After using a Sunbeam EM6910 for 15 months I upgraded to the Sunbeam EM7000. In that 15 months I learned a LOT about making coffee and recently have started branching out into a variety of beans. (my usual is dark roasteds from my local roaster in Bendigo) I use Sunbeam EM0480 grinders - I used to have an EM0450 & an EM0480 but the 450 went with my EM6910 to a new home - now I have 3 x EM0480 grinders. 1 set for my dark roast beans, 1 for my 'experiments' and 1 set for the decaf for the missus. The EM7000 is, like the EM6910, a twin-pump, twin thermoblock machine. The water pump and the steam pump push water through stainless-steel-lined masses of brass, ensuring a constant, simultaneous flow of both and a very good maintenance of temperature, even for multiple coffees. (so you can make coffee AND steam your milk at the same time) A 3L water tank means you can make a lot of coffee before a refill is needed and you can refill from the top - no need to remove the tank. A beep and flashing LED tell you when it is time to fill. I use reverse-osmosis water only, and would recommend to always use filtered water. There is a scale filter in the tank (which can be renewed by soaking it in salt water) but it's pretty basic - given the decline in water quality with all kinds of chemicals being added these days, a long life for the machine requires removing most of the contaminants. The steam on the EM7000 is a lot better than on the EM6910, although once I'd cleaned the steam path on my 2nd-hand EM6910 it was pretty good. I'd already gotten good at grinding, dosing and tamping with the previous machine so I wasn't expecting much of an issue with the EM7000. Equipment: I have 2 x VST baskets as well as the SB single floor double and single baskets. (throw away the double floor ones - they 'fake' a reasonable looking coffee and so you never learn to make coffee with the richness and depth of flavour you get when you approach a 'God-Shot' level of quality) VST's are extremely well made and the consistency of holes means they produce a full flavour profile from any bean. They can be a bit more effort to get right but you can also grind finer than with the SB baskets. I also have a naked portafilter. (the PF or handle the basket goes in) The naked version has the bottom drilled out so when you look under it you can see the holes of the basket. This lets you watch your pour and helps work out what might be wrong with your grind/dose/tamp process. VERY recommended to improve your coffee. So... I had to learn to grind for the EM7000. The settings were different to what I was used to. I had some water squirts from the top of the basket - from experience this means over-dosing. I lowered the level of dosing and it went away. I find the best level is about 5mm below the rim of the basket. My progressive tamp process (google for it) means a more consistent pressure profile in the dry grinds and previous experience meant I didn't face a lot of the issues many newbies have to overcome, so it was mainly just getting the grind right for the new machine. Similar to the EM6910 I found the best water pressure level was at the top of the 'best' wedges on the dial - not sure who does the calibration of those gauges but it seems consistent across the range that pouring within the 'best' regions gives under-extracted coffee. The milk now has a gauge of it's own to measure temp. With the EM6910 I used a thermometer and having seen some complaints about the milk temp on the EM7000 I used both. The gauge is accurate but has a problem - the sensor is on the steam wand and it is consistently about 5
