Coffee Appreciation

Have you been awake since you started this, how many shots have you drank?

"I know what you're thinking. Did he drink six shots, or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself"

It’s decaf. And some of the shots have been so bad they just went on the flower beds

This flow looks fine to me. I think from here it's just a matter of dialling in and finding a coffee you like.

Just got to remember that not all coffees pull good espresso and not all coffees pull good looking espresso. And to throw a spanner in the works sometimes you just get a batch of coffee that doesn't perform like the previous one did. Your local water will also affect all of this.

I think get some cheap or reliable beans to play with. Sounds like you don't like darker roasts, so for cheap get a load of Lavazza gold if it's on offer, or for reliable get a kilo of Yellow Bourbon espresso blend.

Personally, I don't go by weight, I still do it the old way on volume. So the compacted dry puck is the same height each time and I prefer it to touch the shower screen. Why? One of my sidelines at work is permeability in composites (flow of resin through carbon fibre) and one of the key things is having the cavity full and compressed, otherwise the fibres are displaced by the flow and you get channelling and race-tracking. Coffee does exactly the same thing in the portafilter. As soon as you wet the grounds they try to move around. If you give them somewhere to go, they will move. So I don't like it when there's a head of water above the puck because you end up with a puck where the ratio of grounds and water is wildly different at the top and bottom of the puck. Completely displaced at the top down to still compacted at the bottom?

Parklife.

Rep! One of the best films ever!

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We need to get you in a room with James Hoffman for another espresso deep dive!

In terms of weight I’ve been playing amount with the portafilter because some times 20g won’t let me get the portafilter on so take some out, weight and it’s between 17-18g.

I’ve gone from finer to courser and it doesn’t seem to be getting better. In terms of flow I had it right this morning.

All this is arbitrary because I’ve got an electric grinder en route

Bring back rep.

Coffee does exactly the same thing in the portafilter

Do you know that for a fact? It goes against the teachings of Hoffmann, Barista Hustle and many years of Reddit randoms. The puck expanding onto the shower screen is said to create channeling, let alone starting off with it touching when dry.
I wonder if the 9 bars of pressure sorts out the watery headspace?

Glad you're managing to get some better results from your machine, it's addictive isn't it? Just a gentle reminder that "the r word" is an ableist slur and not a very nice thing to say though. Not being a cop but it makes me uncomfortable and I'm sure it does for others.

Getting closer. Flow is good but there’s this dead space on the left hand side of the basket

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Woohoo getting there! That’s either uneven extraction or blocked holes in the basket. Could be bunged up with coffee grot or just worn out. I would replace it if it persists, preferably with an IMS or similar.

Oh and the back flushing thing - that’s detergent not acid - you’re cleaning the coffee oils from the exhaust pipe work, not dissolving calcium. If you don’t have PulyCaff then a crushed up dishwasher tablet is exactly the same thing. Only use half a teaspoon at the most though.

Awesome thanks for the tip.

Only other problem, I haven’t got a blank basket. But have ordered one.

I was cleaning between shots, but gave it a clean and doubled checked no blocked holes. Same grind setting.

Would a clean make much difference to what’s happening in the picture?

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No I wouldn’t be worrying about it then if you can see daylight through all the holes.

I meant the back flushing.

Try and fashion something with tin foil or clingfilm to block the flow through the basket when back flushing.

All this chat about issues of pulling espresso machines apart and dialing it in etc... is a good way to keep me from buying one and sticking with my Clever Dripper/Moccamaster combo

I got given a non functional Gaggia for free. I had nothing to lose so took it apart, replaced some bits, modded it to 6 bar etc. I got it going relatively easily but trying to get it to deliver high quality espresso is extremely humiliating and an incredible faff. I can't really recommend it unless you love pain/spending money/fiddling/drinking espresso without leaving the house.

Now considering getting a PID for it, but if you're getting a PID kit you may as well just get a dimmer mod whilst you're at it, and if you're getting a dimmer mod it's more economical to just do a gagguino build.

Stick to clever dripper or at worst, pourover.

So much this, keep up the good work guys!

I am firmly in the "no home espresso" camp. Cost and investment are just to steep, both fiscally and with regards to time.
Aeropress, V60 and french press for me. Though I'm keen on clever dripper because I can get the filters in the local shops and brew for two people at a time.

That is not to say that the engineer in me does not enjoy all writing about techniques and modding.. I'm just in no place to conduct it myself.

Fwiw (and I know this misses the crux of your post), I found 6 bar awful on mine, went back to 9 after a month of trying and started pulling lovely shots straight away again.