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  • #16
    FWIW, I reckon that generating puks of consistent appearance and structural integrity is just as/more important than whether you could use it play hockey with. Puks of consistent appearance are, well, consistent with the application of a consistent and reliable technique (holding the bean used as a constant). If I hit a sweet spot with a coffee that results in a slightly sloppy puk I don't care. Obviously there are limits.....

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    • #17
      As a Canadian I just can't help myself... the correct spelling of "puck", regardless of whether we are discussing coffee or ice hockey, is: P U C K

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Vinitasse View Post
        As a Canadian I just can't help myself... the correct spelling of "puck", regardless of whether we are discussing coffee or ice hockey, is: P U C K
        I was referring to the little bloke from Midsummer Night's Dream

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        • #19
          I don't know about you guys,

          But I can tell you my puck is well and truly pucked on nothing less than a genuine Hockey Puck...

          The OE Slap-Shot is made with a genuine unused Official Hockey Puck...

          It's a really good little pucker....
          Attached Files

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          • #20
            Originally posted by Barry O'Speedwagon View Post
            I was referring to the little bloke from Midsummer Night's Dream
            Me thinks thou doth protest too much... as the wee fellow's name in Midsummer Night's Dream was in fact... Puck

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            • #21
              Originally posted by Vinitasse View Post
              Me thinks thou doth protest too much... as the wee fellow's name in Midsummer Night's Dream was in fact... Puck
              Couldn't afford 4 letters at our School......(lick road clean with tongue etc....)

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              • #22
                Originally posted by Barry O'Speedwagon View Post
                Couldn't afford 4 letters at our School......(lick road clean with tongue etc....)
                A tongue? Looxury.

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                • #23
                  For pucks sake, this thread has derailed significantly. OP hasn't even replied yet, he's probably wondering how the puck he should respond to all these weird posts.

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                  • #24
                    Might I suggest "WTP"?

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                    • #25
                      Holy crap, this certainly took off!



                      Originally posted by okitoki View Post
                      How did the espresso tasted?
                      I feel like my coffees usually taste a little bitter. I find when I buy a coffee from LTD Espresso Bar or DiBella et al the drink tastes correct but without the tiny little bitter after taste I usually achieve.

                      Originally posted by noidle22 View Post
                      What's your tamping style? If you're're nutating or something, perhaps the sides of the grind are being pressed down or disturbed more than the centre, causing this disturbance. Does your tamper fit well in the basket? Those bits on the edge also sort of look like what's left over when a tamper doesn't fit the basket perfectly. I can see a tamper in your picture, looks like a good one so that's probably not it.
                      How do the results change when you use that smart grinder in the picture? Any difference?

                      That's pretty much all I've got, probably not very helpful. I mainly wanted to reply just to say that comparing the flow diameter of an espresso shot to that of a rodents tail is quite possibly the oddest comparison I've ever heard. Not that it's bad, it makes sense i guess, just sort of depends on different people's views on what constitutes a "large" mouse. Like, are we talking large field mouse, sewer rat, nutria perhaps? This can present a dilemma which I'm sure will provoke deep and philosophical conversation.
                      Tamping style is directly down. Then spin. Sometimes I'll get the downward force wrong and nutate the puck, but this doesn't happen all that often.

                      I didn't actually come up with the rodent tail comparison. I vaguely remember seeing is posted on another coffee forum a while back and thinking about my pours reminded me of it and it seemed like a reasonable comparison to make. You're correct in suggesting the ambiguity of the comparison, though. As I spend very little time (fortunately) in sewers I think I think I should specify the Fancy Mouse and Rat which you'd find as pets. I saw a New York sewer rat in the Smithsonian and I think you'd need an espresso machine connected to a coffee plantation fed by a fire truck to achieve a pour of that magnitude!


                      Originally posted by blend52 View Post
                      What actually is it you want to "Fix" ??
                      I have an especially poor palate when it comes to differentiating subtle flavours so I tend to get to something that I can live with by taste then try to improve upon that by studying the technique and improving upon that to get the final few improvements.

                      Originally posted by Barry O'Speedwagon View Post
                      More importantly, did you or any of your family get any sleep after consuming the Nessun Dorma beans? That'd be a tell-tale sign of failure (Lionel Hutz style).
                      I can have a double before bed and still sleep. The Nessun Dorma didn't stand a chance!

                      Originally posted by Bosco_Lever View Post
                      Keep your grind constant.
                      Dose 16.0g and then another shot with 15.5g. Observe the flow, and taste the difference in the cup.
                      Then make adjustments.

                      Read this:
                      Espresso 101: How to Adjust Dose and Grind Setting by Taste - Tips and Techniques • Home-Barista.com

                      Adjust your technique accordingly.
                      I need to get a better scale. The current one I use has resolution only to 1g. I estimate 0.5g to 3 beans out of trial and error. I shall give this a go at some point though. Feels wrong to waste beans on experiments and not tasty beverages, though.

                      Originally posted by TOK View Post
                      I'm going to have another "crack" at this. Question: Rate my Puk?. My revised reply, on the basis of now taking a closer and magnified look at the photo as well as having another read of the entire topic. To me, the photo of your puk seems to indicate a small under dose. On a well packed (if not over packed) dose, the indentation of the locating bolt is usually very sharp, and yours isn't, indicating there was probably a small amount of liquid on top of the puk immediately the group handle was removed from the group, and before it dissipated into the puk over time while you were getting ready to take the photo. Also there seem to be areas where the kiss of the shower can be seen, and others where it cant. Ergo you asked "Rate my Puk" and my reply is, it seems to be just a whisker under dosed. Whether that makes any difference to the quality of your cup or not is hard to say, and whether it caused "early blonding" in the resulting cup is impossible to know except where you can make a row of coffees under different conditions and see what happens wrt blonding in each case. And sometimes, some coffees just blond out earlier than others...... As noted by someone else, try making coffee using different doses, but keeping the grind constant (at least at first...only ever change one variable at a time) and see what happens. My interpretation, is you are asking how to fix what you think is early blonding, and if it may be related to what can be seen of your puk. You also ask if there is a problem, my reply is: only if you think so. I will note again, irrespective, I think you can make a better coffee if you replace the rancilio filter with a std commercial one BUT....the same conditions of coffee making and traditional "puk reading" will apply. Kindly note "puk reading" is not an exact art....and is consequently subject to a great deal of opinion . Enjoy.
                      Thanks, Your description of what has happened to the top of the puck almost exactly mirrors what is depicted in the video which was linked. Kudos. I shall try dosing up and perhaps tracking down a different filter.


                      Originally posted by Pete39 View Post
                      I guess what I'm saying is, if you look at what happens to the puck at the end of the extraction in the video you can see a rapid back-flow when the shot ends. This back-flow will disturb anything that happened to the puck during the shot and so how can you get any useful info out of it?

                      I suggest to the op to ignore pucks because of that and, because when I was starting out, I used the 5 cent test to get the dose about right and then fine-tuned from there. I got concerned when the puck got a bit sloppy and used that as a sign my dose was to small. I then did a little session with a barista who tasted my shot an said the grind wasn't fine enough. I replied I couldn't go any finer because I'd have to reduce the dose or shot would choke. He said so reduce the dose. I said, but the puck will get sloppy. He said, who cares? I followed his advice and got a really nice, sweet shot, but a really sloppy puck. I have not seen any correlation between a good shot and what the puck looks like, hence my suggestion to the OP to ignore the puck.
                      Yeah, I don't think the puck is 100% indicative, but some info can be gleaned from it.

                      Originally posted by Vinitasse View Post
                      As a Canadian I just can't help myself... the correct spelling of "puck", regardless of whether we are discussing coffee or ice hockey, is: P U C K
                      Damn straight!!!

                      Originally posted by noidle22 View Post
                      For pucks sake, this thread has derailed significantly. OP hasn't even replied yet, he's probably wondering how the puck he should respond to all these weird posts.
                      Yeah - wow. There's a huge amount here to digest haha. A little derailment never hurt anyone, though.

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                      • #26
                        Hi DuaneDibbley

                        Just to throw a little wild card in, most hints of bitterness are due to too many fines delivered by the grinder (Silvia has zero tendency towards bitterness AFAIAC). Stale / oxidised grounds taste sour.

                        Just spread a little of your grinder output on a piece of white paper and check the spread in particle size. If that is a fail, nothing will stop the bitterness "further down the chain".

                        FWIW, I am also a fervent hater of the stock Silvia basket, however it does not go bitter, it just flows quite poorly. Also, take four random Silvia baskets and you are very likely to have four different results in terms of shot setup. One of the many coffee things I tend to bin on sight. YMMV.

                        TampIt

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                        • #27
                          What are fines? Are they bits of grind which are less than average size?

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                          • #28
                            This thread is now doomed. If there are people who are so thin-skinned that "Ridged for her..." offends them enough to complain and get a thread name changed with the weak excuse of "inappropriate language" then all the puck jokes here are going to make them implode.

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                            • #29
                              Originally posted by DuaneDibbley View Post
                              How can I fix this? Also - someone please point out what the actual problem is - I assume there has to be one
                              I reckon that one of the first things you need to do before you go too far, is to get rid of that horrible Hex-Head Bolt that Rancilio still insist using to secure the shower-screen in place.

                              Grab a 12mm long Pan-Head or Countersunk s/s screw to replace it and then at least, you won't have problems with the head of the bolt destroying the integrity of said puck. Don't know why Rancilio still do this...

                              Mal.

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                              • #30
                                Originally posted by DuaneDibbley View Post
                                What are fines? Are they bits of grind which are less than average size?
                                Bingo! :-)

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