Did you got your machine from Taobao? Any tax?

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

me! *shameless*

 

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)

May I know which taobao agent you used?

depends on beans...anywhere from 16-22g

my weights are flexible to get close to target timing and yield

some people fixes the weight...then keep playing with grind settings...imho this method is good for cafe because they have good control of bean freshness and also cups per kg of beans...they only need small variations to fine tune grind settings

I see you are trying to get your machine up to pressure... so best place to start is grind as fine as possible n pack as much as you can without the puck touching the shower screen... once you can choke your machine... slowly back off from there...using coarser grind and/or less beans

if you can't choke your machine... got to look at your grinder mod again... also please use fresh anything medium to dark bean, they are easier to grind...don't use stale beans and definitely not light/cinamon roast (although this roast level is almost impossible to find locally, fyi just so you know)

Been using this bean since the start of mco coz its cheap. Even so, it still taste great. Bought arabica and liberica.

Finally got myself a Flair and now can enjoy a properly pulled espresso at home. Sorry for the poor latte art though.

Just got Gemilai CRM-3605 from Shopee. If anyone budget for RM 1k for the espresso machine, this would be the machine I get. Previously I'm using Philips Saeco Poemia modified with PID and removing the pressure valve in portafilter.

Pros for the machine:
1. Built in digital PID.
2. Come with Pressure gauge.
3. Timer user adjustable for coffee extraction and hot water. Default is 25s and I set it to 30s. You can stop anytime by pressing the brew button during extraction.
4. Different spout for hot water and steamer.
5. Use standard 58mm portafilter.
6. Come with blind filter for backflushing. I don't expect 3 way valve for such a cheap machine so it's a surprise!

Cons
1. Running on thermoblock. If you wanted dual boiler, they have a commercial model but it's RM 2k++
2. Build quality is kind of cheap. The plastic parts feel flimsy.
3. Included tamper is plastic.

I also getting Gemilai but is CRM3601 now i plan to mod my Saeco Poemia PID can you guide me

My humble setup ...
now waiting My CRM3601 to arrived

soo far how ur CRM3605 ? because i just order CRM3601 otw from china

the scale i just bought it from Shopee built in timer also cheapo from china hahah
Shopee - Coffee Scale

yeah one grinder for filter coffee one for espresso
lazy keep adjust , 3rd grinder (ZD16) not collect yet wait my fren new grinder arrived first
and i will let go my ZD10T

since u using non-pressurized portafilter better go for better grinder like ZD15 have 40 step grind setting, ZD10T only 10 step hard to get
precise grind size, if use for pressurized portafilter than no problem

Most of the time i use my ISOMAC grinder for my espresso

yeah i buy direct from Gemilai Flagship store at Taobao since they have sale is very attractive price
than my poemia i will keep in parent house soo when i go back i can have a cup of coffee hahah

sorry i mistake ZD15 and ZD16
ZD15 have 25 step and ZD16 have 40 step if u have budget go for ZD16
soo far i import alot good from china not been tax i just use SEA SHIPPING since the machine is heavy and deliver it as sensitive item

There's a black rubber circular disc. Just put that in your portafilter, lock to brew head and press brew button. Wait until the pressure reach 15 bars then press again. You will hear the pressure release and water flowing to the tray. Do it twice and done.

I do it once everyday after final brew.

CRM3605 is using PID stock. No mod needed on the temperature sensor unlike some other machine which is using analog thermostat. You just need to pre heat the water tank to around 50 degree celcius so that the thermoblock have more headroom to stabilize the temperature during brewing. Another advantage is more powerful steam when steaming milk.

The only mod you need to do is the pump. If you unscrew the bottom, you will see the connection for the pump. You just need to unplug the wire from the circuit board to the pump, tap the pump to the 500w dimmer switch or solid state regulator. I'm using solid state regulator with 100k ohm potentiometer. When brewing, turn the knob almost to the minimum. As I'm using bottomless portafilter, the pre-infusion take around 10 seconds and will saturate the puck. Turn the knob to increase the flow while watching the pressure gauge. Once it reach 9 bar, stop there and continue to extract. You can play around with the pressure during brewing process. One of my favourite method is to slowly ramp down the pressure to around 6 bar before reaching my desire extraction weight.

PS: Ignore the red switch. Previously use the red switch to manually switch on the heater for old Poemia espresso machine. Not use in Gemilai. The potentiometer come with the solid state regulator resistance is too high and at minimum will stall the pump.
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