First Day - Lelit Combi

[ozmadair]

G'Day All,

Just bough a Lelit Combi from the helpful folks at jetblack. Brewing my first couple of coffees and have a question. How wet should the grinds be after pulling the shot? After my first couple of attempts, the grinds are quite wet. I am using Julius beans from Belaroma, grinding to a heap, leveling, then tampering with a good amount of force. I am using the 2 shot strainer and the two shots pull in sub 15 seconds. I'm guessing I could go a bit finer grain, but for now the shots are quite wet.

Any and all tips would be appreciated. Coming from a Delonghi so I know i have a little learning curve.

Thanks,
Matt

[Dimal]

Welcome Matt...

Why not get back to the good folks at Jet Black and ask them to give you a 'run through' with your new equipment.
A hands-on demo that includes user maintenance tasks, is worth a thousand pictures to say nothing of the number of words...

Mal.

[ozmadair]

Welcome Matt...

Why not get back to the good folks at Jet Black and ask them to give you a 'run through' with your new equipment.
A hands-on demo that includes user maintenance tasks, is worth a thousand pictures to say nothing of the number of words...

Mal.

Hi Mal,

To be honest, it's a bit of a drive. Just looking for a bit of guidance.

Cheers,
Matt

[chokkidog]

Welcome to CS ozmadair.

When starting out with espresso don't get too caught up in the peripheral details; there's plenty of time for that.;-)

The important bits are, 'what's in the cup' and do you like it?

It doesn't matter if your puck is wet if you're enjoying quality coffee.

Adjust the grinder finer and see what happens. Always taste the coffee, note how it changes

with different grind settings and keep looking for that sweet spot.

[Dimal]

Yep, what chokki' says...

A really terrific resource is a set of videos made available by ECA on their website here...
How to Make Coffee - Coffee Machine Steam Grinders Makers Commercial Domestic Italian Automatic
It may not be about your particular machine but the same principles apply and should provide some assistance to get you started.
Stick with it mate, it's a lot of fun...

Mal.

[ozmadair]

Mal,

Thanks so much for the link. I watched the videos, tried coffee again this morning, and WOW! Had a perfect puck and the taste was fabulous. Turns out i hadn't packed the basket well enough. With the method shown on one of the videos in that link I get fabulous coffee.

Thanks again,
Matt

[>JetBlack_Espresso]

Hi Matt,

When you tamp with the PreciseFit tamper it should stop so that the second-to-top line on the tamper base is level with the top of the Lelit double filter basket (this is the general rule for all 41 and 42 model Lelits). Do this consistently and your dose will be OK. Then adjust your grinder to get the speed of pour you're after (sounds like a little slower is in order).

charlie

[ozmadair]

Hi Matt,

When you tamp with the PreciseFit tamper it should stop so that the second-to-top line on the tamper base is level with the top of the Lelit double filter basket (this is the general rule for all 41 and 42 model Lelits). Do this consistently and your dose will be OK. Then adjust your grinder to get the speed of pour you're after (sounds like a little slower is in order).

charlie

Hi Charlie,

That's exactly how it ended up this morning (second-to-top level with filter basket). Adjusted the grinder ever-so-slightly to a finer grain and VIOLA! Thanks again. You guys have been great.

Cheers,
Matt