Coffee Appreciation

On the tool note, has anyone else seen this thing?

https://youtu.be/hT1pRDtsvDw

Pretty bizarre looking instrument!

That's a very handy measurement to tell the difference, I always relied on the 49mm vs 51mm basket size, but that grouphead one is much more obvious.

I get the idea but surely you could just stab the puck 250 times with a cocktail stick.

Doing so will hopefully make you realise that its a step to far.

For what it's worth, I just stick to a tamper and have no desire to change that. These tools (though I can see more benefit from the levelling tools) are not worth the hassle/cost IMO. Looks like a little iron maiden.

My tamper is 51mm, which means that my machine is a post-millennium, if I have understood previous posts?

I’ve got the Gaggia Factory too - it’s post-mil. I’m really happy with my Coffee-sensor naked portafilter. It’s not perfect but it’s very, very nice.

Edit: just don’t go for the ‘official’ one with the rounded lip at the bottom. Stock basket is too deep and drips catch on it, flying everywhere. IMS basket won’t even fit.

So this one would be your recommendation?

Yeah, that’s what I’ve got. Doesn’t fully rotate into the grouphead if the handle’s fully threaded in (although that’s a couple minutes with a file I haven’t bothered with yet) but otherwise real happy. Proper solid bit of kit, weighty. Just feels nice.

Yep, 51mm tamper here, post-millennium

Safety pin, stir. Low cost & low effort.

Helps with de-clumping but my grinder's pretty good at providing 'fluffy' grounds.

I normally just tap the portafilter a few times to level the heap, gently press the tamper down (bit of turning to assist levelling). Seems to provide a pretty even extraction, flow tends to come in a single stream from the centre pretty much every time.

I do a sort of 360 pivot/spin manoeuvre with the tamper held at an angle which seems to mimic to my eyes what those ‘distributors’ do. Use bottomless filter, rarely have issues with channeling. Do sometimes side tap though, so ingrained is it in my muscle memory - uh oh…

Always tell myself I’ll give a distributor ago, but haven’t bothered yet. Have always fancied a flat topped tamper though.

Pretty much this for me too, though I use only the weight of the tamper with a spin, tap the top of the (very deep Robot) basket and repeat.

Might be a stupid question, but if I want to make like 8-10 cups of coffee into a vacuum flask, can I just pour over all that water through a V60? Obviously, an adequate amount of coffee will be added.

Yep.

Yep, would suggest a decent sized cone/filter though. i've got a 02 size and while I use it to make half litre brews, I wish I had a bigger one to use for that.

Out of the grinder:

Bonk the tamper against the side of the portafilter to level the coffee:

Tamped (no McCarthy bonk):

Reflectoporn:

Coffee:

Reckon my grind would benefit from the clumps being broken up prior to tamping?

Reckon my grind would benefit from the clumps being broken up prior to tamping?

I'd say so, something as simple as a paperclip, safety pin or something and just stir it around.

To be fair, I've never used had a grinder that produced clumps, so can't speak for the improvement with any personal experience. But it should definitely improve extraction and reduce the chances of channelling.

For contrast:

• Out of grinder
  
• Tap portafilter on counter a few times to level
  
• Turn/gently spin portafilter on top to level further
  
• Tamp
  
• Naked portafilter goodness (with some minor channelling it must be said!)
  
  

Damn video attachment taking priority and ruining my list order

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What grinder are you using?

Baratza Sette 270 (same internals as the Sette 30, just with stepless adjustment)

Yeah those look like quite tight clumps which I don’t experience. You can get specific tools to distribute the coffee but a paper clip will do

I get the same clumping from the same grinder.

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Easy fix.

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That's some proper 8th wave coffee artisanal shiznit right there..

Going to commit to the Krups GVX231 Expert Burr Grinder, Black/Silver [Energy Class A] as a compliment to my recently procured AeroPress. Question, is this the grinder I need?