Yet they still get around it through sound mixing. Any regulations against using jingles or having ads interrupt what you’re watching?

I hardly watch it either. Just found it funny all the complaints above could be applied to what free to air tv has been doing for decades.

Sounds like you haven’t watched a lot of free to air tv haha

I didn’t realise heat up time was such an issue. Maybe there’s differences in countries power supply as well. In Australia, my BDB is ready to go in under 5 min.

It could be worth cross posting this to [email protected]

Yeah cool. Just note that you may need to use the pressurised basket on the pre-ground stuff. Enjoy the journey!

Nice one. What did you end up doing with your grinder? Or are you going with pre-ground for now?

The thing holding you back, outside of learning and practice, is your grinder. It won’t work for espresso, as there isn’t enough granularity in the settings.

You mentioned pre-ground coffee from a local roaster, but that also won’t really work unless you’re using pressurised baskets.

I would get a new grinder. If you can’t afford something too expensive and want to stick to hand grinding at the moment, have a look at something like the Kingrinder K4 or K6.

Here’s a good guide to get you started: https://espressoaf.com/guides/beginner

As others have said, there’ll be a learning curve and it may take a while until you’re happy with the results. But you’ve picked a great machine to start. Unfortunately it’s only one part of the whole thing haha.

Just start making coffee. You might find it improves over time. Whether it’s seasoning, you getting more consistent, or getting better at dialling in those beans, you may as well be drinking coffee during the process. I wouldn’t just sit there and grind beans to throw away. It’s too much of a waste.