Coffee Appreciation

I’ll up the amount tomorrow- that picture was 18g in the 14g basket

Ok, 22g is I think the maximum- genuinely hard to get the portafilter in. Puck is still wet.

I wonder if it’s to do with the domed tamp?

domed tamp?

Are you trolling now? Use a flat one.

I assumed that if Marzocco bundled it then it would be good. But…

Ok my response was a bit harsh. I didn’t sleep well last night and had the grumps.

Domed tampers were a bit of a fad in the mid 00s. I don’t remember why. They have a habit of concentrating the flow into one place (where the puck is thinnest and provides the least resistance) so they’ll basically over-extract in the middle and under-extract at the sides. You’re best off with a flat one because the flow and extraction are more even.

Not really, doesn't seem to be any correlation between age of beans and frequency of spill over. I've dialed back the grind for now, gone a little bit coarser than usual, only a little bit and I'll see how frequently it spills over.

Flat tamper purchased, it comes pre-Tainted, so at least I won't have to do that myself.

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and the buttplug shaped item is tainted how exactly?

It’s a total mystery I agree

Anyone selling an espresso capable hand grinder? Kinu/1zpresso style grinder ideally

Any reccomendation on espresso machine for restaurant use?

Staff coffee, few customer coffees, espresso shots for Espresso Martinis.

It should be able to handle at least 8 coffees in short span of time.

One group is enough, milk frother and instant boiling water for tea required (ideally 2l tank or more).

Budget £1500 but very happy to pay less if possible.

Thank you for the tips!

Current machine that is dying: Vivaldi II.

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Can you plumb it in? If so I would look for a used Spaziale S2 1 group. They’re a lot more commercially orientated than the semi-domestic S1. They make a decent workhorse on the cheap. Are you handy at mending stuff? If not it would be worth increasing your budget by £1k and getting a brand new one.

Has anyone had any success/recommendations for reusable Nespresso pods?

I can't add more value than Steve but is leasing an option?

I am using a needle distribution tool to try to get rid of any clumps in my grounds but I'm having a real issue with channeling - what am I probably doing wrong here?

Probably not the clumping causing it. Make sure the coffee is fairly evenly distributed before tamping, ie no big peaks or troughs, so it tamps evenly. Tap the sides of the portafilter against your hand or level the coffee with your finger if you need to. If the flow acts like it’s a bit choked at the start of the shot and then starts running fast, grind a bit coarser and up the dose.

Maybe tamping too hard?

Did you change from the 14g to 18g basket? Those 14g baskets are impossible to work with

Buy a Slayer or KVW Speedster, should solve the channelling,
Somebody on here would take the LM off your hands.

I did, yes.

This would be my guess too

Tap the sides of the portafilter against your hand

To be clear (well, I'm guessing this was the intent), this is before tamping. Any sort of knocking after tamping is a recipe for channeling.

I shall back off the tamping pressure and will report back

And don’t spin it. Just tamp down and lift up, checking it’s level around the basket edge

I admit, the first puck I prepared this morning I have a very gentle tamp and it fell apart when I turned the portafilter over to get rid of the loose grounds, so I then tamped with a bit more force- likely too much.