Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Timber said:
Love the mac tools setup - very different.

Couple of updates - my good luck with deliveries ran out today. The DF64/83 aluminium dosing cup arrived with a couple of nicks/scratches on one of the sides. It was packaged (I assume) very well from the manufacturer so I don't blame Bella Barista for not spotting, but not sure whether to ignore it, or return. I know these are tools that are going to get dinged up/wear and tear etc. I've emailed them to see what they say. But as it's pretty much identical to the plastic cup and therefore fits the DF54 perfectly in either the rubber sleeve, or the two grooves (which doesn't tend to advertised as such).

Only been able to make one coffee so far. 18g to 36g but came through in 20secs so need a finer grind. And I completely messed up the milk frother controls/heating so that was half cold. Tasted beautifully smooth otherwise. I've been re-organising stuff in the kitchen so hopefully get a chance to make another coffee at some point!

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I’ve definitely send it back, I can’t imagine it was particularly cheap.
The rest is just practice and is half the fun.
 
Timber said:
I've emailed them, see what they come back with. It was £22.something. I couldn't find anyone else in the UK with it, £38 to order from the US.
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Had to chase Bella Barista just now, they have said that all the metal DF64/83 dosing cups they have in-stock are like this; marked (which I can believe because the thing was so well packaged). They have offered a refund, or 10% off. The latter option is a bit 'naff but I'll probably take it, i.e. it's not the most expensive thing in the world and I don't know if I can be bothered returning it.

With regards to the Gaggia Classic I have a question for any fellow owners; do you notice your drain pipe dump water after every shot?

The very first time I used it I did notice the GC dump water. Since then I've used the slimline water tray from Shades of Cofffee (just a thin, molded plastic tray and you put the stock metal grate on top - caught in one of my photos above), which has a longer metal drain pipe. Yesterday and today I've not see it drain and I don't know if this is a side effect of the longer drain pipe, or something to worry about. I could fit the stock drain pipe again and see what happens.

In terms of my shots, I think I'm getting it. 18g of this particular coffee, K6 grinder set to 37/38 clicks, and I pull 36g in c.30-32 seconds. Shot looks beautiful with that small crema. I've picked up the art of temp surfing I think to get the shots at a nice temperature too. However my steam wand game is awful. I'm struggling and clearly need to watch some guides on Youtube.

I also think one thing I am missing is my larger 'grande' lattes from the Nespresso. And the amount of cleaning up you have to do afterwards, but that's a mindset change to not want to clear everything right away. But I will say this, there is a clear difference in flavours. The GC shots are so rich and smooth.
 
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The drain pipe dumps water after every shot, that's the design. It's the salenoid valve doing its thing. If it stops doing that then I would start to worry.
 
Going to spend 10 days in Japanese countryside soon...contemplating taking my 1zpresso Q Mini and then either

This

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or get an aeropress.

The metal v60 thing is more compact, but the grinder fits inside the Aeropress anyway so it doesn't actually takes up that much more space anyway. Hmmmm what would you get?
 
Timber said:
With regards to the Gaggia Classic I have a question for any fellow owners; do you notice your drain pipe dump water after every shot?
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it's when it stops you have to get out the pulycaf & blind-filter to backflush residue - usually do it every mnth.
 
Raymond Lin said:
The drain pipe dumps water after every shot, that's the design. It's the salenoid valve doing its thing. If it stops doing that then I would start to worry.
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jpaul said:
it's when it stops you have to get out the pulycaf & blind-filter to backflush residue - usually do it every mnth.
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I've only made 4 coffee's on it I think. So I don't think it's a cleaning issue yet. I put the shorter, stock drain pipe back in for the last coffee yesterday and it did squirt out a very small bit of water (I thought it was more noticeable on Tuesday when I first used it). So I'll keep an eye on it.

I noticed on Youtube some people even run the GC without tubes, or flexible tubing to divert to another drain option. So maybe it's the longer drain pipe hiding it a bit.
 
Question for those of you who use puck screens.

How do you knock the coffee out with the screen on top? I keep having to go digging for the screen in my knockbox which is a pain.
 
manic111 said:
Question for those of you who use puck screens.

How do you knock the coffee out with the screen on top? I keep having to go digging for the screen in my knockbox which is a pain.
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Practice. One thwack on the knockbox bar gets the puck and screen loose, I then pick the screen off with my fingers and give the portafilter another thwack and the puck is in the bottom of the knockbox.

Hated the damn thing at first as could never get it to work and was constantly fishing, but with time it becomes second nature.
 
I forget to put the screen in more often than I forget to take it out. I press it down on one side which breaks it's "attachment" to the puck and then it just tips out.

I'm fairly new in the country - Where's everyone buying their grinders etc? It's time for me to wave a (surprisingly fond) farewell to my Krups GVX231 and get a DF54. Best deal I've found is £207 with shipping from df64coffee.com
 
loosing the whole PF into the knock box is more usually my problem - once every week I'd say.
I think spring has weakened, ridgless IMS pf probably doesn't help, even with spring oriented so that first impact on PF is by a point where wire protrudes.
 
manic111 said:
Question for those of you who use puck screens.

How do you knock the coffee out with the screen on top? I keep having to go digging for the screen in my knockbox which is a pain.
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I knock it lightly first on the knockbox, the screen comes out first. Then knock it hard to get the puck out.
 
iamgigglz said:
I'm fairly new in the country - Where's everyone buying their grinders etc? It's time for me to wave a (surprisingly fond) farewell to my Krups GVX231 and get a DF54. Best deal I've found is £207 with shipping from df64coffee.com
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I paid RRP from Sigma Coffee UK about a week ago. When I first looked I saw there were a few places selling a bit cheaper, but US, or EU power/plug.

Sounds like a great deal you've found.
 
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