The S1 Cafe - Helping Your Espresso Dreams Become Reality

I think the generally accepted dose for the Mini Vivaldi (as read in S1cafe/HB/CG) is about 16 gr of coffee. After trying 16-18 gr for a double, I actually agree that 16 gr produces the best espresso flavor for me.

The problem is that 16 gr dose will not fill a double backet. this means I cannot properly distribute the coffee prior to tamping; which affects my shot (sometimes get channeling). I always get an overly wet puck, that doesn't hold together when I dispose it. My machine has a pre-infusion chamber which I suspect contributes even more to the wet puck.

I've tried dosing more amount of coffee, but after distributing and removing excess coffee I always end with more than 16r in the basket.

Any ideas how to remediate this?

Thanks,
Will

I use 14 grams in the double basket and that works best for me. I find 16 to be the absolute maximum. Are you using a bottomless portafilter? You must be using a pretty light roast for it not to fill the basket with 16 grams?

richardcoffee wrote:I use 14 grams in the double basket and that works best for me. I find 16 to be the absolute maximum. Are you using a bottomless portafilter? You must be using a pretty light roast for it not to fill the basket with 16 grams?

Thanks for your reply Richard. The two blends I use most are Stumptown's hairbender, and Water Avenue's El Toro ; both from local roasters. in pdx. Medium roast.16 gr just make it to the rim of the basket, no mound of coffee to distribute. Pucks look very wet after pulling the shot. Flavor not great.

There is no standardization in baskets. I have double baskets from difference sources. Some have sloped sides and some are pretty much straight up and down. They all seem to hold a different amount of coffee. So you might want to shop around for a different double basket.

Also, soupy pucks are pretty normal with the S1's 53mm PF design. Some of my best shots have been long and soupy. The wetness doesn't seem to have any bearing on flavor.

chas wrote:There is no standardization in baskets. I have double baskets from difference sources. Some have sloped sides and some are pretty much straight up and down. They all seem to hold a different amount of coffee. So you might want to shop around for a different double basket.

Also, soupy pucks are pretty normal with the S1's 53mm PF design. Some of my best shots have been long and soupy. The wetness doesn't seem to have any bearing on flavor.

Thanks chas. Good to know this is normal with 53 mm PF. I was originally overdosing 18 gr on the double basket and although puck looked dry and held together a lot better (which I'd heard was an indication of better shot pull) in my case my shots did not taste great. I will try another basket and see if that helps. Thx.

I dose using an OE funnel and then WDT (Weiss Dist. Tech.) to distribute before tamping, so it doesn't matter that my dose doesn't mound above the basket.

jfrescki wrote:I dose using an OE funnel and then WDT (Weiss Dist. Tech.) to distribute before tamping, so it doesn't matter that my dose doesn't mound above the basket.

+1 except when I use my Pharos i.e., no clumping = no WDT.

I have been dosing around 15g, +/-1g, using a Vario W grinder for 2 years - no issues at all. No need to tamp to the full 30lb btw.

The Vario is not clumping, so what I do is tap the handle/basket 2 times on the rubber pad so that the grind can settle and distribute evenly before I tamp.