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Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

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  • Dimal
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    Good stuff dhepburn... 8-)

    Youre on your way now mate.... Just need to keep the consistency going and if possible, attend that Basic Barista course of Sunbeams....

    All the best,
    Mal.

    Leave a comment:


  • dAz52
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    Originally posted by benandfaith link=1225710268/20#39 date=1225873122
    Ive tried different beans from Segafredo, Gloria Jeans, Coffee Club, etc. (all fresh)
    Just goes to show just how NOT fresh those beans were/are...
    yep, I noticed the difference with beans from Belaroma and Gloria Jeans, the GJs pour looks a bit thin, but not a bad as the supermarket beans I tried a while back just for the hell of it, never again :P

    Leave a comment:


  • Dennis
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    Good news Dave. I suggested 2 things earlier...time to act on the 2nd.

    Leave a comment:


  • benandfaith
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    Ive tried different beans from Segafredo, Gloria Jeans, Coffee Club, etc. (all fresh)
    Just goes to show just how NOT fresh those beans were/are...

    From what I gather, the main factor that you have changed is the freshness of the beans and look at the huge difference! Hope your coffees will never go back to that again... (and it wont be as long as you stick to the fresh stuff!)

    Leave a comment:


  • greenman
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    Great to see the improvement in your shots, thats the beauty of this forum if you need help it is available from all the knowledgable CS coffee lovers and seekers of the perfect cup.................may your coffee knowledge and successes continue to grow!!

    Leave a comment:


  • ozscott
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    Fantastic news - viscous gold!

    Leave a comment:


  • Thundergod
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    Well done!

    Leave a comment:


  • acoggins
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    You must feel on top of the world right now. Feels good eh?

    Leave a comment:


  • dhepburn
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    Update...

    Have take on the advice of everyone here and gone to Belaroma Coffee Roasters and bought a bag of "less than a week old" beans. Fired up the old (I mean new) EM6910/EM0480 and tried my luck using as much of the advice found from everyone above (that my brain could handle in one session).

    Gold! Liquid Gold!
    I finally got the crema I was striving for! During the pour I could tell lthe difference immediately. It was definitely the syrupy look I had seen on videos. About 5 seconds after pour had finished, I had a 60% crema topping.
    The taste? Stupendous!

    I still have a long way to go with controlling the variables of measurement through to tamping, etc. to make sure I use the same procedure each time. Of all the advice given, obviously the fresh beans was no. 1 but something I picked up on in one of the threads which made a difference with my older beans and that was to make sure you let the machine, PF, and cup, warm up for at least 20 minutes before pouring. Maybe something I learnt there could be useful to other noobs reading this thread.

    Does the local cafe have something to fear? Not yet maybe, but keeping looking over your shoulders - Im coming!

    Thanks all.

    Leave a comment:


  • ozscott
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    Mal makes a point that I didnt think too when I mentioned tamping to suit the height of the shower screen...the impression on the puck is guide to how you are dosing and tamping - that slight imprint of the screen and a bit more so for the screw holding it it.

    Cheers

    Leave a comment:


  • Dimal
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    There really are enough variables already with trying to pull consistently excellent espresso shots, without trying to look for more (IMHO)...

    Take it for granted that most decent machines will have baskets that allow for the containment of sufficient coffee so as to allow for terrific espresso pours, if the nut on the end of the PF does their bit. Far better (and easier) to gauge a coffee volume consistency than a weight and by learning to dose, distribute and tamp consistently it wont take long before you can judge (by eye) that you are dosing at a rate that is quite consistent. Doesnt matter what weight of ground coffee is being used, this is a redundant criterion given that the basket(s) (Single/Double) for a particular machine are fixed in size and designed by the manufacturer to compliment their machines overall design.

    Learn to dose by volume so that after distribution and tamping, the top of the compressed coffee puck just kisses the shower-screen (or slightly less) before pulling the shot. Once youve got this down pat, you can vary the shot time by grinding finer or coarser so that you are cutting the shot off at the first signs of blonding at around the 25-30 second mark and at around the ideal volume be it either a Single or a Double shot. I realise that a lot of very experienced CSers go to the trouble of weighing each and every dose before loading the PF but for 99% of Home Baristi, this just isnt necessary and is only creating extra difficulty for no realised benefit in the cup, where it counts......

    Cheers,
    Mal.

    Leave a comment:


  • Thundergod
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    I bought a Sunbeam 0450 to use with the 6910 at work and used my method of measuring the beans into the basket then grinding.
    Realising that a lot of grounds are left behind in the Sunbeams I got quite fussy about poking loose the coffee stuck in the chute.

    I dare say there would have been reasonable conistancy in dose even though I didnt weigh to verify.
    I did get good shots until I tired of the Sunbeam and replaced it with an MDF.

    As ozscott said, a store of experience can help, leading to a gut feel for what needs to be adjusted.
    When the 6900 was replaced by the 6910 it took 3 shots to dial myself back in.
    THose first 3 shots looked horrible but the 4th and subsequent were on the money.

    Leave a comment:


  • ozscott
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    I realise that he isnt using a doser grinder.  

    My comments above are for illustration only - and re-iterate that experience allows good pours from the senses being used and having a store of experience (leading to a gut feeling about whether a little more/less is right) and with a doser grinder grinding fresh each time into the doser and then into the PF sees you relying on that gut experience more than grinding straight into the PF without a doser (or for that matter grinding into a receptacle and then using a scoop measure)  What I am pointing out is that in time precise measurements using weight etc are not required...and with time and experience he will get the feel for what is right.  

    He can and should aim for consistency and knowing what weight he needs is helpful (for example when I kicked off I used to grind dose and tamp and then weigh the PF (knowing its empty weight) to see if I was hitting the mark -  but in reality, and assuming he doesnt want to weigh each batch of beans for each shot for the remainder of his coffee making life, sheer volume of shots pulled is what will lead, intuitively, to good consistent pours - in my opinion at least.

    Cheers

    Leave a comment:


  • littleroundman
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    Originally posted by ozscott link=1225710268/20#28 date=1225785921
    eventually with practice its instincitve and gut feel plays a big role, so perhaps looking for exactness in this process may never please - and occasionally you get it not as good as the regular pours, but with the dose tap, dose tap, dose level and tamp method you will get small variations from shot to shot...I find it cannot be avoided (unless you weigh each baskets worth and then put that into the grinder by itself and do each shot the same which I know some people do but I dont like it and in a coffee shop it simply couldnt be viable).  But in reality most shots using the dose tap dose etc method, with practice, will produce really good consistent coffee.  Unless the doser is full, which is rare at home, this method with a doser grinder has to be more gut feel and experience than anything else because each sweep spits out a different amount when grinding for a baskets worth.  You get experienced with this over time and can generally get it very very close with the timer switch.


    Cheers
    The OP said he was a relative "newbie" owner of a 6910/0480 combo with only 3 months usage and hasnt done the free barista basics course.

    With the greatest respect and deference to your greater experience, your comments re the doser are irrelevant, the 0480 being a doserless grinder.

    Which is exactly the point.

    With no reference points as to whats "right" to begin with, a new user is relying on pure luck, and experimentation. Without any measurable outcomes as to weight, time, pressure, humidity, temperature etc an "newbie" may occasionally jag an acceptable pour, as long as all the variables remain constant and nothing "goes wrong"
    ESPECIALLY when so many of the variables have the same or similar outcome on the shot.

    For example, I defy any "newbie" to grind into an EM6910 with a EM0480 10 times in a row and get within Lucas 2gm/10% range then guesstimate exactly 15kg tamp pressure 10 times  then guesstimate 10 exact 30ml/30 second pours in a row THEN match all of them to happen at the same time WITHOUT some sort of mechanical aids OR endless time, patience and beans.

    IMHO finding out by experience what doesnt work and why is more important in the long term than buying the latest and greatest automatic.

    And, youd better enjoy the journey because the perfect destination doesnt exist.

    Leave a comment:


  • ozscott
    replied
    Re: Frustrated as hell!  EM6910 crema

    eventually with practice its instincitve and gut feel plays a big role, so perhaps looking for exactness in this process may never please - and occasionally you get it not as good as the regular pours, but with the dose tap, dose tap, dose level and tamp method you will get small variations from shot to shot...I find it cannot be avoided (unless you weigh each baskets worth and then put that into the grinder by itself and do each shot the same which I know some people do but I dont like it and in a coffee shop it simply couldnt be viable).  But in reality most shots using the dose tap dose etc method, with practice, will produce really good consistent coffee.  Unless the doser is full, which is rare at home, this method with a doser grinder has to be more gut feel and experience than anything else because each sweep spits out a different amount when grinding for a baskets worth.  You get experienced with this over time and can generally get it very very close with the timer switch.


    Cheers

    Leave a comment:

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