was then getting very wet pucks and low output. I was also almost out of those beans and decided to wait until my order for Lavazza Super Crema.
Next day with a full bag of Lavazza Super Crema, I restarted but had to change settings several times due to the new bean type. I got decent results at 15, but went down to 13. Finally, things were working as expected. The puck was also drier.
One thing to note is the previous day after each dosing, I noticed the portafilter had a lot more grounds on the rim than normal. I realized the basket was not secured. After securing tightly, it was a lot better. Made a nice cappucino, but waiting on my Breville Milk Cafe.
Hoon - I seem to not be able to get the pressure up into the espresso range when brewing.
I tested with no coffee and just the single pressurized basket, but my pressure did not move into the espresso range as yours did. Does that mean something is wrong with my machine?
Pressurized basket should give you pressure. Is that new?
@@HoonsCoffee Thanks for the response! Yes it's new. Just bought it a couple days ago.
Hi Hoon. I tested several grind settings (pressure gauge reached about 8 o'clock); tried extraction w/o the grinds like you did and the gauge didn't move at all - zero pressure. Any thoughts?
I git this machine from a week more or less, and i figure a good double espresso, pressure was always stable , coffee was amazing, I’ve tried with a single filter and single mode set on machine without touching anything and the pressure was higher than double..as soon as i put the double filter on now coffee runs fast and pressure is low..I didn’t move the grind amount or the size when i exchange it…if i move it now will it fix it ?
Thanks. I always get extraction time around 13 seconds for double shots, though the pressure towards the end of the grey area. Why i cannot get time between 25-35 seconds as per manual?
I have your same problem.. did you find any solution?
Exact Same problem! Have you managed to improve?
MY grind size is down to 3, I fill the basket with way more coffee than him, and tamp much harder, and my pressure still doesn't even make it past pre-infusion levels. I was HOPING there was a problem with the machine but when I tested with the pressurized basket it jumped up to 12 o'clock. Does anyone have any other tips??
Apparently you need to adjust the internal burr size from 6 to something like 2, changing the grind size externally will not fix this issue. It comes default at 6, need to change it to 3 or 2 for it to work.
Hello Hoon, thank you your support and tips to help us get better in our Barista passion. I wanted to tell you my experience with a defective single wall basket. The holes were larger than on my other single wall basket and I could never pull pressure over 9 O'clock on the gauge. My good basket gives me 12 and even 1 o'clock pressure which is great.
Every single time I have an issue with my Breville espresso machine, I watch this same video (for the past 3 years) and you always seem to give me a tip or trick I missed the last time I watched your video! Thank you so very much for saving my espresso machine & im sure many others! A true blessing, this man 🫶🏻🥰
G👀d M☕️rning there!
Beautiful video ◕‿↼ I love it!!! ❤️
You did get one more follower 😜☕️❤️
Gonna try it now 😃🤞
Thank you for the video and excellent explanation on how to resolve low pressure issues. I finally get higher pressure, 2.0 oz shots and best all a great tasting brew. I’m using Lavazza expresso Barista. I vacuum pack the beans once opening.
Thank you- I learned that you can check pressure by using double basket! My coffee was at its lowest grind and the pressure wasn't rising.
Check you upper burr setting. th-cam.com/video/YamwZrdk8jU/w-d-xo.html
I have coffee(color is black instead of espresso color) come out 2 or 3 sec before it reaches the desired pressure, is normal or I missed any step?
I had that happened before. Make sure you need to warm up portafilter and group head before pulling the shot! If this doesn't work grind the beans little finer.
Hoon's Coffee got it, thanks!
Thank you so much (▰˘◡˘▰)
Did work and also I change my coffee ☕️ and have different beans and now working like a charm 😜👍 ❤️☕️
My machine is about 14 months old. Two days ago I went from about 3/4 pressure in the espresso range to under 1/4 I have not changed my beans or any settings. I use a pressurized basket. Do you think it is my machine or could it be something I need to clean?
I’ve had a bizarre thing just happen with my breville. I’ve been pulling good shots. I always use the double shot single wall. A friend wanted a single shot so I swapped and made hers and then swapped mine and I get no pressure. I’m wondering is somehow my basket is leaking or something? Single shot works, double doesn’t.
I bought the machine from facebook and I was not getting pressure at all with non pressurized basket with nr. 1 grinder setting. I think my coffee was not dark roast also. Was very very upset spend 320$ dollar. And the seller wont take return. then I tried a cheap 6~7$ organic espresso blend from target. Saw another video where he put 17.5 grams of coffee and grind 2 single shot for two times. On the first he put very light tamp just to make room for the 2nd single grind. I also realized head gasket might dirty and have no seal pressure is leaking. So I clean and descale the machine. After that with grinder settings to nr 3 I am getting perfect extraction time under 30 sec with perfect pressure.
1. Right coffee, 2. Clean Machine 3. two single short grinding to make double and light tamp on the first one after 2nd grinding using distribution tool ... working great for me.
My pressure problem was my filter. It was about 2 months old. I switched it out and fixed my problem. Bad filters are a problem. Lol
Hi Hoon, I’m a new follower to your sharing. I still struggle to low pressure problem. I’ve adjusted grinder to 3, even to 1, the pressure remain low with speed flow out espresso. Is there any way you can help to fix this?
You should take a hole saw to your portafilter and make it bottomless. Best thing I ever did to mine.
Thank you for your video. I like your channel.
Great video, thanks man. Was able to go from no pressure to about 11 o'clock by decreasing the grind size from 5 to 3. On to the sour video!
I'm so happy that I stumbled across your video this has helped me fix my problem! I was starting to think my machine was defective 😅
Thank you so much ❤
Are the bad shots also bitter?