Cant pull a good shot?

[JRCoffee]

Hi all,

Ive just received a starbucks barista (via venezia) and I cant seem to get it right.

Im comfortable using the machine, as I regularly use my friends VV and make good coffees with it. Now my problem is that after frothing the milk, setting it aside, I then hit the coffee button to start extraction. It just drips slowly, drip.....drip.....drip.... No slow stream of wonderful espresso!

Ive changed grind coarseness (using a sunbeam em0480) and still, the same thing happens all the time. Ive tried tamping methods from not tamping it, tamping it softly, getting scales and even measuring 15kg of tamping force.

What am I doing wrong with this machine?

Thanks in advance!

[GregWormald]

Re: Cant pull a good shot?

If you use the same technique and beans on other machines and get different results, then its something with the machine! Maybe it was contaminated in the name change ;D.

In single boiler machines, steaming heats the boiler up to a high temperature and it would need to cool down to about 93-95°C to produce the best shots.

Id be making the shots first, then steaming the milk.

Greg

[A_M]

Re: Cant pull a good shot?

If you use the same technique and beans on other machines and get different results, then its something with the machine! Maybe it was contaminated in the name change ;D.

In single boiler machines, steaming heats the boiler up to a high temperature and it would need to cool down to about 93-95°C to produce the best shots.

Id be making the shots first, then steaming the milk.

Greg

Agree... and if making a second cup... Flush the head after steaming to get the temp back down.

OH... WHAT beans are you using Crap beans can not be tweaked to give good results also check ya PF basket... Do they have teh option of single and or double floor ?

[GregWormald]

Re: Cant pull a good shot?

Ooooh, Id forgotten about the baskets--thanks AM.

The VV usually has single floor baskets, but the group handle has a nasty spring-loaded restrictor in the bottom--and a malfunction could give the results mentioned.

Do a search and find out how to remove the restrictor. I hear its quite easy and very worthwhile, even when it works properly.

Greg

[JRCoffee]

Re: Cant pull a good shot?

Greg,

Thanks for hte tips. I had already removed the restrictor + the bottom from the pressurised head as was suggested by a few forums, but it still drips faster..

No ideas. When I take the group handle out and look at the basket, the bottom of the cake of coffee is dry, but theres water pooling on the top. I thought I might have been tamping too hard, but then I tried it a few more times with different grinds and tamping strength, and no dice..

[GregWormald]

Re: Cant pull a good shot?

When I take the group handle out and look at the basket, the bottom of the cake of coffee is dry, but theres water pooling on the top.

That sounds like the grind is too fine. When you adjusted the 480 did the grind coarseness actually change? There have been comments here that it doesnt really happen on some grinders.

Try going coarser again until its flowing too fast, and then fine it up in steps until you get to the right flow.

Good luck,

Greg

[JRCoffee]

Re: Cant pull a good shot?

Sorry Greg, when I meant dry I meant that the water has been passing through, but the top is still soggy?

Ill try your suggestion to grind it very coarse and give it another go and tune it!

[JRCoffee]

Re: Cant pull a good shot?

Great, gave it another go with a very coarse grind and it came out quite well. Now, just to play some more!

[GregWormald]

Re: Cant pull a good shot?

Great result!

Now that your grind is coming along, the other cause of water on top of the puck is that the dose is too small.

I suggest a search of CS for the "five cent piece" way of determining the correct dose.

Greg

[WSullivan]

Re: Cant pull a good shot?

Great, gave it another go with a very coarse grind and it came out quite well. Now, just to play some more!

how coarse are we talking here? when you say very coarse im still thinking possible machine issues, unless the coffee was like double O flour before you changed the grind to a coarser that is

[JRCoffee]

Re: Cant pull a good shot?

Haha, yes it was quite fine.. I hadnt used that grinder before and wasnt familiar with it, but after a bit of reading Ive found the right settings and getting regular, decent results from it!