Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

[specialpants Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close specialpants]

I got my hands on a bottomless group handle for the EM6910.

Does anyone have any feedback on this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga_K56tk03A

Compared to the ones Ive seen on the internet:
This one seems fast but I think it is okay because it is roughly 15secs for a double restretto

Sometimes, I find that there is a stream/jet of espresso that oringates from one of the holes in the basket (usually closer to the edge of the basket rather than the centre). I guess this has something to do with channeling.

FWIW, Im using week old beans roasted in the Behmor. The grinder Im using is the sunbeam EM0480

Edit - Another pour (finer grind)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzjMGlZWbIo

[specialpants Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close specialpants]

Re: Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

and yes, Im aware of the water thats leaking. It only seems to occur when im using the naked group handle :-[

[bobbles Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bobbles]

Re: Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

Do you bang the sides of your portafilter with your tamper?

[specialpants Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close specialpants]

Re: Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

Do you bang the sides of your portafilter with your tamper?

Yes I do.

Ive heard people say that I shouldnt bother with it. I havent yet tried a naked pour without tamping. Might try it today

[Javaphile Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Javaphile]

Re: Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

Ive heard people say that I shouldnt bother with it. I havent yet tried a naked pour without tamping. Might try it today

You want to tamp, just dont tap the portafilter with your tamper after tamping as it can lead to fracturing of the puck.


Java "Tiptoeing through the tapping tampers" phile

[Randy_G. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Randy_G.]

Re: Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

Do you bang the sides of your portafilter with your tamper?

Yes I do.

Ive heard people say that I shouldnt bother with it.

Too much is made about tamping. Of all factors that make up the process of creating espresso it is the one that has the widest range of variables that all work. If you get a scale out and tamp with a slowly increasing force while watching the tampers compression of the coffee you will find that little (if anything) happens after about 35 to 40 pounds of downward force. Anything in the range of about 15 or 20 to about 55 or 60 pounds will yield pretty much the same results.

In regards to tapping the side of the portafilter... DONT. There is nothing to be gained and you risk fracturing the puck or disrupting the seal between the side of the coffee and the basket. Its a simple risk vs. gain ratio with nothing to gain.

If you find that you NEED to tamp at a quite low or quite high force then you are most likely compensating for some other problem (too fine or too coarse grind, over or under dosing, too old or too fresh coffee, too high or too low water pressure, incorrect size tamper, a grinder with wide adjustment steps, worn burrs, or creates too much dust, etc.).

Tamping should be simple.. or at lest, as simple as possible. Of course, for any given set of equipment, there may be something that works better than something else. But pare down the process to a minimum number of hoops through which you have to jump, and just add whatever is necessary to get good results consistently.

[Forte Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Forte]

Re: Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

In regards to tapping the side of the portafilter... DONT

Yep dont tap!......and after tamping your coffee down nice and level ,when you are ready(which is straight away :P) to put it in the machine for extraction just be gentle....like the other guys said you dont want to fracture that puck!

good luck

[jaybee Bean Powered Member Find all posts View Profile Close jaybee]

Re: Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

I think the biggest issue you have is too much coffee in the basket. Thats what is causing the leakage, too fast a start and overall blonde crema.

Loose a gram or two of the brown powder and make sure that it doesnt quite make contact with the shower head when you lock the filter. The filter should lock in place with exactly the same force as if it were empty.

Try it out - that shot is going to be great!

[specialpants Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close specialpants]

Re: Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

Ive heard people say that I shouldnt bother with it. I havent yet tried a naked pour without tamping. Might try it today

You want to tamp, just dont tap the portafilter with your tamper after tamping as it can lead to fracturing of the puck.


Java "Tiptoeing through the tapping tampers" phile

Thats what I meant - I was meant to say "I will try it without tapping the side".

Cheers for the feedback - Im going to try tamping the handle without tapping it and see if it gets any better.

I also need to look into my dosing.... this is hard to explain but ill try:

Is it important to use the same amount of coffee? Or ensure that the puck is of consistent look/feel? Ive recently been told to stick with the same amount of coffee.

Prior to this, I always thought it was important to get a relatively dry puck that retained its shape when knocked out of the portafilter.

Lets say I was able to achieve this using 18g of coffee using a specific grind setting. Lets also pretend I need to adjust the grind to slow down the extraction.

Assuming my tamp pressure is still the same, I find is that I am only able to get a dry puck if I use slightly more coffee. If I kept with the 18g of coffee, I would end up with a soggy puck.

[specialpants Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close specialpants]

Re: Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

I think the biggest issue you have is too much coffee in the basket. Thats what is causing the leakage, too fast a start and overall blonde crema.

Loose a gram or two of the brown powder and make sure that it doesnt quite make contact with the shower head when you lock the filter. The filter should lock in place with exactly the same force as if it were empty.

Try it out - that shot is going to be great!

This is what someone told me today! Im going to try using less coffee in the morning. He was saying I shouldnt be too worried about getting a soft puck - just as long it didnt look muddy

[jaybee Bean Powered Member Find all posts View Profile Close jaybee]

Re: Feedback Wanted - Naked EM6910

When you get that dose just perfect, the coffee will expand with pre-infusion to fill that half mm gap and leave you with a nice dry puck too. In the mean time it may be a little wet, but that is a better place to start. I ended up weighing my beans to get the perfect dose every time (and still do).

When it comes together, you can pull that superb shot time and time again. Good luck for the morning!