Finally! Drinkable Espresso - the journey

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blacroix

Finally! Drinkable Espresso - the journey

Post by blacroix »

I got my S1 a couple weeks ago. Until today, my mixed drinks were "ok-to-good" and my espresso was not drinkable - too bitter. Today, after talking to a tech and the trainer at Chris Coffee (amazing support at Chris Coffee - I commend him and his team of professionals for their superb customer support - unparalleled in ANY industry), my espresso has turned the corner and has become "drinkable" and my mixed drinks (having my morning double latte) have become very good. I still have learning to go, but I am astonished how a 15 minute phone call can shed so much light. Here's my story:

The saga begins... in a wet bar far, far away...

Two weeks ago, I got my espresso machine. This was the FIRST machine I have ever used. My experience and taste buds are very immature - as I got into coffee only about 12 months ago. The double boxed BEAST arrived - I anxiously unboxed it and actually read the instructions (figured I spent this much, I better follow the directions). Chris includes a set of instructions that are very simple and very short - very much appreciated. Tightened the feet and all screws per the instructions (they can loosen during shipping), attached the water line, put it up on the counter and plugged my new baby in. Turned it on and voila! it made some noise while filling the boilers and blinked at me to let me know it was warming up. What a beautiful machine! The black Macap matches it very nicely and doesn't detract from the beauty of the Italian design like I felt the chrome grinder would (incidentally, I have since fell in love with the timer on the black grinder - I would HIGHLY recommend getting the black one just for the timer). That's about it for setup.

Since I'm an engineer and very much into statistics and technical aspects of basically anything, I researched double shot volumes. 2 ounces. This was my BIGGEST mistake and would take me several weeks to realize it. See, to an engineer, a 2 ounce shot means 2 ounces. Period. Nothing more, nothing less. Maybe that's our flaw. Damn our anality. :) Back to the story... so I adjusted the grinder (again, followed the instructions on how to zero it in), adjusted a few more times. After only 2 days, I was pulling relatively consistent times - about 2 ounces in 25-30 seconds - some were WAY faster, as I was getting some channelling - but that's all about dosing/distributing/tamping. Using the naked PF allowed me to work those kinks down to a minimum. Some advice from a newbie: USE THE NAKED, especially when dialing in the grinder. If you get channelling, IGNORE THAT SHOT's pull time - it is inaccurate. Only use the timing of shots with no/minimal channelling or you'll be misadjusting your grinder. Ok, back to the story. Shot times were 2oz/25-30 sec. They tasted bitter. According to my research, this meant the temp was too high - but I was at 93c - so I adjusted all the way down to 91c. No change. I fought with this for two weeks, assuming it was my technique. I cussed, fought, changed tamping techniques, changed distribution techniques, dosed more, dosed less, cussed some more.

That leads us to today. I called Chris Coffee - now I was blaming the machine - because I'm an engineer - it CAN'T possibly be me. We're always right - it has to be a technical problem. Hehe, again, a flaw with the engineering thought process. Sigh. The technician patiently listened to me and asked a couple questions - and convinced me that it was indeed an issue with the operator. He transferred me to the trainer. She was very nice also - listened to my story and said, "it sounds like you're getting overextraction". She then suggested I leave my dosing, distributing and tamping alone - she said it sounds like I have a good handle on that (minimal/no channelling) and even extraction when watching the naked PF. She said that I should cut my final extraction volume down and to make the grind finer. But that's blasphemy I thought - a double is supposed to be 2 ounces. I shelved that thought process and thought, it's the taste that matters - not the technical aspects of the shot. This is very hard to do for an engineer, but I listened like a good little student. So the grinder got a half a turn to the finer... pulled about 1.5oz in 20 sec... smelled that shot (previously, I could smell the bitterness)... holy smokes, this shot smells like espresso should, but the time was fast, so another half a turn... now it was 24 seconds. Smelled that shot also - wow, two GOOD smelling shots in a row. I poured some sugar in it and took a small taste, swishing it in my mouth to coat all the taste buds... wow - this isn't bad, even if I'm using the Black Pearl beans! Unfortunately, I ran out of Black Cat - which had a great bean flavor/smell, just had that bitterness that if you ignored, you could tell the bean had a smooth flavor. So, a couple more shots, all about the same time - about an 1/8 turn to get it up to 25-26 seconds, and I made my morning latte. Damn - this thing is REALLY good - sweet and smooth.

So that's my story. I learned two lessons:

- A shot should be called 1.5 ounces. :) Seriously, PAY ATTENTION TO BLONDING - don't let it over extract, even if it means cutting the shot short. It's better to have less volume and better taste than a bigger shot of crap.
- My taste buds were right - it was bitter - but I didn't know what to do about it.

Anyhow, I am SOOOOOOOOOO happy with my machine now. I was getting a sick feeling in my stomach thinking I spent over $2500 bucks on all this gear and I can't make a decent shot. For anyone out there that has a new machine... stick with it.... learn from my mistakes... and then get a killer buzz. :)

Brian
RGoldman

Post by RGoldman »

Thanks for the great write up! Glad to hear you are getting what you want out of it now!
Are you weighing your dose? What did you end up on for the temp?

Did you remove the guard on your macap? I took mine off the first day. There is no way to get the chute clean with it there! I also left the bean hopper off. It doens't fit under my cabinets with it on and I only grind what I am using at the moment so I don't really need it. I wish there was a small cover for the grinder though to keep the beans from flying out while it's on!

I am also getting a line of coffee left on the sides of the basket that I remove carefully after I tamp. My tamper must be just a touch too small for the inside of the basket. Is anyone else seeing this problem?
blacroix

Post by blacroix »

No, I haven't begun weighing my doses. I am rather impatient and didn't want to order one online... so I went looking yesterday for one - only found one place that had one with a resolution of 0.1g - but it was like $135... I decided to order it online after a futile day of driving around.

After talking to the trainer at Chris - she was quite convinced that having the grind and distribution right was WAY more important than dose and suggested that I work on that first. I don't know exactly what my dose is, but based on what I see - I want my dose to just barely (or not quite) touch the bold for the screens. Too much and I get channelling galore. Too little and it pulls fine, but the puck is wet. I'm simply dosing and then distributing with my finger. I then do the Staub tamp (north, south, east, west, then centered). That process is working wonderful for me.

I just dialed in a new bean (Ecco Norther Italian - Daterra Reserve). Had to make it about 4 full rotations of the wheel finer (compared to the Black Pearl)... was a bit surprised it took that much, but now I'm pulling 1.5 ounces in about 26 seconds. It's pretty much consistent (give or take 1-2 seconds), and no channelling that I can see with the naked, so I feel the dose/dist/tamp is acceptable.

WOW - does this stuff create a thick crema and huge cone on that naked PF... a little sugar, just a dab of milk... and I'm sipping on a macchiato. Quite good if I do say so myslef. :) I think the underlying bean flavor of the Black Cat was the best bean we've tried - I might go back to that and stick there for a couple months, just so I can do minor tweeks to the process without changing any other variables.

So, to sum up my process:

1. Unlock PF - wipe clean/dry
2. Start grinder
3. Pull doser handle a lot - eliminates clumping completely (being careful to NOT bang the PF - do not want compacting until I tamp - found that banging the PF was leading to some channelling issues)
4. distribute evenly with finger - again being very careful to NOT compact anything
5. Staub tamp (found that NO polish and NO knock work best)
6. Lock and pull

So far, that process is working wonders. Man, my head is spinning... have had three doubles today... must drink water next.
DaveS

Post by DaveS »

I was just wondering, how exactly were you measuring the ounces poured? The amount of liquid after everything settles, the total amount after the pour, or the liquid after the pour?

I have had the V1 a little over a month, and have found that I like most of the beans I have tried a bit underdosed so the portafilter is not nearly full during the distribution.

Dave
blacroix

Post by blacroix »

Not sure which method is right, but I am measuring total volume after things settle.

I am sipping on an americano that is just wonderful! Yesterday - I learned another impotrant lesson... do NOT drink three doubles before breakfast - you don't feel so good the rest of the day. Had to drink lots of water and no more caffeine the rest of the day. :) Guess that's what happens when you make such a huge improvement in shot quality.

Brian
RGoldman

Post by RGoldman »

I second the three doubles before breakfast rule! Made that mistake last week. Felt like @#$% most of the day. Funny thing is that it usually doesn't bother me when I drink too much coffee. Maybe it was just a fluke.... I could always try again to verify.

Brian, what scale did you end up ordering?

I roasted my second espresso blend yesterday. I'll let you all know if it's any good when I try it. I put a small amount of aged sumatra that Tom gave me in this batch. I've never tried an aged sumatra before so it should be interesting!
blacroix

Post by blacroix »

Ron -

Since my dosing has been very consistent, I decided not to get the scale. I'm dosing to the point that I can just BARELY see a scuff on the dry puck - which seems perfect when it wets/swells just up to the screens without disturbing the puck/causing channelling. I'm very happy with my current dosing method... don't want to change it. :)

Brian

PS: Time for my second double, then it's getting turned OFF until after Valentine's Day dinner (fillet w/portobella mushroom wine sauce and confetti asparagus... yum! That was the first meal I made for my wife when we were dating - and I've recently perfected Creme Brulee, so that's for desert!)
RGoldman

Post by RGoldman »

Mind if I drop by around dinner time? :D

Do you get a little ring of coffee around the indent in the basket from the tamper not being tight? I have just been carefully wiping it away before I lock the PF into the machine. I also find that if the dose is at all above the indent, it hits the screen bolt and that is bad, very, very, bad!

What temp did you finally settle on?
blacroix

Post by blacroix »

If you mean a little coffee being left in the lock-in ring... no, I haven't noticed anything left there. That could be because I'm tamping using the Staub method (makes up for the sloppy tamper fit).

I settled on 93c and using 8.2 bars pressure. It's working great for me at this point - don't think I'm going to change a thing. I'll let my taste buds get some experience, then in a couple months do a little adjusting of the temp/pressure without changing anything else to determine if there are more optimum settings for my tastes.

Right now, I'm on a mission of consistency. We're going to finish off the roughly 1.5 pounds of Ecco we have left, then switch back to Black Cat and stick with that while I work on consistency.

At first, I was a bit unsure about the Espro tamper - I've heard mixed reviews about it. Now, after using it for a while and settling on the Staub method, I have to say that I am 100% satisfied with it - the 30 lb "click" on it makes me extremely consistent - I can focus on pushing straight down completely and not worry about pressure. For a newbie - this has been very valuable. I can't imagine why anyone would bad mouth the Espro unless they're a die hard traditionalist... for the home, this product is a wonderful investment.

Brian
maxspivak

Post by maxspivak »

blacroix, thanks for a fantastic writeup.

I'm beginning the second week with my VII, so I'm where you were a few weeks ago. Based on your experience I'm beginning to see where my fallacies are.

How did you measure how much espresso you were getting? Did you just pour the shot into a measuring cup? I think I may be overextracting. I'm getting somewhere around 3.5oz for a double.

Who was the trainer you spoke to at Chris'? I may have to give her a call.

Thx,
Max
blacroix

Post by blacroix »

I'm horrible with names... :) They'll certainly be able to help you out though, just ask for a trainer.

Glad the writeup is helping - I figured if I was having an issue, most likely someone else was going through the same thing. I pulled the shots into a small measuring cup - it's only a 2 ounce plastic measuring cup I got from Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Good luck, and I'd be willing to bet when you cut your volume like I did, your shots are gonig to taste much, much better! The downside will be that you're now going to overdose on caffeine. Haha!
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