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Hi all,
Weve recently changed coffee suppliers at the cafe I work at, and some new toys have come with the package.
The machine is a La Scala Carmen 3-group (brand new), and the grinder is a Santos 55 (Automatic). The automatic grinder means that the dose is identical (or close to), which is great because the consistency between staff before was abysmal!
However, weve noticed since the change that our crema recedes to a darker, thinner amount during the time it takes to steam milk. The appearance of the crema directly after the shot is normal (great, even!). Here are some clues:
- We were using the same (new) beans on the old machine (Expobar 3-group) and didnt have this problem.
- The shots are almost ideal (havent finished tuning grinder and volumetrics yet) with ~50mL in 20-25sec for a double. While Im hoping to slow this down a little more, this shouldnt be too fast, right? And would that produced disappearing crema anyway?
- Dose level is ideal, IMO. Any more and the PF feels tight when plugged in.
- Tried some beans that got delivered today (as opposed to those that were delivered last week) and there was no difference (having said that, they could be the same batch).
Things I havent tried (yet):
- Using the spare grinder (Mazzer SJ) to see if the Santos is the problem (it is awfully fast, dosing a double in under 2 seconds!).
- Using some coffee that I know to be super fresh (ie. my home roasted stuff) - Id be very disappointed if our new supplier (or the roaster) was giving us stale beans, but its possible).
- Checking the temperature settings of the boiler (could be burning the coffee?).
Any diagnoses are appreciated!
Cheers
Stuart.
Weve recently changed coffee suppliers at the cafe I work at, and some new toys have come with the package.
The machine is a La Scala Carmen 3-group (brand new), and the grinder is a Santos 55 (Automatic). The automatic grinder means that the dose is identical (or close to), which is great because the consistency between staff before was abysmal!
However, weve noticed since the change that our crema recedes to a darker, thinner amount during the time it takes to steam milk. The appearance of the crema directly after the shot is normal (great, even!). Here are some clues:
- We were using the same (new) beans on the old machine (Expobar 3-group) and didnt have this problem.
- The shots are almost ideal (havent finished tuning grinder and volumetrics yet) with ~50mL in 20-25sec for a double. While Im hoping to slow this down a little more, this shouldnt be too fast, right? And would that produced disappearing crema anyway?
- Dose level is ideal, IMO. Any more and the PF feels tight when plugged in.
- Tried some beans that got delivered today (as opposed to those that were delivered last week) and there was no difference (having said that, they could be the same batch).
Things I havent tried (yet):
- Using the spare grinder (Mazzer SJ) to see if the Santos is the problem (it is awfully fast, dosing a double in under 2 seconds!).
- Using some coffee that I know to be super fresh (ie. my home roasted stuff) - Id be very disappointed if our new supplier (or the roaster) was giving us stale beans, but its possible).
- Checking the temperature settings of the boiler (could be burning the coffee?).
Any diagnoses are appreciated!
Cheers
Stuart.
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