Thought I'd give everyone an update as it's a month on since my last post:
Raymond nailed it — I got some dark roast beans and it solved the problem with the machine.
I did try this with the Ethiopian beans, and the Guatemalan 'Grind Control to Major Tom' from Neighbourhood were already a week old when they were delivered, but alas, it's just not quite right.
I've tried to dial this in by weighing the beans going in but it's just too inconsistent. I think you're right about it being on a timer, so it's a question of whether the beans fall into the grinder uniformly or not. Using 100g of beans gives me 7 double-shots, sometimes it works out perfectly, sometimes I get a few leftover beans and sometimes it spins up with 'empty grind time' on the final shot. That works out around 14.29g per shot but if I try 98g (14g per shot) or 102g (14.5g per shot) I'm still not getting consistent accurate results. I think it's just the nature of this machine.
So I'm going to use dark roast beans for the espresso machine and practice steaming milk, and use the light roast for pour over/French press at the weekend when I can take my time to enjoy the quality beans.
These kind of machines are typically dialed in for dark roasts, as generally speaking, a rather sweeping statement. People who like coffee, but not really INTO coffee and buy these all in one entry level machines are used to the instant coffee taste and then tend to flavour dark roast profiles.
People who are REALLY into coffee, separate grinder and whatnot, they start experimenting lighter roasts, which are the more citrus side of the flavour profile.
So...try a dark roast coffee and see?
Raymond nailed it — I got some dark roast beans and it solved the problem with the machine.
sounds as though the beans are still fairly young too - where you do need finer grind - so perhaps wait a week and try again -
I have burned through, newly roasted coffee, trying/failing to dial it in on a grinder+manual machine.
I did try this with the Ethiopian beans, and the Guatemalan 'Grind Control to Major Tom' from Neighbourhood were already a week old when they were delivered, but alas, it's just not quite right.
Not that I would expect an identical setup, but I've weighed the beans used in my DeLonghi ESAM4200 for single and double shots.
When turned up to maximum strength, it uses 12g for a single and 18g for a double. I prefer the flavour I get from a single (drink size dialled just above smallest - maybe 8 o'clock on the dial).
As such, I make 2 single drinks into a small cup of hot water. That's 24g of beans! But I do use a 50/50 mix of full caff and decaf so it's not cheap but it's not rocket fuel either.
YMMV but what I did was put a fixed amount of beans in the hopper and count the drinks it took to empty. After a few tries I was able to get 72g to produce 6 singles with no leftover beans nor "empty" grinder time. 72/6 = 12g
N.B. I haven't checked, but would presume the grinder runs on a timed system rather than weight.
I've tried to dial this in by weighing the beans going in but it's just too inconsistent. I think you're right about it being on a timer, so it's a question of whether the beans fall into the grinder uniformly or not. Using 100g of beans gives me 7 double-shots, sometimes it works out perfectly, sometimes I get a few leftover beans and sometimes it spins up with 'empty grind time' on the final shot. That works out around 14.29g per shot but if I try 98g (14g per shot) or 102g (14.5g per shot) I'm still not getting consistent accurate results. I think it's just the nature of this machine.
So I'm going to use dark roast beans for the espresso machine and practice steaming milk, and use the light roast for pour over/French press at the weekend when I can take my time to enjoy the quality beans.