Coffee Setup
6/26/2023 1:47:45 PM
Coffee Journey: from Aeropress to Cappuccino.
Shopping List
DeLonghi Dedica EC685.M (~110€)
Steam Wand (29,49€)
Portafilter (46,99€)
WDT Tool (11,99€)
Tamper (29,90€)
Milk Frothing Pitcher (9,34€)
Knock-Box (22,95€)
Loveramics Cup Egg Ice Blue (11,90€ per Cup)
Hario V60 Drip Scale (59,90€)
Upgrading DeLonghi Dedica
The Steam Wand and the standard Portafilter of the DeLonghi Dedica a pretty limited in their capabilities. Since the portafilter contains pressurized baskets, this leads to a worse quality of coffee. Additionally, in my opinion, the new wooden portafilter has a better aesthetics and is easier to clean because parts can be taken apart.
Upgrading the Steam Wand
The steam original steam wand is bad to clean and makes it more difficult to get good results in latte art. As the upgrade of the portafilter is rather trivial, the upgrade of the steam wand requires taking the whole machine apart.
There are several tutorials online on how to exchange this. I’ve taken the first one for the installment:
Known Issues
During the replacement of the steam wand, I wasn’t that careful and overstretched the connecting rubber tube. There are dealers online having replacement parts for this, if this rubber band might fall off due to the pressure.
Upgrading the Comandante Grinder
When doing espresso, some types of coffee require fine adjustments in the stages of grinding. The Commandante Red-Clix double the number of stages in the grinder, what allows better results in brewing.
Test your machine
My personal favorite coffee right now is the supremo vulcano. I recommend XXX clix on the commandante and 30 seconds of brew time on the Dedica.
Tutorials on steaming
Last words
In total, the entire setup has cost me ~600€ what is definitely not cheap but resulting in a great experience of enjoying good coffee. There are definitely retailers that enable some cost saving, but the grinder is pushing the price with €250 the total setup price higher than with a budget solution. I’m kind of unhappy with the knock-box, but maybe there are some better alternatives on the market, that I can try out.