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  • #31
    Originally posted by LFM60 View Post
    Mmm. That looks good MTAT.

    I'll let the experts answer your latest questions.
    Those shots look very nice indeed. BTW The 60 cc target volume should include the crema.

    If it tastes great, good job!
    However, a 60 cc volume is not always the best target when you try different coffees. Italian roasters invariably include robusta beans in their blends, ensuring a good amount of crema. 100 % arabica coffees may produce less volume due to less crema. For that reason more and more people base their targets on weight rather than volume. A good starting point is to produce an espresso that is about 2 times the weight of the ground coffee that goes into the basket. This may very well turn out to be less than 60 cc.
    If it is too strong to your taste, use a slightly higher ratio, e.g. 2.2. From there you can finetune the grind / extraction time by taste.

    Having said this, I don't weigh every shot I make. I use a scale for weighing the ground coffee and weigh the shot when dialing in and occasionally as a backcheck.

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    • #32
      Hi degaulle

      quick question, how do I alter the weigh ratio? ie by adjusting the dose say 18gr - 19gr?

      Cheers

      Originally posted by degaulle View Post
      A good starting point is to produce an espresso that is about 2 times the weight of the ground coffee that goes into the basket. This may very well turn out to be less than 60 cc.
      If it is too strong to your taste, use a slightly higher ratio, e.g. 2.2. From there you can finetune the grind / extraction time by taste.

      Having said this, I don't weigh every shot I make. I use a scale for weighing the ground coffee and weigh the shot when dialing in and occasionally as a backcheck.

      Comment


      • #33
        Originally posted by MTAT View Post
        Hi degaulle

        quick question, how do I alter the weigh ratio? ie by adjusting the dose say 18gr - 19gr?

        Cheers
        You can either adjust the dose or the output. Adjusting the weight of the output obviously adjusts the time of the extraction as well. It doesn't really matter which variable you choose to adjust, but obviously you need to test the results and base its success on taste as simply hitting some number targets doesn't guarantee good flavour.

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        • #34
          Originally posted by LeroyC View Post
          You can either adjust the dose or the output. Adjusting the weight of the output obviously adjusts the time of the extraction as well. It doesn't really matter which variable you choose to adjust, but obviously you need to test the results and base its success on taste as simply hitting some number targets doesn't guarantee good flavour.
          +1.

          What I find to be a comprehensible guide overall is this:
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BT7-yOUMDM

          One remark though: In the video, Matt suggests that the only reason to increase your dose (and increase the output in proportion) is to make more espresso, all else being equal. It implicitly suggests that a 36 grams shot out of 18 grams would taste the same as a 34 grams shot out of 17 grams of coffee, which I am not sure of.

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          • #35
            OK, after some extensive time and trial and error and countless amount of coffee consumed. I believed I have gained some basic skills and knowledge.

            And I think now is a good time for some educated questions:

            I'm trying to get my ratio to be in between 1/1.5- 1/2.0 however I end up with this situation and not sure why. With the current grinder between 2 size 8 and 7.5 I either have the coffee flushed out too fast or too slow.

            Not sure if I make myself clear here but if I set the grinder to 8, coffee comes out too quickly and ended up with 1/3.0 within 18 secs. Taste wise is definitely on the sour side. Although the shot look beautiful
            And if I adjust it down to 7.5 it would then flowing nicely for first 10sec and then started to drip drop by drop. If I stop anywhere between 25-35 secs it would have only been 1/1.0 and taste a bit burnt/too bitter and the shot look awful.

            Not sure what else I should try differently and whether it was a machine, grinder or user issue here.

            I might try to upload some video which would make it a bit easier I guess.

            Any suggestion is welcome. Thank you in advance.

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            • #36
              The grind isn't the only thing you can adjust to affect how fast the water flows through the grinds in the portafilter (that's what makes the coffee taste burnt of too slow, or watery if too fast). You can also adjust the dose (amount of grinds in portafilter) as well as how hard you tamp. All three things will change the flow rate of the water if the other two don't change.

              It sounds like the sweet spot is between 7.5 and 8.0 on your grinder (annoying, but may change as the beans age to be more in line with one of those two, usually beans need to be ground finer as they age).

              So try grinding at 7.5 and reducing the amount of grinds you use, or grind at 8.0 and updose a little.

              Or try grinding at 7.5 and tamping quite softly, or if you already don't tamp very hard try grinding at 8.0 and tamping harder.

              Or try a combination of the two. I personally find it easier to adjust the dose them the tamp because I tamp from habit so if I'm not thinking about it I'll go back to how I always do it.

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