Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

[GiraffePencils]

the basket fits nicely on my scale,
and there's usually a longer wait.

As in I take the basket out, put the pf back and turn the machine on to warm then come back in 10/15mins and continue

 

[jpaul]

in terms of work flow -
if you're not single dosing the grinder, I'd assumed you had to decant the ground coffee from the grinder into the basket, since you wouldn't be able to grind a particular
weight accurately enough, stopping the grinder in time (so over/under shoot), unless its a grinder with inbuilt weighing like the settes.
although, perhaps you can get +/-1g accuracy, if the grinder is not too fast.

is your basket the correct size for the pf you have?

Ridgeless ims 18g competition(un-competed so far), after much ooming & arring back down thread ... so, more susceptible to self ejection into the bin.
After I've dropped the pre-ground single dose in from the grinder hopper, before tamping, the coffee is usually peaked above the edge,

 

[GiraffePencils]

I've got the Iberital MC2, after adjustment to the timing I get an accurate dose +/- 0.1g

I've the ims 18g ridgeless, it's a bit looser in the bottomless pf, but quite snug in the spouted. must be different pf designs

 

[LuckyBenski]

AeroPress arrived today... Going to give it a try with metal, mesh and paper filters then see how I feel. I may let my bean-to-cup go as it's neither as convenient as I'd like, nor as tasty as I'd like.

 

[Siliconslave]

I may let my bean-to-cup go as it's neither as convenient as I'd like, nor as tasty as I'd like.

How does the b2c fall short convenience wise, surely that's the whole point? (Not being funny, just interested)

Personally I found the aeropress more of a faff than a v60, chemex or clever dripper... But I guess it's a different thing.

 

[LuckyBenski]

How does the b2c fall short convenience wise, surely that's the whole point? (Not being funny, just interested)

Personally I found the aeropress more of a faff than a v60, chemex or clever dripper... But I guess it's a different thing.

It's time I suppose - I still have to turn it on, wait, etc. So while it's less work than grinder and espresso machine, it's no quicker. Plus I tend to flip between decaf and regular depending on time of day - which means still weighing into the B2C. Seems to defeat the purpose.

I tried the AeroPress. Nice cup of coffee, good and strong but longer than I can stretch an espresso. Pretty happy but as mentioned, lots of faff and prep. Hopefully I can streamline the steps but at this rate, it was hard to multitask with making tea for my girlfriend.

I guess that my benchmark, can I double team tea and coffee making conveniently!

 

[Raymond Lin]

I found aeropress so much faff I gave it away to someone on here years ago. I didn’t find it to make better coffee than drip coffee and it involves to many bits.

I’m really liking the workflow now with weighing the beans before grinding, boiling the kettle, grind, tamp then pull a shot. Almost every shot now with 18.5g in will do a 40g shot in around 25-30s so I’m very happy. Consistency has gone way up.

 

[jpaul]

every shot now with 18.5g in will do a 40g

that's a lot of coffee - I'd need a bigger boat .... I'm mean, 14g double , x4, a day
https://www.home-barista.com/tips/brewing-ratios-for-espresso-beverages-t2402.html

edit :

I may let my bean-to-cup go as it's neither as convenient as I'd like, nor as tasty as I'd like.

the regular cleaning on these always looks a bit onerous , an espresso machine, is enough.

 

[Raymond Lin]

that's a lot of coffee - I'd need a bigger boat .... I'm mean, 14g double , x4, a day
https://www.home-barista.com/tips/brewing-ratios-for-espresso-beverages-t2402.html
.

I have 1 a day. You have 4 cups a day?

I guess I watched too much James Hoffmann, or online coffee vid, they are all 18g so I have been doing that. It doesn’t really matter anyway since

1 - I have at most 2 cups a day, and never one after the other, it’s normally morning and then late afternoon

2 - Half the time I have 20% of the cup left for some reason.

Some days I don’t even have any coffee, I went through a few days without coffee during lockdown and I suffer no headaches or withdrawal.

 

[Siliconslave]

classic italian espresso was always a 14g double but since that post was made (and this thread started) modern espresso has a (bad?) habit of going larger on the dose - doubles around 18g is about normal. I'm experimenting with 19g at the moment but might try and bring that down a little - three tripples a day probably isn't good!

 

[Dj_Jestar]

Meh I just follow my tastebuds. I try to repeat the measurements of a nice tasting cup but I'm not a complete stickler for it anymore. Too much effort/time/care wasted on chasing the perfectly repeated cup of coffee. If the last one tasted a bit light and was at 16g then I'll try 16.5ish next time and so on.

 

[Ayahuasca]

Think I'll use Origin more often, they only sent me 1 bag from my order of 2. I sent an email and they replied within a few hours saying the missing bag was on its way, arrived and there was 2 in there

 

[Street]

I get the impression the next tier of quality is at least twice the price. In hindsight for home use I'd probably go with a Mignon, but for a second unit or keeping under £200 would stick with the MC2.

That was my thinking, I didn't want to be spending a fortune and my Mignon would be wasted in work. I went with the MC2 in the end, it'll be a step up from manual grinding at any rate and as I'm keeping the same grind for a few weeks I can't see any issues with it. For the price it seems hard to beat!

Although this has now sent me down the rabbit hole of looking at Chemex/V60 etc as a change to the Aeropress..

 

[Ayahuasca]

I've just had to flush three full tanks with descaler through my barista express to get the steam and hot water functions working again.

It looks like filtering tap water isn't enough to stop build up within the machine. Might have to go bottled.

 

[Nick1881]

I've just had to flush three full tanks with descaler through my barista express to get the steam and hot water functions working again.

It looks like filtering tap water isn't enough to stop build up within the machine. Might have to go bottled.

What are you using to filter the water?

 

[Ayahuasca]

What are you using to filter the water?

Just one of those brita maxtra filters, is there something better I can be using? I'm not paying the £14 or whatever Sage want for the one that sits in the tank

 

[Dj_Jestar]

The brita et Al filters will only remove some scale. There is no effective filtration without spending a chunk of dosh so you will need to descale regularly. Even with bottled, too.

 

[Ayahuasca]

Ah, fair enough, I didn't think it had been that long since I last did it so I'll need to set a reminder.

 

[LiE]

I think it's time to upgrade from my Hario hand grinder.

Anything better than the Wifa Svart for around £100?

https://www.pactcoffee.com/grinders/wilfa-svart-grinder-silver

 

[Begbie]

I think it's time to upgrade from my Hario hand grinder.

Anything better than the Wifa Svart for around £100?

https://www.pactcoffee.com/grinders/wilfa-svart-grinder-silver

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Krups-GVX231-Expert-Burr-Grinder/dp/B0002H2IOM

Is surely better? As its burr, and I'll do espresso too. Though I paid £40 for this 5 years years ago!