If espresso is Italian for fast, why does it take me so long to pull a perfect shot? Checkmate coffee
-Turning point Hoffman
I’m talking end-to-end from “Hmm, maybe it’s time for an espresso” to when your beverage is ready to drink. All setup/pull/milk steaming time included.
I have a basic machine with no boiler, so heat up time is negligible. I’d say it’s about 5 minutes for me to unpack my equipment, prep a puck, and pull a shot. Add maybe 2 minutes for each additional shot that’s pulled consecutively. I don’t tend to make milk drinks, so there’s no extra time spent.
This assumes that I’ve already dialed in the grind.
I’m in a hard spot with a heat exchanger machine. On one hand I love it because the build quality is top notch, parts availability is excellent, and on and on, but on the other hand it takes about 15-20 minutes minimum for the E61 group head to warm up.
Measuring beans, grinding, and puck prep is pretty quick. 2 or 3 minutes.
A smart plug transformed my espresso usage, turn on it on when I get up from my bed, by the time I am downstairs its ready to go. If you have a regular time you get up you could even stick it on a timer. Even being able to turn it on from another room, even when I am on a call saves a few minutes of having to get up and turn it on.
Mine is on a smart plug, too. It helps a ton except for those times where I go “an espresso would be nice right now”.
For that we need the big names to transition to themo coils or similar. I keep telling myself that I would save enough on electric to pay for a Bengle due to it not needing so much warm up time or being left on so long between shots…