Coffee Appreciation

All you can do is look at the roast and try to guess what sort of fineness you're going to need. My rule of thumb is the lighter the finer. After a while you get to the point where you'll get drinkable shots even if wrong, particularly if you're on a lever machine which is way more forgiving. Agree with @Ptown on taking note of roast level and origin for a better ballpark to take the guesswork out of it! I get a different coffee every 250g but that still means 13 coffees with 1 for dialling in. But agree that coffee advent calendar with single dose per day seems like a bad idea for espresso.

Agreed that looks like it needs a finer grind; how much espresso did you get in those 27s? Seemed like a lot. Don't think it'd be the tamping that's the issue. You sometimes can get less channelling if you pre-infuse (I think the Mr Shades PID - which I recall you have? - has that functionality?) because the puck is given some time to expand evenly before being hit with the full 9bars of pressure. I might disagree with @jonny69 and think that WDT is probably the best thing you can do to distribute and break up clumps, and I think the leveller is pretty efficient to use if you've got it (does the same thing as tapping against the palm but faster). Although I never bothered with either myself because the Sette made fluffy grinds and I preferred to live with the occasional spurt out than increase prep time by 30s per coffee/get all the extra tools.

Have we had this yet? Coffee paste...

https://nonormal.com/

Had my first syphon brew this week - highly recommend Ottoman coffee in Glasgow if you're in the area. Friendly and knowledgeable and a nice place to be. Lovely brew, much thicker/oilier than a pourover but still nice and clean (compared to something like a cafetiere).

Of course I immediately looked into buying one but it looks like they're quite a faff.

They sell in Keep Pedalling, I can't remember if I tried it or not but my gut feeling is it's a port/storm solution for during wild adventures.

This, get used to your grinder and you'll quickly get a decent gauge of it. First shot might still not be tip top but likely drinkable (and likely better than what you'd get from many coffee shop!), but the next one will get you well into the ballpark if not there.

I genuinely have never found h0me espresso to be a faff and you really can get consistently good results without spraying from tiny bottle, WDT and shaking and so on and so forth. Just takes a bit of sticking to it at the very beginning and getting to know the equipment.

Also if spraying around is an issue, just ditch the bottomless PF, spouts save clothes and don't diminish the result in any way.

I’ve been making espresso and you’re right it’s hit and miss. I’ve been using the setting on my grinder that’s been the most user friendly to espresso

have heard so many good things about those guys. Haven't managed to actually go yet!

I've got one, definitely not something I'd use everyday. But for a while I did get into the habit of making one on a weekend morning.

The cloth filters are a faff to keep clean and fresh, there are paper options which are also pretty decent though.

For me, the main downside was always that it took so long to cool down. I think I'd normally brew 500ml or so, and because it's kept in a little spherical brewing chamber with a pretty small hole at the top, it stays very hot for a long time.

Probably an odd thing to complain about, but I recall that being the thing I disliked most about it.

Looks damn awesome though. Feel free to fire over any questions about them you might have.

This is the one I've got: https://www.hario.co.uk/products/hario-coffee-syphon-technica-5-cup

Though it was definitely at a much lower price when I bought it. And those alcohol burners aren't great, you'd want a butane burner like this: https://www.espressoparts.com/products/butane-burner-for-tabletop-siphons

Speaking of grinders, had this rock up today. It's ostensibly for Christmas but very tempting to crack it open straight away. Really want to grab those Ditting burrs, rewire it and then after a couple kilos repackage and stick it under a tree until 25th December. Realistically it'll stay in the box for the next three weeks and I won't find out it's the wrong voltage or broken inside until it's too late.

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Nah, no option for pre-infusion with the shades PID. Seen some talk about adding a dimmer switch on the supply to the pump, but it seems a faff/dodgy.

I’ve always wondered, would hitting the brew switch for 3 seconds or so to get some water in, waiting for 10 seconds, then starting the shot properly work as a pre-infusion?

Could always try with your next coffee.. though change one variable at a time so you know which one is making the difference.

I dont think so as turning off the pump will activate the pressure release and the liquid will go into the drip tray. But try it anyway and report back

Crack it open, you deserve this

Much better. Shot in about 35 seconds for 45g out with 18g in the basket.

The shot before was slower, and looked Instagram perfect, but a touch bitter.

What I’ve found interesting is that the speed can vary massively - 50g in <20 seconds to 45g in 30-35 seconds and the change in flavour is a lot less pronounced than I expected. Before, I’d go from really bitter, to really sour, and finally get it in the ballpark that was between the two. Now it feels like the outer parameters are much closer (which I surmise is to do with much more stable brew temps, but who knows).

Very cool story I know, and I need to work on my latte art.

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Also look at my pretty machine.

Nb, for the keen eyed among you, this was before I set the PID brew temp readout to be -8, so the 99.5 is the boiler wall, rather than the water/brew temp of 91.5 on its way to 93.

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Almost caved and replaced the silicone o-ring on the Robot as it peed a little water out a few times recently. Instead, I took the old one off and cleaned it and the piston up. Works like a charm now, coming on to 5 years in February with all original parts.

Was that the first wash?

I have two spare piston rings in the box but have yet to give more than a quick wipe down to the original.

Siri, show me sellers remorse...

I wipe down the whole thing after every coffee, but only removed the o-ring once before, about 3ish years ago - at the time it was clean.

Props for the slimer vomiting ghost buster coffee art

change one variable at a time so you know which one is making the difference

This was my point in not using the WDT (or other automated prep tools). Go back to basics, get the basics right, then start introducing your prep aids. If you don’t understand how or why your prep is lacking, how the hell are you going to know if some random tool you saw in a YouTube Short is going to make a difference?

Had this in a French press this morning. It was delightful. Velvety smooth, lovely and balanced no acidity, just beautiful.

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@Stevethecoffee any reason this is only available in 1kg?
https://yellowbourbon.net/collections/shop/products/rwanda-kinini-natural

After 7-8 years, glass keep cup finally smashed after knocking it off the shelf. Thankfully, KeepCup sell the cup alone for £8 or something. Nice to be able to buy only the bits needed!