Top is steam knob?... U sure bo?
Where do you pour water in then? There is a side knob also.. that's the steam activation knob.. eh, Pierreye mentioned a 35C rated ULKA.. I supposed +40C is already on the high side.. 25C, 35C... This is not even hot bath level right?

That's a decent weight portafilter there.. a full dual spout filter should go half kilo easily?

How about the original portafilter that comes with the machine? How much does it weight?

On second thought.. coffee is also a sort of a journey, the process of discovering and learning can be very valuable.. for RM1K, here are examples you may want to consider:

Gemilai.. since a few forumers here use this brand.
This model is cheaper than the 3605..


Electric burr grinder.. a good pair to the Gemilai as it's not too sensitive for fine grinding.




Total price is below RM1K.
Good add-ons to consider.. a milk pitcher and a thermometer(bare minimum)



Caveat: I don't own, sell or use any of the above-mentioned equipments. Shopee is just my casual reference here, feel free to source elsewhere.

This post has been edited by Tikietic: May 22 2020, 10:36 PM

dwRK sunami
First of all, it was my oversight to assumed the taobao pic was a steam-powered machine, on revisit, it was a delonghi.. my apologies for the unwarranted assumption.. no wonder dwRK kept pointing out 155 and 156..

Steam powered machine:



Now.. the "knob" thingy is very obvious right?.. the delonghi is not a steam-powered machine.

Hi,
Will this be your first espresso machine?

Got something new.. Arabica from Bali Kintamani.
Previously heard of robusta production from that place.. This is RM22 per 250g
Not really Roast-on-Demand.. Try dulu ba

What do you like about this machine?

So long as you manage your expectations accordingly.. There's isn't much you can expect from such machine.. You may get one which consistently gives a lower temperature extraction, hence the espresso is always towards sourish.. Or may get one that consistently have too high temperature and hence provides a bitter experience.. Stable and consistent temperature are hard to come by in such appliances due to its lower cost(small heating element, material used; e.g thin stainless steel vs solid brass)

We went through using similar machine before.. it was fun for the journey.. looking back, perhaps can keep the machine for milk tea.. pressurized and a deep/portafilter.. make sense for a quick Chatramue..

From the look of it... Most likely is your grinder isn't doing well enough for espresso..
Without changing anything, you can try this experiment to see if the grinder is the issue:
Double or triple grind your coffee.. at the finest setting after the 1st grind, pour all at once the coffee back into the grinder and grind again.. pour it "all at once".. then put the second grind results into the portafilter and extract..

If it improves, then your grinder needs modification..

Going the pressurized portafilter way is like taking many steps backwards instead of forward.. As you don't need to spend such money on the 3605 just to do pressurized.. a way cheaper machine can achieve it.


Note:
you may refer to james hoffman for the explanation.. since you may not have a spare good grinder as a benchmark, and you don't have the means to mod the grinder at the moment and assuming your tamping skill is acceptable.. this is a good experiment to validate the grinder.. you may think is it very fine, you'd be surprized it may not be fine enough.

This post has been edited by Tikietic: May 31 2020, 05:16 PM

What grinder did you get?

Glad it worked out for you in the end.. for trying out new machine/grinder, maybe you may want to get a small bag of inexpensive coffee beans e.g Ikea or some supermarket beans to practice the grind, tamp and extraction..

Taste wise... Jangan harap la.. lol

We sourced our beans from anywhere in the world and locally as well.. like the Bali Kintamani beans were from a roaster in Indonesia.

If the pairing of espresso machine and grinder is good.. it's worthwhile to taste the many varieties of roasted beans from the different countries..

But if the machine/grinder combo is not up to par.. spending good money on expensive beans is on the waste side.. how do you know? Compare your results with the ones from reputable cafe or coffee expo or purveyors(e.g dankoff, coffex, puro, etc.. they do provide samples upon request)

This post has been edited by Tikietic: Jun 1 2020, 01:07 PM

Just like you.. a consumer.
On retrospect.. things are seldom free on taobao.. price are factored in for those so called "free" items..

Why pay RM35(200g) for a Brazil Santos when there are similar Santos with 70+ score ratings going for RM22(250g)..

In fact, for filter coffee drinker.. you may even opt for Ethiopia Keffa Bonga G1 for RM30(250g) and it's a 80+ score rating beans..

Am not the seller by the way.. Just spotted it being offered now.

I don't know much about hand grinder but for 700-800.. why wouldn't you consider an electric burr grinder?

If it doesn't cost you much.. it's good to try it out so that you'll gain an important experience and able to properly advise others in the future..

Let me guess... You tried the espresso using the "free beans" from the seller and you use your regular beans on your french press.. am I right?

lol... of course there is a difference.. the catch-phrase "free".. have to be careful.
try an experiment before you simply blame the equipment.. use your regular beans that you have and try it on the espresso..

you'd likely won't get brain fog from it..
i'll explain later, if you(or nobody else) catch it yet..

Grinder..
60mm flat burr(titanium alloy), volumetric and manual grind.. approx RM950(include shipping to M'sia).. yes, this is import from China.


This post has been edited by Tikietic: Jun 15 2020, 09:48 PM

That's why I reckoned comparing the appartamento with the WPM KD410.. dual boiler(with a thermoblock for additional temp stability), vibe pump, PID.. just doesn't come with an e61 head and the pricing is... Good; relative to the rocket.

Of course, market segment may differ ba..