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Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

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dagoat
Senior Member

Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Posts: 294
Location: santa barbara, ca
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: BDB (Breville Dual Boiler...
Grinder: baratza vario
Vac Pot: aeropress
Drip: manual
Roaster: cafe rosto

Posted Sat May 19, 2012, 6:01pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

hyolee Said:

Hey there, let's not give them any crazy ideas. I think $60 is a fair price. $80 is still reasonable although a bit on the high side IMO. $150 would be outright price gouging. IMO, selling these very low volume naked portafilters, is more for "fan service" for coffee enthusiasts, than maximizing profits.

Posted May 19, 2012 link

if they are interested in "fan service" they will:

1) offer a choice between PF styles at purchase time
and
2) offer an exchange to those of us early adopters, who did not have the choice

Since they do neither, I am forced to believe the breville nakeds are a "for profit" venture. something i do not hold against them, BTW. good on 'em for recognizing a market demand and taking full advantage--no different than apple computer.

for $60, i _might_ move off the stump and get one myself. for $40, i _would_ get one, but grudgingly. but i'm not too motivated, as i already have one for my other machine (that does not have pre-infusion, so looking for channeling is part of every shot pull). but with this BDB and it's gentle pre-infusion, and my always meticulous shot prep, i don't worry too much about channeling. further, nakeds are cool and all, but i've had one for the last 5 years and the coolness wears off, so that doesn't play into it for me and the BDB.

since the breville pfs are stainless steel, they are much harder to machine than the traditional brass pfs. as such, i wouldn't be surprised if $60 is not far from break-even for them.

-peter

SamP
Senior Member

Joined: 10 May 2012
Posts: 7
Location: MD
Expertise: Just starting

Posted Thu May 24, 2012, 6:37am
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

hyolee Said:

Posted May 19, 2012 link

Yup, $80 is high but reasonable to me, and as a noob to espresso the NPF is something that both looks cool and seems like a good learning tool, I keep logging in daily JUST to hear if there is news on the next batch.

jscott523
Senior Member

Joined: 28 May 2012
Posts: 1
Location: Kansas City
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville DB
Grinder: Preciso

Posted Mon May 28, 2012, 2:09pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Grinder problems with my BDB. I am new member on the forum and a happy owner of the dual boiler. I've had it for about six months. My problem, I believe, is my grinder. I tried to review several pages before posting this to see if it was addressed and couldn't find a post specifically addressing grind. I have a Brazata Preciso and at this point I am on my third one. I grind nothing but espresso. I grind fresh beans from all over the county, ordering from awesome roasters and the coffee arrives days after roasting. The same thing happens each time i get a replacement Preciso. I start at a 8 or 9 for espresso grind setting and gradually over time I have to dial it lower and lower. Eventually it lands on 1 and then within a week or so the 1 is no longer fine enough and the shots pour out super fast and are underextracted. So frustrating. To their credit the Baratza customer service (Colin) has been good to work with and very responsive. The reason I haven't looked elsewhere is that in general the internet has rave reviews for the Preciso (i will refrain from speculating on this) and I have been thinking I had a bum machine. But no longer. I am ready to ask for my money back and am looking at a Rocky or the Mazzer Mini. However, I haven't found exactly what I am looking for. I would like it to fit under my counter and be doserless. The Mini (im not looking at the electric) doesn't fit these specs (I have low cabinets, but the DB fits) and I am worried the Rocky won't be a step up in quality from the preciso. It seems that most of the users on this thread who have consumer machines tend towards the Vario W. Obviously I am skeptical given my experience with the Preciso. I am guessing the Vario must be a major improvement from the Preciso? Please help as grinder problems have plagued me from the beginning of my BDB experience. Thanks in advance.

Posted Mon May 28, 2012, 8:39pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

jscott523 Said:

It seems that most of the users on this thread who have consumer machines tend towards the Vario W. Obviously I am skeptical given my experience with the Preciso. I am guessing the Vario must be a major improvement from the Preciso? Please help as grinder problems have plagued me from the beginning of my BDB experience. Thanks in advance.

Posted May 28, 2012 link

unfortunately, none of the ones you are talking about perform in the vario class, but i understand you being gunshy about baratza given your experience. not sure what to say...

i have a regular vario, not a W. i have had it since the first year they came out in 2009, (when the W wasn't even available), and it has been 100% trouble free, with untouchable grind quality for the price. however, i would not pay extra for the W version, as i weigh my doses AND my shots anyway, and i like to use the same scale for both. i also worry that the extra complexity of the W is asking for trouble.

you're between a rock and a hard place, as there is nothing in the price range of a vario that can touch it--but you're understandably jaded--hmmm...

-peter

occoffeefan
Senior Member

Joined: 27 Sep 2008
Posts: 34
Location: occoffeefan
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville Dual Boiler
Grinder: Baratza Vario W, Mazzer Mini...
Roaster: Behmor

Posted Tue May 29, 2012, 5:38am Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

This a a reply to jscott523: The mazzer mini WILL fit under a low counter ( I have 16 inch clearance). I have a doserless Type E. You remove the hopper and use a blind portafilter to cover the chamber where the beans go. I also removed the fork that holds the portafilter. The chamber will hold a triple shot..I have sliders stuck to the rear legs of the mazzer to move it on the counter. The mazzer grinds below a setting of 4 with fine adjustments. I use the weiss distribution method, a vst 18 gram filter , and a flat 58 mm Espro tamp. I weigh out the ground beans to 18 grams.. the machine is pulling at 9.5 bar. the preinfusion is set to 4 seconds at 60%. The shots are sweet!

JJC
Senior Member

Joined: 2 Apr 2012
Posts: 55
Location: Santa Barbara
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville 900Xl, Saeco...
Grinder: Compak K3
Roaster: Behmor, Nesco

Posted Tue May 29, 2012, 8:14am Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

I like my Compak K3 a lot. And it is only 16.5" tall to the top of the hopper. Very simple, no frills, substantial espresso grinder. Not easily switched back and forth between espresso and other grinds. Available without doser.

grahm
Senior Member

Joined: 30 Nov 2009
Posts: 13
Location: Beaverton
Expertise: Just starting

Posted Tue May 29, 2012, 3:40pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

My BDB which was pulling shots at around 10 BAR is now pulling around 11 BAR. Obviously I can bring that down to 9 with the hot water dispenser, but I feel like I shouldn't have to do that. And the shots at 11 BAR are noticeably different/worse than the ones at 9. Thinking at this point I should call Breville. Have you all had much luck dealing with their customer service? Does anyone have the number I should call offhand? Thanks!

swimjay
Senior Member

Joined: 11 Feb 2012
Posts: 37
Location: Berkeley, CA 94708
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville BES900XL
Grinder: Baratza Preciso, Orphan...

Posted Tue May 29, 2012, 4:42pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Grahm, have you tried setting your grinder just a bit coarser? That might reduce back pressure, speed up the shot, and reduce any over-extraction.

BubbaDude
Senior Member

Joined: 8 Jan 2011
Posts: 493
Location: Frisco Bay
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville Dual Boiler
Grinder: Baratza Vario
Vac Pot: Yama
Drip: Clever Coffee Dripper
Roaster: Hottop 2KB

Posted Tue May 29, 2012, 4:45pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Google "Breville customer service" and you'll get an 800 number. It's in your user guide as well, probably.

"I've Scaced many HX/E61 machines, seeing shot variances of up to 8-10F or more. [The BDB] stays within 1F." - Mark Prince

grahm
Senior Member

Joined: 30 Nov 2009
Posts: 13
Location: Beaverton
Expertise: Just starting

Posted Tue May 29, 2012, 4:51pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

swimjay Said:

Grahm, have you tried setting your grinder just a bit coarser? That might reduce back pressure, speed up the shot, and reduce any over-extraction.

Posted May 29, 2012 link

The thing is, the shots are great. Start at about 13 seconds, blonding around 33, and taste glorious -- but only when I'm opening the hot water valve to get the pressure down to 9. The OPV valve just isn't doing what it's supposed to do... I'll give Breville a call and see what happens! Thanks.

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