Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Ryan-3 · 2 Feb 2020 at 23:14

As I've donated my rarely used Nespresso to the office, where we already have a filter machine, I've decided to get myself a filter coffee machine for home.

Anyone got any recommendations to try? I prefer the lighter roasts, something nutty or caramel/toffee.

TacoGalaxy · 3 Feb 2020 at 00:08

jpaul said:
is it a copper (are they really copper) one, since the BB sale were those ones - and the accompanying grinder is ?

after inspecting the hx brewhead recently - I am wondering how the descaler gets to attack any of the pipes from the 3-way solenoid to brewhead,
these aren't full of water after making a brew so the descaler fluid never sits in them, equally,
backflush removes coffe residue from them, but not calcium carbonate afaik

White side panels, for a grinder I went for a Eureka Olympus 75E with Titanium Mythos Burrs....

Rocket have said I should never descale it, I'm going to use Volvic water and a water softener thingy in the tank so this should not be an issue.

Quite a steep learning curve as my coffee maker before this setup was an Aeropress!

Muska · 3 Feb 2020 at 17:27

I've also heard it should never be descaled, can't remember why now but I've done all I can to mitigate limescale buildup instead.
I always used bottled water, I started with Volvic but moved to (Tesco) Ashbeck.
I cleaned once a week, taking the shower screen out, group gasket (as soon as it starts to feel a bit brittle, replace) and clean the portafilter baskets in some Puley Cafe and warm water. I'm not sure what the screw is called behind the shower screen, something like dispersion plate, but that came out to be cleaned also along with a good scrub up in the group head.
Every day I would back flush with water only.

Hope that helps, they're a fantastic machine. It took me a little while to start getting good shots out of mine, good milk took much longer though. Best advice in general is weigh and measure everything to ensure consistency and then you can experiment with one element to gain an understanding/get the shot you require

Ryan-3 I have enjoyed these and like tasting notes such as you mentioned: https://ravecoffee.co.uk/collection...oducts/colombian-suarez?variant=2757471567898
They'll even grind it for you

TacoGalaxy · 3 Feb 2020 at 20:51

Muska said:
I've also heard it should never be descaled, can't remember why now but I've done all I can to mitigate limescale buildup instead.
I always used bottled water, I started with Volvic but moved to (Tesco) Ashbeck.
I cleaned once a week, taking the shower screen out, group gasket (as soon as it starts to feel a bit brittle, replace) and clean the portafilter baskets in some Puley Cafe and warm water. I'm not sure what the screw is called behind the shower screen, something like dispersion plate, but that came out to be cleaned also along with a good scrub up in the group head.
Every day I would back flush with water only.

Hope that helps, they're a fantastic machine. It took me a little while to start getting good shots out of mine, good milk took much longer though. Best advice in general is weigh and measure everything to ensure consistency and then you can experiment with one element to gain an understanding/get the shot you require

Ryan-3 I have enjoyed these and like tasting notes such as you mentioned: https://ravecoffee.co.uk/collection...oducts/colombian-suarez?variant=2757471567898
They'll even grind it for you

Thanks, and great Latte art!

Did you chemical backflush and how often? I'm led to believe I should do this every 150 cups??

jpaul · 3 Feb 2020 at 21:10

I backflush with pulycaf every couple of weeks

Muska said:
group gasket (as soon as it starts to feel a bit brittle, replace)

how long do they last ... do the cafelat green silicon ones last longer ?

jpaul said:
after inspecting the hx brewhead recently - I am wondering how the descaler gets to attack any of the pipes from the 3-way solenoid to brewhead,
these aren't full of water after making a brew so the descaler fluid never sits in them, equally,
backflush removes coffe residue from them, but not calcium carbonate afaik

these are the delivery holes in the (Bezerra HX) group head I want to de-calcify better (above dispersion screen+plate)
I'm a bit annoyed by gasket quality, changed it a month ago - great and springy, but has dropped off, can't sense the conformance it gave initially, typically powered up for 1hour a day.
unfortunately can't find an exact cafelat match ... just a chinese knock off.

Ryan-3 · 3 Feb 2020 at 21:27

Muska said:
Ryan-3 I have enjoyed these and like tasting notes such as you mentioned: https://ravecoffee.co.uk/collection...oducts/colombian-suarez?variant=2757471567898
They'll even grind it for you

Thanks for the suggestion! I've seen a few shops like those where they don't give any info on the product pages themselves. Annoying!

TacoGalaxy · 3 Feb 2020 at 23:52

What scales are you guys using to measure your espresso shots?

Nick1881 · 7 Feb 2020 at 14:01

TacoGalaxy said:
What scales are you guys using to measure your espresso shots?

I use these https://www.northstarroast.com/product/felicita-arc-scales/

Yes more expensive, but so fast and responsive.

Enjoy your new machine.

TacoGalaxy · 7 Feb 2020 at 23:31

Nick1881 said:
I use these https://www.northstarroast.com/product/felicita-arc-scales/

Yes more expensive, but so fast and responsive.

Enjoy your new machine.

Thanks, I will have a look at those.

How are you getting on with the Motta leveler, I am thinking of getting one?

jpaul · 8 Feb 2020 at 11:20

I have negligible grind retention, so I weigh beans going in, grind per cup, and eyeball the volume and extract time,

I see amazon now has a 4 way leveller, which would address my reservations on a 3 way - non-uniform distribution.

First utube hit on felicita scales - that dam mansplaining James Hoffman guy ... prefer Gale.

Dj_Jestar · 8 Feb 2020 at 12:42

3 still gets even distribution. The ridges are angled 120 degrees from each other.

Re: scales, I'm using a brewista Mk2. Overall I'm rather underwhelmed. They aren't responsive enough to use in any mode other than manual but they do have good accuracy and I also use them for everything else a scale could do in the kitchen.

Flibster · 9 Feb 2020 at 01:58

Brewista Mk1's here. They were affordable. I only used them in manual mode anyway.

Then they more than doubled the price for the Mk2's... Naah, not spending that much on a set of scales.

Dj_Jestar · 9 Feb 2020 at 02:09

I got them at 50%. Still felt ripped off. At first I was happy with them in auto timer mode, but then the novelty wore off and I just got frustrated with it and stick to manual. They are marginally more accurate than the salter scales (which broke) I bought them to replace. By accurate I mean they are good to detect a tenth of a gram difference all the way up to a kilo+

TacoGalaxy · 9 Feb 2020 at 11:07

I purchased these scales in the end, they work very well for £10:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01JKX4QAC/

jpaul · 10 Feb 2020 at 09:08

response speed remains my annoyance where the scale is makng up it's mind - I attribute that to poor mechanics of transferring, non-centred load, also, built to withstand 5kg, onto one(?) strain gauge.
so getting a 500g like Taco ref'd could be good. ... supplied by amazon too.

Played again with blind filter at the weekend .. I wondering if the IMS basket or the portafilter is ill-adapted since it always sprays. -
some of basket holes undercut, the cut away rim, so drops will be impeded, as they fall, that's what I'm blaming.

the-evaluator · 10 Feb 2020 at 09:31

That's a bottomless portafilter, not a blind portafilter. Blind refers to a basket with no holes which is used for back flushing a machine.

Bottomless portafilters are a sod to use, you have to have a very consistent and level tamp to avoid spraying. You may need to adjust your grind too and check there's no clumping.

jpaul · 10 Feb 2020 at 09:59

I had wondered why the machine backflushing didn't work so well - yes - I meant bottomless.

this should be the mark of a good barista - I need to find a coffee shop where someone can demo the technique (vs utube)

the-evaluator · 10 Feb 2020 at 10:17

I used to be fairly good with a bottomless portafilter, my problem to start off with was that my tamp wasn't level enough so the water was getting through the shorter area of the puck which made it fracture.

The key is practise, practise, practise. Having someone show you will definitely help but the exact way to do it will depend on your machine, your grinder and your tamper. but I'd suggest starting with your tamping first. I bought a few Kg of pretty iffy coffee and pulled shot after shot after shot.

Siliconslave · 10 Feb 2020 at 11:21

bottomless is very good for refining your grind, tamp and distribution, as well as showing up how good/bad your grinder is.

To really improve things you'll probably need to look at WDT, or Weiss Distribution Technique. Essentially you stir up the grinders to try and get rid of clumping - theres a huge article about it here: https://www.home-barista.com/weiss-distribution-technique.html

jpaul · 10 Feb 2020 at 13:17

After reading this https://www.home-barista.com/tips/bottomless-portafilter-mess-t56101-20.html

Practically, I could incorporate, in my brewing process, some stirring of the coffee in the basket with a needle / piece of wire;

the comment about potential burrs on a basket, and, that someone else (echo chamber), had an issue with IMS baskets was interesting.