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Gday all
hoping someone might be able to help me to improve my coffee...
For a long time, Ive been unable to achieve the dripping honey effect on my espresso extraction, and so I dont get that thick oily texture/mouthfeel. I havent been overly concerned because I do get good tasting sweet shots - usually 20-25ml in 20-25 seconds + ~8-9 seconds preinfusion but theyre lacking in texture and the taste, while good, is noticeably less good than a shot made with the same (Five Senses) beans at the cafe where I buy them (he does have a Synesso though). Same beans on his machine extract beautifully and taste fantastic, but mine always gives a thin looking pour. I normally buy beans 1kg at a time within a week of roasting and use them up in 2.5 to 3 weeks.
So far Ive played with dosing. Digital kitchen scales told me I was up dosing a bit much - used to dose to a mound, 2 taps and level off but that was apparently about 22g, so Ive been going 1 tap which is consistenly about 18g, but that didnt seem to help matters. Tried grinding finer and tamping lighter but that didnt seem to have much effect either. It extracts at about 9.5 bar according to the gauge.
I checked the temperature - CS DMM with the tc looped over the top of the basket says Im around 91-94 deg C. (after idling a while ~150ml/15s cooling flush until end of water-dance, first shot ~94C, subsequent shots usually a bit cooler 91-92C, probably thanks to my thermosyphon restrictor). I seem to recall that when I first installed the restrictor, that the shots seemed thinner afterwards, but thought at the time that it was probably my imagination. is there any way that could affect it?
A mate of mine has a similar machine and I was discussing this dilemma with him. he told me that he tried beans from a different roaster with much better results. I havent tried that yet since I figured these beans should be fine since theyre good on the Synesso. Ive been trying different SOs and blends. Enjoying the different tastes but the extraction is always about the same. crema is relatively thin too. Its ok with the smaller surface area in my little 90ml espresso/piccolo cups, but in the 200ml flat white cups by the time I pour in the milk the crema has usually dissipated a fair bit - only covering half the surface - same on all the blends/origins Ive used lately. The cups are always preheated with the water from the cooling flush.
Im thinking I could (should?) buy or make a naked group handle in the next coupla weeks to see if that shows up any technique issues.
any other suggestions?
thanks
Geoff
hoping someone might be able to help me to improve my coffee...
For a long time, Ive been unable to achieve the dripping honey effect on my espresso extraction, and so I dont get that thick oily texture/mouthfeel. I havent been overly concerned because I do get good tasting sweet shots - usually 20-25ml in 20-25 seconds + ~8-9 seconds preinfusion but theyre lacking in texture and the taste, while good, is noticeably less good than a shot made with the same (Five Senses) beans at the cafe where I buy them (he does have a Synesso though). Same beans on his machine extract beautifully and taste fantastic, but mine always gives a thin looking pour. I normally buy beans 1kg at a time within a week of roasting and use them up in 2.5 to 3 weeks.
So far Ive played with dosing. Digital kitchen scales told me I was up dosing a bit much - used to dose to a mound, 2 taps and level off but that was apparently about 22g, so Ive been going 1 tap which is consistenly about 18g, but that didnt seem to help matters. Tried grinding finer and tamping lighter but that didnt seem to have much effect either. It extracts at about 9.5 bar according to the gauge.
I checked the temperature - CS DMM with the tc looped over the top of the basket says Im around 91-94 deg C. (after idling a while ~150ml/15s cooling flush until end of water-dance, first shot ~94C, subsequent shots usually a bit cooler 91-92C, probably thanks to my thermosyphon restrictor). I seem to recall that when I first installed the restrictor, that the shots seemed thinner afterwards, but thought at the time that it was probably my imagination. is there any way that could affect it?
A mate of mine has a similar machine and I was discussing this dilemma with him. he told me that he tried beans from a different roaster with much better results. I havent tried that yet since I figured these beans should be fine since theyre good on the Synesso. Ive been trying different SOs and blends. Enjoying the different tastes but the extraction is always about the same. crema is relatively thin too. Its ok with the smaller surface area in my little 90ml espresso/piccolo cups, but in the 200ml flat white cups by the time I pour in the milk the crema has usually dissipated a fair bit - only covering half the surface - same on all the blends/origins Ive used lately. The cups are always preheated with the water from the cooling flush.
Im thinking I could (should?) buy or make a naked group handle in the next coupla weeks to see if that shows up any technique issues.
any other suggestions?
thanks
Geoff
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