Ok. you've made me take a new video of my pour just now..
Just waiting on youtube to cope with a 500MB AVI
... will give the thread a poke when it's completed and the video is uploaded..
The camera colours aren't great in video mode and hope youtube doesn't mess up the light levels but I just wanted to show the tamping bit (and the gratuitous crema porn).
The beans were roasted on the 22nd, so they're not that fresh but still taste fine. They're ground just before the video because it's not interesting to watch and the noise drowns out any audio. The grinder is a MCAP MC4 stepless (flat burr) which is the silver thing next to the MCAL at about 4:30.. but I digress..
I break up the clumps with a fork so the ground coffee has a fluffy appearance. The distribution means a more uniform spacing of coffee and usually means less channelling etc. Usually I'd use less coffee but it's easier to show with a big mound of coffee.
The MCAL portafilter has mechanism for holding the basket but the basket doesn't have a corresponding notch to lock into hence I do everything in the basket then insert the basket into the filter.
I hope this shows the better fit with the tamper (same as Raymond's) into the basket and the amount of pressure I'm putting on - most of my body weight. I don't faff about and just press and go with the tamp.
Shot tasted good, although it may have not looked perfect the taste had no sour or bitter notes.
Sic- I think you're well on the way to diagnosing your problem. I think that Raymond has more experience as you have the same machine. I would suggest a proper tamper as it will last, it will help the prep and consistency. Some people use the bottom of a glass baby or mustard jar - what ever is hard, flat, can cope with the pressure and fits snugly into the basket. It may be worth having a look in the cupboard to see if you have anything you can use.
Once the tamping is consistent this points directly at the coffee grounds.. which differ from machine to machine.
if you do get a grinder, get some tinned Illy beans to help dial in the grinding. You don't want to waste good beans.
As to the gvx2 - looking at home barista
here this seems to be a not much more than just an imitation flat burr so I'd look at a good conical or flatburr which would resolve the problem.
There's very few proper grinders in the £20 bracket unless you get a second hand manual..
Coffeegeek has a superb review second for grinders - for example the starbucks/dualite
reviewedhere
You can even look at the
reviews by price.
