Coffee Appreciation

Is it very dry / low humidity? Maybe try a bowl of water next to it to raise the local humidity?

Don’t think it’s that, it was really foggy outside and inside was cold today when the second machine went wrong.

i think i would write to the manufacturer. does the machine have some kind of PLC in it that could be susceptible to EMI?

Thanks yeah I think it’s something electro-mechanical rather than a circuit being interfered with. I’ve had shop mills with crazy static problems and it looks like that. Just wondered whether these things are designed to conduct the natural static through the chassis ground down to the mains earth, and if that’s not right then the coffee just sticks itself to every surface around it. The router thing I was thinking maybe some sort of magnetic field would disrupt the flow of static through the grounding.

are these machines double insulated or earthed?

just had a look at my relatively cheap grinder (Baratza) and it appears to be earthed (earth pin on the plug is metal - ok, not conclusive). If so, then the earth theory could have merit. you could ask your customer to try it in a different plug socket and if that doesn't work then a different ring main?

Yes they’re earthed. The customer’s got an electrician coming tomorrow so hopefully that will be conclusive 🤞

Thanks for the west London cafe recommendations, some to add to my list for when I’m occasionally over that way.

Special Guests Christmas beans at £77 for 100g 🫠, not sure I trust myself brewing those…

I’d do some continuity tests with a multimeter. See if you get continuity between the exposed metal parts of the grinder and the top pin of the plug.
The next step would be to use a simple socket tester on the socket to prove it has an earth.
Does seem weird that static would build at up her shop and not at yours.

Hadn’t thought of the continuity test on the machine, would be good to confirm that it’s not a fault with the grinder.

I did send them a link to a socket tester but I had a sparky in the shop yesterday and he said that they will pick up the faintest earth connection and test good even if it’s sketchy.

The customer has an electrician coming out today, I hope he finds something but I think it’s the same guy that did their installation so…

Yeah, you need one of the fancier ones that will do an earth fault loop test ideally, as that will actually check the resistance rather than just continuity.
https://www.pat-testers.co.uk/products/kewtech-loopcheck-107-socket-tester

Landed on a Kingrinder K6 as my home filter grinder, £70 delivered from AliXpress, will report here but the Kingrinder I use in work for Aeropress has been great so far so I'd imagine this one will be even better

What made you settle on the K6? I'm also after a hand grinder for filter but haven't looked into it properly yet. That seems around the right price point so if I can just skip the whole research process and just copy you that'd be ideal!

Who's exploring the uncharted middle ground between espresso and pour-over ratios then?

£287

That’s fucking cool

I’ve got a question about beans and volume. Sometimes there appears to be a phenomenon when you grind 18g of beans and they fit in the basket no problem.

You then grind 18g of a different bean and there is an excess. This happen to me this morning. I double check the weight and it was still 18g

Roast level can dictate density. The more they're roasted, the lower the density as stuff is evaporated/burnt(?) off. So light roast beans take up less physical space than the equivalent weight of dark roast.

What was the question?

Do some beans grind a bit courser/finer? Yes
Why? Different conditions growing and roasting produce different consistency/density of coffee bean, so they'll break apart differently when crushed or pack more tightly when compressed.

yeah, what ^ said

Is 18g in weight always the same volume?

If I get YB coffee, 18g fits in the basket no problem. I bought two new coffees last week. One I’ve used consistently for a while, 18g fits in a double no problem. The newer one 18g doesn’t fit in the basket. Same amount of beans, but doesn’t fit in.

Just wondered if there was a logical reason

Different beans have different densities as explained above.

More roasting = more weight lost through loss of water = lower density/higher volume per gram. Not to mention the variation between different beans before roasting.

Cool. Thanks. Makes sense as these look like a darker roast.

I have a pipamoka. Same principle.

https://www.wacaco.com/products/pipamoka

Comes out like Aeropress. I use it when I go camping

First French press tomorrow. Very excited

Gaggia Classic spruce up underway...

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Still got an Aristarco grinder sitting here that needs to go. If anyone's looking for a big grinder (ooh nurse) let me know.

Anyone keen on a Fellow Ode Gen 2 for like £275? Great condition been really well looked after and probably around 5-7kg of beans gone through.

Will do a full Classified post but just wanted to check with this crowd first

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