Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Btone · 11 Dec 2020 at 10:48

i don't know how many watch the James hoffmann youtube channel. on on his latest vid "gifts for coffee users" square mile is doing a sample grind size . a pack of 6 grind recommends for different brewing methods, which could help people dial in there grin setting if your just starting out

mad_allan · 11 Dec 2020 at 11:20

tlrBeta said:
Hi All,

After a few learning points from what I mentioned earlier regarding Dialling in, I've now moved onto a new bag from my Rave samples - the Colombia El Carmen. I've managed to get a roughly (18g) 1:2.5 ration (just my preference) in about 23 seconds. My grinder on the Barrista express is set all the way down at setting 2.

That said, if I was to go for a lower ratio or try and target that magical 25 seconds I would need to be using the minimum setting at 1. This seems to be quite common for me so far, I haven't found a bean (even the medium roast signature blend) which is above the mid settings. Is that normal? All the the tutorials I have seen talk about much higher settings.

I must add, the coffee tastes nice as it is. I've gone and brought a distributor to make sure of an even tamp - I wouldn't even get more then 18g in the double portafilter with these beans. I'm yet to try the single porta filter, I assume it isn't as easy as halving the dose?

Any experience or views welcome - maybe I'm just over thinking this now

I always struggled with the BE inbuilt grinder to get the right ratios until I changed the settings on the burrs down to 3, then I got a much finer grind that worked well.. I've got the Dose control grinder now and it's night and day difference.

Siliconslave · 11 Dec 2020 at 11:56

don't worry about the numbers on the grinder, they generally aren't that consistent between models, you just don't want the burrs to be touching! If you have adjusted too much and they are you'll get a high pitched chirping noise.

jpaul · 11 Dec 2020 at 12:06

you can make BE grinder stepless https://www.instructables.com/Barista-Express-Step-less-Grinder-Mod/ too,
my rocky was re-born with a similar mod, there was 5s+ extraction difference between steps.

tlrBeta · 12 Dec 2020 at 13:45

Thanks, ive not changed the inner adjustment so its still at default of 5.

It seems I've found a good set of settings now. Coffee is good and i can see why people like this Rave Colombian El Carmen

LiamJ · 13 Dec 2020 at 13:44

Any recommendations for glass coffee mugs? Have had a pair for years but they're starting to show their age.

There seems to be a lot of fairly similar stuff online but hard to tell what's good quality.

jpaul · 13 Dec 2020 at 21:07

LiamJ said:
glass coffee mugs?

mugs ? or ... cups ?

I like the lavazza transparent series , including mugs, and will bite if I see a deal on espresso size / they email me an offer.
https://www.lavazza.co.uk/en/accessories/mugs/mug-desea-trasparenza-collection.html
unless you have (fragile) double walled they don't keep stuff as warm as porcelain, but for espresso you can see the shot.

Dj_Jestar · 13 Dec 2020 at 21:20

Someone bought me a set of double-walled Bodum Pavina and they work great for coffee (and scotch..)

https://www.bodum.com/gb/en/4558-10-pavina

There are also handled varieties (named "Bistro")

jpaul · 14 Dec 2020 at 13:50

however I prefer porcelain cups to drink from, they seem (lower conductivity, higher heat capacity?) to keep the temperature of the coffee at the drinking rim higher,
improving mouth feel.

jpaul said:
Boiler insulation has anyone who pid'd their silvia/other also insulated the boiler ?

made some calculations/ measures

coffee machine heat up 15mins/1st coffee 0.18 Kw/h 648KJ (330KJ would boil 1L water)
additional energy over 15minutes/2nd cup 0.06 Kw/h 216KJ

uninsulated brass boiler is about 10cm dia/20cm so apparently about worst case 60W heat loss equals 108KJ, of that 864 total in 30mins of on time
8mm silicon sponge insulation on that would reduce it to 40W
(insulation value 0.064W/m/K 0.064* .10*pi*.2 * 80(degrees raise) / 0.008)

so - 20w energy saving seems negligible which would be like boiling a kettle every 4 hours. - any engineers who do heat calculations ?

Junglist · 14 Dec 2020 at 15:00

LiamJ said:
Any recommendations for glass coffee mugs? Have had a pair for years but they're starting to show their age.

There seems to be a lot of fairly similar stuff online but hard to tell what's good quality.

We have a pair of these that we use without the lid and they're really nice to drink out of and feel the perfect size.

LiamJ · 14 Dec 2020 at 16:33

jpaul said:
mugs ? or ... cups ?

I like the lavazza transparent series , including mugs, and will bite if I see a deal on espresso size / they email me an offer.
https://www.lavazza.co.uk/en/accessories/mugs/mug-desea-trasparenza-collection.html
unless you have (fragile) double walled they don't keep stuff as warm as porcelain, but for espresso you can see the shot.

Dj_Jestar said:
Someone bought me a set of double-walled Bodum Pavina and they work great for coffee (and scotch..)

https://www.bodum.com/gb/en/4558-10-pavina

There are also handled varieties (named "Bistro")

Junglist said:
We have a pair of these that we use without the lid and they're really nice to drink out of and feel the perfect size.

Thanks all. I did mean mugs as that's what I have now, but I wouldn't be opposed to no handle.

Main appeal of glass over porcelain is being able to see the coffee I guess, never really noticed much a difference in temperature or anything.

Junglist · 14 Dec 2020 at 16:35

LiamJ said:
Thanks all. I did mean mugs as that's what I have now, but I wouldn't be opposed to no handle.

Main appeal of glass over porcelain is being able to see the coffee I guess, never really noticed much a difference in temperature or anything.

Oops, I should've noticed you said mugs not cups.

But for what it's worth it's a lovely cup to drink out of and the cork gives it a nice surface to grab. If you fancy something different

LiamJ · 14 Dec 2020 at 16:40

We'll there's a 6 pack of Bodum mugs on sale for £12 so I'll grab some of those for now, see how they go.

Those travel mugs might be good for on the go. Just wondering whether they'll fit in the cupholder in the car though...

Junglist · 15 Dec 2020 at 10:39

Probably my best attempt to far. Realised I was doing it wrong all my attempts by starting at the edge of the cup. Now starting in the middle and it's starting to look somewhat respectable.

Used some freshly roasted (10/12) Colombian La Laguna from Wogan's Coffee in Bristol.

Wogan's Coffee said:
Single origin

100% Arabica, Speciality Coffee

Grown by the CENCOIC co-operative, a collection of twelve families from the Manantial association.

Washed. European Preparation – Hand-Sorted.

Altitude: 1700-1850m

SCAA: 87.5

Varietals: Colombia, F6, Caturra, Típica & Tabí

Redcurrant, caramel & fruit pastilles. A particularly smooth and creamy espresso.

Very tasty

tlrBeta · 15 Dec 2020 at 11:28

So I'm about to pull the trigger on 1kg of coffee from Rave. Am I a bit foolish to be looking at 1kg and expecting to still be decent 2 weeks after opening?

I imagine 1kg will do me through Christmas and New Year

the-evaluator · 15 Dec 2020 at 11:51

It'll be fine. 1kg wouldn't even last us until Christmas, let alone past it.

tlrBeta · 15 Dec 2020 at 11:56

the-evaluator said:
It'll be fine. 1kg wouldn't even last us until Christmas, let alone past it.

Thanks - I'm being optimistic

Only issue is that now I'm torn between the Colombia El Carmen and the Italian Job No 2

mid_gen · 17 Dec 2020 at 07:42

Decided to try some of the Australian Skyberry from Dorset Coffee, but forgot how slow they are at delivering...been nearly a week

Bought a bag of random beans from the cafe down the road, really don't like these super dark, robusta blends.

Might have to get an emergency batch sent from Neighbourhood.

the-evaluator · 17 Dec 2020 at 09:02

mid_gen said:
Decided to try some of the Australian Skyberry from Dorset Coffee, but forgot how slow they are at delivering...been nearly a week

I was really disappointed with the bag we had in June, it was by far the most disappointing bag of coffee I've bought this year. I found it was bland to the point of almost having nothing other than a muddy taste. I felt it was £14.50 wasted and didn't like that the minimum order quantity was 500g.

mid_gen · 17 Dec 2020 at 10:02

the-evaluator said:
I was really disappointed with the bag we had in June, it was by far the most disappointing bag of coffee I've bought this year. I found it was bland to the point of almost having nothing other than a muddy taste. I felt it was £14.50 wasted and didn't like that the minimum order quantity was 500g.

Oof, hope it was just a duff batch.

I ordered some Kenyan Blue Mountain as well which I've had from them before which is decent, fingers crossed.

I've had to just order a couple bags from 47 Degrees (Colombian Supremo and a Yirgacheffe)....shipped already...