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amenenema posted:FWIW 18g takes about 60 "turns" so maybe some of it is just how fast ya wanna crank. cranking long and fast for PP club
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Oct 30, 2021 03:23
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Should I get a VST basket or group head temperature gauge first for my Appartamento?
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Oct 30, 2021 07:35
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A temperature gauge will help you make more consistent coffee more than a new basket IMO. Good temperature control will contribute to flavour more than a VST basket unless your current basket is absolute trash.
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Oct 30, 2021 08:00
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Red_Fred posted:Should I get a VST basket or group head temperature gauge first for my Appartamento? Temp gauge will be extremely helpful.
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Oct 30, 2021 11:59
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Red_Fred posted:Should I get a VST basket or group head temperature gauge first for my Appartamento? basket should be the first upgrade to any espresso machine unless the included basket is very good - they’re usually not. temp gauge is a nice to have but not at all necessary. realistically all you can do about temp on the rocket is tweak the length of the cooling flush and you can do that by taste pretty well
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Oct 30, 2021 13:12
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Yesssss I was able to snag that BES840XL for $200. Getting it on Wednesday. Very excited. Anything I should be preparing to do by buying a used machine, or for this machine in particular? First and so far only thing on my list is a descale.
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Oct 30, 2021 13:25
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Does anybody have thoughts about Slayer as a company or their products? I'm thinking somewhere down the line I'd want to get a single group regular espresso machine for home use and get it plumbed, but I don't know what the actual costs and logistics are like. I like the look of a Slayer though and it's got some neat features.
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Oct 30, 2021 14:50
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Megabound posted:A temperature gauge will help you make more consistent coffee more than a new basket IMO. Good temperature control will contribute to flavour more than a VST basket unless your current basket is absolute trash. Gunder posted:Temp gauge will be extremely helpful. hypnophant posted:basket should be the first upgrade to any espresso machine unless the included basket is very good - they’re usually not. temp gauge is a nice to have but not at all necessary. realistically all you can do about temp on the rocket is tweak the length of the cooling flush and you can do that by taste pretty well Thanks guys. I just ordered a Geisinger gauge. Ironically it will take 6+ weeks to get here so I'll get some VST baskets in the meantime. 
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Oct 30, 2021 21:47
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Yesssss I was able to snag that BES840XL for $200. Getting it on Wednesday. I snagged mine for just a bit more used and have been super happy with it. Super easy to use, and the shots taste good. Enjoy it!
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Oct 30, 2021 22:34
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A lot to learn with this new machine, I'm familiarising myself by using it to froth the milk on my French press , and dialling in shots in some free time It's tricky
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Oct 30, 2021 22:57
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aldantefax posted:Does anybody have thoughts about Slayer as a company or their products? I'm thinking somewhere down the line I'd want to get a single group regular espresso machine for home use and get it plumbed, but I don't know what the actual costs and logistics are like. I like the look of a Slayer though and it's got some neat features. I’ve always seen slayer as a pro machine, but that might just be the cost? The machines look nice 
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Oct 30, 2021 23:31
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Ok so odd question Gaggia classic I've been pulling back to back shots( giving a minute or two to stabilise temp) trying to dial in a grinder I will hit a point after 3 -4 shots where the group head will no longer dispense water but the steam wand will shoot out water My suspicions is that I'm getting some sort of thermal shut off thingy, or the boiler is doing something? but can anyone help me diagnose my Newby espresso machine learnings
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Oct 30, 2021 23:59
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Jestery posted:Ok so odd question By steam wand shoot out water do you mean steam? Or do you mean you're running the pump with the steam valve open? Also does your Gaggia classic have the 3-way valve or not? I've pulled mine apart several times and I don't believe there are any thermal cut-outs that would effect pumping out the grouphead, the only temperature switches I saw were for controlling temperature only.
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Oct 31, 2021 02:36
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Blackhawk posted:By steam wand shoot out water do you mean steam? Or do you mean you're running the pump with the steam valve open? Also does your Gaggia classic have the 3-way valve or not? I've pulled mine apart several times and I don't believe there are any thermal cut-outs that would effect pumping out the grouphead, the only temperature switches I saw were for controlling temperature only. I will run the steam wand, and it will sputter out some water and then eventually steam after a second or two Ive opened up the guts to see if I can get to the solenoid and it doesn't look like it has one? I feel like a big idiot , but it looks like it lacks a solenoid  Can someone help me and point it out please Jestery fucked around with this message at 06:58 on Oct 31, 2021 |
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Oct 31, 2021 06:52
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Jestery posted:I will run the steam wand, and it will sputter out some water and then eventually steam after a second or two Your machine is one without a 3-way solenoid, looks almost totally different to the inside of mine. Some water spluttering out before the steam when you open the wand is entirely normal behavior though, so I'd say you still have water in the boiler and the boiler is still getting hot which is good news. Without the 3-way solenoid I'm not sure how the machine directs water from the boiler down to the grouphead? In my one that valve either connects the grouphead to the boiler or to a waste tube, there must be some kind of valve between the boiler and grouphead even on your machine though otherwise I don't know what would stop water from pouring out everywhere even when you didn't have the pump running.
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Oct 31, 2021 08:36
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Well good news I put it back together successfully and ran a whole tank through it without issue I saw a tip about repeatedly actuating the steam switch and just made a point of swapping through all the functions to hopefully dislodge the blockage if any and the first cup came out a bit milky so heres hoping it's a weird teething issue
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Oct 31, 2021 09:20
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amenenema posted:FWIW 18g takes about 60 "turns" so maybe some of it is just how fast ya wanna crank. 100 cranks on the Kinu Phoenix.
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Oct 31, 2021 13:31
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nwin posted:100 cranks on the Kinu Phoenix. Interesting. James if you're reading this please do a video about how differences in burr design change the number of revolutions required to grind a given weight of coffee k thx bye
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Oct 31, 2021 22:08
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amenenema posted:Interesting. James if you're reading this please do a video about how differences in burr design change the number of revolutions required to grind a given weight of coffee k thx bye I wonder if the roast has anything to do with it too. Like would a lighter roast just be more difficult to grind or would it actually take more revolutions as well? I’m using a medium-dark roast anyways so the point still probably stands that the Kinu is slower than the JX Pro. I actually see no advantage to the Kinu…if you get the big one then maybe the all meta build quality compared to the Phoenix which has some metal, but I think that’s probably it.
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Oct 31, 2021 22:14
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Lighter roast is definitely tougher to grind.
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Oct 31, 2021 22:15
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Well yeah I know it’s more difficult to turn the handle but will it take more turns than a darker roast?
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Oct 31, 2021 22:16
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Progress 
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Nov 1, 2021 22:26
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nwin posted:I wonder if the roast has anything to do with it too. Like would a lighter roast just be more difficult to grind or would it actually take more revolutions as well? I’m using a medium-dark roast anyways so the point still probably stands that the Kinu is slower than the JX Pro. The 60 turn JX example was with a dark espresso roast. Tried today with something medium/medium-dark: 75 turns! Looks like we're on to something. Once I get through these two bags I'll pickup something lighter and report back. I guess I would have assumed that a lighter roast would make it harder to turn the grinder, but the change in number of revolutions is a surprise. And the real advantage to the higher end Kinus is the thumb stop. But that wasn't worth the extra $$$ over the JX to me.
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Nov 1, 2021 22:35
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amenenema posted:The 60 turn JX example was with a dark espresso roast. Tried today with something medium/medium-dark: 75 turns! Looks like we're on to something. Now we just need our own patreon! The thumb stop would be nice, but the silicone band is decent enough for me.
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Nov 1, 2021 22:41
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Had a great moment with my Robot today. Got some Happy Mug Bigfoot espresso blend yesterday and managed to dial it in perfectly on my first shot. This is exactly what I was looking for in an espresso. I’ve recreated the shot back to back so that’s good. Feels good after burning through a pound of red bird before getting a handle on it. Now to see if it would work the same on my Gaggia Classic… For milk, I got the nanofoamer and tried it a few days ago but I need to get some AA lithium batteries…the Amazon ones I have just weren’t cutting it. Reviews also say that steamed milk tastes sweeter than just heating it up and whisking it…no idea if my palette will be able to discern the difference on that or not.
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Nov 2, 2021 14:41
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Jestery posted:Progress That's a looooong espresso, like 1:3 ratio? I'm assuming about 20 grams in. With the Pavoni I'm generally doing between 1:2 and 1:2.5, anything longer would require under-dosing the coffee and why on earth would I want to do that! Also I recently got a Knock Aergrind for my La Pavoni (and my picopresso) and I love it! I haven't counted the turns to make 14 grams of coffee yet, but it's not insanely arduous or anything. Seems really well made, works very nicely, tons of adjustment potential etc.
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Nov 2, 2021 20:09
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I have no easy way to measure dose at the moment, so I'm just doing my best to be consistent until I have some more time to start timing my grind or single dose my nemox, I suspect you are right about the dosage however My main happiness comes from it even resembling espresso instead of rapidly made filter coffee, or water run through gravel, after burning through half a bag, I can call it espresso ( if a little long)
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Nov 2, 2021 20:30
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Early in a bag I often pull a 1:2 but pull another 2 out into another cup. I drink half the shot strong then add a small bit at a time from the second pull to see what extra extraction tastes like. It's weaker sure but sometimes it rounds out some too-acidic first runnings so I prefer the longer shots in those cases
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Nov 2, 2021 22:23
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Got my BES840XL today. Has everything (the person even included filters and cleaning tablets). Only thing it seems to be missing is “the razor” thing. Is that worth it or is it stupid gimmick stuff?
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Nov 3, 2021 19:03
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Got my BES840XL today. Has everything (the person even included filters and cleaning tablets). Only thing it seems to be missing is “the razor” thing. Is that worth it or is it stupid gimmick stuff? I bought this distributer/tamper and haven't used the razor thing since. https://www.amazon.com/Distributor-MATOW-Portafilter-Adjustable-Professional/dp/B07ZT42HZF/ref=psdc_13397451_t1_B0896Q41R9 Breville Barista Express chat: I am having a hell of a time getting a shot that isn't undrinkable without milk due to bitterness or sourness. I've played around with grind size, temp and time and can't seem to get where it needs to be. Used a few different types of beans too, both espresso roasts and not. Where should I restart from?
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Nov 3, 2021 19:12
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Got my BES840XL today. Has everything (the person even included filters and cleaning tablets). Only thing it seems to be missing is “the razor” thing. Is that worth it or is it stupid gimmick stuff? get a puck rake/wdt tool instead charliebravo77 posted:I bought this distributer/tamper and haven't used the razor thing since. https://www.amazon.com/Distributor-MATOW-Portafilter-Adjustable-Professional/dp/B07ZT42HZF/ref=psdc_13397451_t1_B0896Q41R9 what are you dosing and what are you getting out? also stop using that distributor. you should also get a puck rake/wdt tool hypnophant fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Nov 3, 2021 |
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Nov 3, 2021 19:12
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charliebravo77 posted:I bought this distributer/tamper and haven't used the razor thing since. https://www.amazon.com/Distributor-MATOW-Portafilter-Adjustable-Professional/dp/B07ZT42HZF/ref=psdc_13397451_t1_B0896Q41R9 Which beans are you trying? What is your recipe?
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Nov 3, 2021 19:17
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charliebravo77 posted:I bought this distributer/tamper and haven't used the razor thing since. https://www.amazon.com/Distributor-MATOW-Portafilter-Adjustable-Professional/dp/B07ZT42HZF/ref=psdc_13397451_t1_B0896Q41R9 echoing the previous: recipe, how long is the pull, what kind of beans are you using, what porta filter? I've found that the amount of coffee in my basket is critical for pulling good shots reasonably. With the same grind size it pulls slower and blondes later with more coffee than less. It makes sense I guess, I just never thought about it and was always slightly underfilling my basket which caused under-extraction and sour shots. I've also bumped my temp every so slightly (1-2C) for lighter roasts to get them to extract reasonably. I've never measured the actual temp of my water coming out of the grouphead, so maybe it is just correct now! Sweeper fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Nov 3, 2021 |
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Nov 3, 2021 19:20
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 I thought the distributor/tamper was helping on consistency in tamping. Why is it a bad move? Not being belligerent, just trying to understand what is happening. Dark Matter Unicorn Blood and Intelligentsia Black Cat most recently are what I have been using. 17-18g in and 36g out is what I have been aiming for but have tried up to 46g or so just to see what happens. edit - let me time it again but I think the whole duration from button press to end of pull is 25-30 seconds.
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Nov 3, 2021 19:22
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leveling the top makes it look nice but to reduce channeling you need to get in there with some needles, since you really need to break up any small clumps and make the bed uniform through the whole depth of it -- hence the WDT tool recommendations
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Nov 3, 2021 19:25
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charliebravo77 posted:
I use both a tiny screw driver for wdt and a spinning distributor with a tap on the counter at the end before tamping. If I don't do all of these steps I get channeling, very annoying  I also use the technique where you tamp in a circle around the edges a bit before going down flat, seems to help me get a move even flow through the puck. All of this could be totally psychological and at this point I don't want to mess with my steps as I like my coffee...Does the machine have a preinfusion step? I typically measure from first drop -> end and end up at around 32-35 seconds to get 1:2 out.
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Nov 3, 2021 19:26
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charliebravo77 posted:
you want the density of tamped grounds to be even throughout the puck. the spinny thing isn't bad on its own but it doesn't actually fix the distribution of grounds, it just pushes the top around a little bit. if your grounds are well distributed out of the grinder this isn't necessarily a problem but if they aren't the spinner will mislead you into thinking you're correcting the problem. doing a consistent stir from the bottom of the puck to the top surface will ensure you're getting even density and therefore even flow
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Nov 3, 2021 19:36
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Ok, Dark Matter Unicorn Blood, 18g into the portafilter (with a little spilled) and used a makeshift WDT involving a cork and toothpicks. Then distributor/tamp. Button press to final dribble was 25 seconds total, ~10 seconds of pre-infusion. Best I could measure the water coming out of the group head was 192-195 degrees after a decent preheat and running a couple cycles through everything. I did notice that the pressure wasn't nearly as high as normal, maybe because of the WDT? Might need to grind finer with this method? 36g into the cup. The first couple sips are like, super fruity, tart and sour like I would expect from beer. Lots of raspberry jam with a hint of dark chocolate. Subsequent sips the sourness is pretty overpowering but I'm starting to wonder if this isn't exactly what it's supposed to taste like and I'm just expecting something different since I honestly can't say I've ever had a proper espresso shot, particularly of this coffee bean.
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Nov 3, 2021 19:38
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charliebravo77 posted:Ok, Dark Matter Unicorn Blood, 18g into the portafilter (with a little spilled) and used a makeshift WDT involving a cork and toothpicks. Then distributor/tamp. Button press to final dribble was 25 seconds total, ~10 seconds of pre-infusion. Best I could measure the water coming out of the group head was 192-195 degrees after a decent preheat and running a couple cycles through everything. I did notice that the pressure wasn't nearly as high as normal, maybe because of the WDT? Might need to grind finer with this method? 36g into the cup. The first couple sips are like, super fruity, tart and sour like I would expect from beer. Lots of raspberry jam with a hint of dark chocolate. Subsequent sips the sourness is pretty overpowering but I'm starting to wonder if this isn't exactly what it's supposed to taste like and I'm just expecting something different since I honestly can't say I've ever had a proper espresso shot, particularly of this coffee bean. i haven't had that particular coffee but i highly doubt a dark roast 'northern italian inspired' blend is at all intended to be bright/tart/sour, it's basically the opposite of what that style shoots for
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Nov 3, 2021 19:41
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https://www.darkmattercoffee.com/products/unicorn-blood-espresso-blend According to this it has notes of cherry and pralines and it's not a dark roast. Personally I love an espresso that tastes like you describe. Gimme dat jam. Mu Zeta fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Nov 3, 2021 |
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Nov 3, 2021 19:43
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