14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

[pepsi]

Do you guys think 12-14 grams of coffee in a single shot is to much?

Ive read that the standard is 7 grams. However in the cafe industry the standard is apparently 8-9 grams.

Ive tried adjusting the grind, dosage & tamping harder (using tamper attached to grinder) but cannot seem to extract a good shot without using at least 12-14 grams of coffee.

[pepsi]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

The espresso is coming out nicely now with 14 grams of coffee.
With the cost of goods increasing, I am abit concern with using double the amount of coffee for a single shot.

[JJJ]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

Do you guys think 12-14 grams of coffee in a single shot is to much?

Are you enjoying said shot? If so, then its not too much.

[maheel]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

are u concerned about taste ? if not use 5grms ;D

just make sure you let us know where not to come for a coffee....

[bassway]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

The 7 gram per 25-30ml is only a rule of thumb.

As Ristrom said if you enjoy it then dont worry about that rule of thumb. You should make your coffee how you like it, not how someone else tells you that you must like it.

Cost of goods increasing?
At $32 per kilogram, one gram costs 3.2cents so it would cost an extra 16-22 cents a shot.
Every $1 per kilo increase is only 0.1cent extra per gram or increase of 1.2 - 1.4 cents for your 12g - 14g shot.
Is your budget that tight? I think life is too short for bad coffee.
And if you arent doing it already home roasting is a way of decreasing costs.

[beanflying]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

Hi Pepsi,

not exactly clear here but I gather you are using a double basket in your machine? If you are using a double basket then chances are you may still be under dosing a bit.

Baskets have a nominal dose weight they are suited to and the 7g figure is referring to a single basket, to confuse it a little there is also larger singles that take more also doubles vary too

If you are using a double then grind, dose, distribution and tamp all need to be in sync to get a good extraction. With a finer grind for example you can up the dose as the grinds settle more but you will need to decrease the tamp or the shot will choke.

The nominal "standards" are just guides in my book if what you are doing is working then stick to it Let us know what basket and machine you are using?

[rival81]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

It is great to see some of the top cafes now using naked triple baskets with 18g or more coffee in the puck (for a single shot).

The coffee tastes fantastic... though every machine is different and if youre not roasting your own i can completely understand how you would be concerned about the financial aspect, from a business point of view.

[Matthew_Eric]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

The guys at Coffee On Crown (google them) in Newcastle gave me a piccolo latte out of their 30g basket the other day. Thats a lot of coffee!

Great guys, great coffee, check them out!

[wholeshotalove]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

7 grams is an industry standard, but, industry standards are a little behind the 8 ball in my opinion. My standard kit out is 12 gram baskets for a single, and 21 gram baskets for doubles. More coffee, more flavour.

Keep in mind that baskets usually hold more than they indicate. For exaple, a 21 gram basket can actually hold up to 30 grams. Always variation.

Yep, bigger baskets reduce kilo profitability, but man, do they ever produce a much better coffee. Hell yeah!

[acoggins]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

Yep, bigger baskets reduce kilo profitability, but man, do they ever produce a much better coffee. Hell yeah!

Im going to disagree with this, in some instances.

An updosed shot will produce a strong, flavourful, but one dimensional shot. Great for milk based drinks and ok to drink on their own, but not necessarily displaying the full qualities of the coffee.

Ive had Espresso shots from a 14gram basket that were run the full length, so theyd be called a classic espresso shot, as opposed to the current trend of ristretto shots and while they had a thinner body to them, they had a much wider spectrum of flavours and were enjoyable in their own right. They also packed less of a punch.

Horses for courses and each to their own.

[trentski]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

I buy 500 grams at a time, if I used a smaller basket and made the same number of espressos then I would have stale coffee before I ran out. >

[Fresh_Coffee]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

My own perspective:

Its up to the individual.

But.....kindly note that the names given to coffee filters ("baskets?") usually never match what they actually hold.

If you tell me you like a 14 gram coffee and you actually weighed it to be 14 grams....fine.  But dont get that confused with calling something a "14 gram filter" and having actually used, 12 grams or 16 in it, which is dependent on the operator technique and the particular filter used.

I prefer for sanity, to use only three descrptive names for coffee filters they being for example
a) Italian market ("small" or "shallow commercial") filters;
b) Export or Oz market filters ("deep regular commercial")
c) Others (so called "triple", synesso", "LM"...whatever)

The easiest example that comes to mind of  Italian market or shallow filters are those we commonly see here on the Rancilio Miss Silvia. If you weigh (I have) the grinds that fill the single to the correct level for our type of coffee making it holds around 8 grams. If you weigh the double it holds 16 grams.

The common deep commercial filters we use in this market hold around 12 or more grams and 18 to 20 grams respectively depending on your technique and coffee, which is why volumetric dosing grinders are commonly set to do 2 and 3 pulls of the dosing lever to do 1 and 2 cup filters.......dont ask me why the single is 1/3 of the double instead of 1/2.

The point being, you will find that the names that spare parts catalogues refer to for these filters ("baskets?") is not necessarily equal to what actually fits in them when they are dosed up the way we do it.....

Note also that anything deeper or wider at the bottom than a regular Oz market "deep" commercial filter will generally hit the bottom of most generic filter holders so dont always work properly especially the newest stye "ergo" angled handles.

All that said if say you manage to get 14 grams into the deep single commercial Australian market filter and you like the resulting brew.....then go for it but its not a standard brew and you wont win any barista comps where everything needs to be done in a "standard" way...its just an individual thing so enjoy!

Regardz,
Attilio
very first CS site sponsor.

[GregWormald]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

I routinely use 19.5 gr. (weighed) and rarely express more than 25 ml.

Greg

[pepsi]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

If I have to use 14grams per single shot to get a good pour. Does that mean the bean quality is not so great?

[vyapada]

Re: 14 Grams of coffee in a single shot

If I have to use 14grams per single shot to get a good pour. Does that mean the bean quality is not so great?

Not really enough info to go by unless you let us know what are you using in terms of beans, machine, grinder, tamping, etc.