Hi coffee snobs,
I need to be able to pull shots of both caffeinated and decaf using my Rancilio Silvia. Initially I thought it would be easiest to simply buy pre ground decaf so I wouldn't have to change beans in my grinder.
Not simple! I went to the local Merlo shop where they grind to a given setting. I have tried so far 4.3, 4.0 and 3.8. The first two gave pour times of 10 seconds (18 grams of coffee). Horrible. 3.8 gave close to 15 seconds, still impossible to stop at the right time. I have some 3.7 to try tomorrow.
So I googled a bit and found that the decaffeination process alters the chemistry and structure of the bean which makes it pour faster.
My question is, does anybody grind their regular and their decaf beans through one grinder? And, do the decaf beans leave oily residue in the grinder? If I'm thinking of upgrading my grinder anyway, are there any models recommended, say if they have 2 hoppers, or a tiny retention?
Sadly I haven't the bench space for two grinders or that might be my best option.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Dawn.
I need to be able to pull shots of both caffeinated and decaf using my Rancilio Silvia. Initially I thought it would be easiest to simply buy pre ground decaf so I wouldn't have to change beans in my grinder.
Not simple! I went to the local Merlo shop where they grind to a given setting. I have tried so far 4.3, 4.0 and 3.8. The first two gave pour times of 10 seconds (18 grams of coffee). Horrible. 3.8 gave close to 15 seconds, still impossible to stop at the right time. I have some 3.7 to try tomorrow.
So I googled a bit and found that the decaffeination process alters the chemistry and structure of the bean which makes it pour faster.
My question is, does anybody grind their regular and their decaf beans through one grinder? And, do the decaf beans leave oily residue in the grinder? If I'm thinking of upgrading my grinder anyway, are there any models recommended, say if they have 2 hoppers, or a tiny retention?
Sadly I haven't the bench space for two grinders or that might be my best option.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Dawn.

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