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This is what my machine looks like when it is at the proper temp. water comes out evenly all around the screen instead of just one or two places

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I continue to waste a bunch of beans getting the grind and tamp right. What worked well last night isn't working well this morning. Took me about six tries to get three almost acceptable shots. I keep choking off the machine.
 
I continue to waste a bunch of beans getting the grind and tamp right. What worked well last night isn't working well this morning. Took me about six tries to get three almost acceptable shots. I keep choking off the machine.
If your choking the machine make the grind one notch larger and be sure all the grinds of the previous size are cleaned from the machine or they still foul the next shot or two as they mix with the new setting. The amount of tamp pressure is not as important as the consistency of pressure. Use a pressure you can match every time and adjust your grind to that.

What grinder do you have?
 
If your choking the machine make the grind one notch larger and be sure all the grinds of the previous size are cleaned from the machine or they still foul the next shot or two as they mix with the new setting. The amount of tamp pressure is not as important as the consistency of pressure. Use a pressure you can match every time and adjust your grind to that.

What grinder do you have?

Baratza Vario. I've been going up in grind incrementally with the fine adjustment. I may have to go up a whole number on the macro setting and work backwards. Right now I'm at 2 T.

I'll try the brush out tomorrow morning. I'm really trying to tamp lightly. Thanks for the tip.
 
You should be shooting for a tamp pressure of 30lbs or close to it anyway. If your tamping that lightly I would definitely put more weight into it which of course you will need to really change your grind size for. I don't know anything about about the settings of a Vario, I have a Mazzer so I am of no help there. My apologies.
 
Rule of thumb: The finer the grind the lighter the tamp. The coarser the grind the heavier the tamp. In Italy they grind very find and just use enough pressure to even things off in the portafilter. You've seen the plastic tamper attachment on the Mazzer grinders that look like a small plastic foot.

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Those type tampers are used by lifting the portafilter up against the flat. Can't put too much pressure in the tamp so the grind needs to be finer. In the US it is just the opposite. Grind is not as fine but the tamp is firmer. there is a difference in taste between these two methods but hard to say which is better as better is just too subjective for me to decide

You may want to look into a "training wheels" tamper that has a click stop at 30 psi so you know what 30 psi feels like. They work like a torque wrench. When the downward pressure reaches 30 psi the tamper clicks so you know where to go.

http://espro.ca/tamper/

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I don't have that grinder or machine, but FWIW I would focus on using a relatively light tamp with the same weight of coffee, adjusting the grind a little coarser each time until it stops choking.
 
I'll occasionally use a nutating tamp, which I find packs a nice puck of grinds without requiring much tamping pressure. Just something else to try if you are game.
 
Things a going in the right direction. I've tweaked the grind coarser and maintained light but consistent tamping. I think it may just be that the beans are oily. They are definitely fresh. One week since roasting.
 
Things a going in the right direction. I've tweaked the grind coarser and maintained light but consistent tamping. I think it may just be that the beans are oily. They are definitely fresh. One week since roasting.
Once you have an even tamp pressure and your pulling shots that are consistently around 25 seconds or so you can then tamp firmer and coarser or finer and lighter to solve sour and bitter taste issues provided your strike water temps are also consistent. It is surprising just how much one variable change can make in the taste.
 
I continue to waste a bunch of beans getting the grind and tamp right. What worked well last night isn't working well this morning. Took me about six tries to get three almost acceptable shots. I keep choking off the machine.

I've found that when I get a setup right my grinder and expresso machine will consistently pull great shots. But I like to switch off between expresso varieties. Whenever I finish a bag I generally move on to something else. It always amazes me how much of an adjustment I have to make when I switch brands. What used to be a perfect setup with the beans I just finished could lead to runny 5-second shots, or drip-drip-drip one minute shots with the new beans.
 
I've found that when I get a setup right my grinder and expresso machine will consistently pull great shots. But I like to switch off between expresso varieties. Whenever I finish a bag I generally move on to something else. It always amazes me how much of an adjustment I have to make when I switch brands. What used to be a perfect setup with the beans I just finished could lead to runny 5-second shots, or drip-drip-drip one minute shots with the new beans.

Yep, just switched varieties and had to make major changes towards the fine end, as these new beans aren't oily.
 
Not only with espresso but with pour over too.

I've roasted a couple of new origins and thee setting I "was" using for the Chemex causes it to run fast so I needed to go finer to get the time to the point that the coffee being made was not colored water. So far 2 pots through the Chemex (yesterday and today) and still not on the mark yet.

The "perfect" setting is only good for the beans in the grinder at the time.

Once you change beans, all bets are off and it will take a few "wonky" grinds to get back to where the grinder works well with the beans you have decided to grind.

Pour over is a lot more forgiving than espresso but the same issue is there none the less.

I seem to go through a fair number of pulls with espresso before I get close to where I want/need to be.

Thank goodness I like coffee and don't "judge", just drink. As long as it is not bitter or sour I am usually satisfied :001_smile
 
Agreed on the pour over, Mick. I have yet to really dial in my grind for my chemex. I've been using my Hairo for it and I'm somewhere on the cusp of too fine/too coarse. Right around 3-4 turns on the adjustment wheel.

Back to my little Breville. I must say I'm loving it. I'm starting to understand its capabilities and limits. So far I'm making really nice shots with this run of beans. Not one tossed out so far. Definitely a good starter machine.
 
Agreed on the pour over, Mick. I have yet to really dial in my grind for my chemex. I've been using my Hairo for it and I'm somewhere on the cusp of too fine/too coarse. Right around 3-4 turns on the adjustment wheel.

Back to my little Breville. I must say I'm loving it. I'm starting to understand its capabilities and limits. So far I'm making really nice shots with this run of beans. Not one tossed out so far. Definitely a good starter machine.

I started a new/different espresso blend this morning as I was down to the last shot in of my previous blend in the throat of the SJ.

First grind out of the SJ cleaned out the last of the previous blend and the pull was perfect at 24 seconds for a 2.25 oz double.

Second grind out of the SJ (using the same setting) was the new blend and the Pasquini struggled to get the double out even after the portafilter gasket blowing by and the pull lasted 32 seconds even with water and coffee ground being shot out between the portafilter and gasket. Guess I need to set the grinder a little coarser for this new blend of SM Donkey + Tanzanian + Sumatran and try again :lol:

As I have always said. "The perfect cup of coffee is a moving target"
 
As I have always said. "The perfect cup of coffee is a moving target"

I'd say I'm a moving target, too. This morning I pulled shots of three different beans on the Cremina. Ahhh, single dosing with the Pharos. Changed beans between each shot and still ended up with great coffee.
 
I have a Saeco Syntia which I bought 3 or 4 years ago. I've noticed now that Saeco machines also have a Phillips logo. Mine is pre-Phillips. i'm wondering if the quality is the same or have there been modifications since the buy-out that would make the machines different (better or worse). Anybody know?
 
Well, before Christmas an espresso machine caught my eye at Target (yea, I know...). A Delonghi EC-155. Low end, but its a 15bar pump machine, and for my espresso (or should I say, Cappuccino) needs, I don't need a $500+ machine.

So I do what I like to do before buying anything around $100 and more: research. Lots of reading of reviews, lots of looking into the portafilter. What I found was that they are a reliable machine, light, a bit noisy, small, and pretty much every review said they make a great shot of espresso and do OK at frothing milk. The presurized portafilter, or shall I say filter, can be modified by removing a pressure valve, in about 1 minute or less. There are limitations to frothing pitcher size, but I got a Krups 20oz that just works with enough milk for ONE (double-shot) cappuccino.

I got it home, let it warm up while I had dinner, and ran 5 double shots of water through to clean (per instructions!) I then let it stay on another 10 minutes or longer and ground some beans in my Hario Skerton, and seeing that I could not find a tamp locally, I left the pressurized unit intact but still tamped it with the built in tamper pretty tight. Two shots of espresso later with decent Crema I was frothing milk. OK, the milk frothing needs work...and I could have gotten it a bit hotter. End result? A Cappuccino as good as any small coffee shop I've been to. Delicious, actually! Using 2% milk the foam stuck around just fine. The grounds were a nice solid puck (though I scraped them out with a plastic spoon). I've read that people get a watery grounds with this machine, I would suspect they did NOT use enough coffee... 14g for 2 shots left a very full filter basket, and a dry puck when done.

I'm pleased. Not high end, but I'm saving for a house. I can learn on this machine before I save up (after getting my own house) for a better one. Sure, I could have bought a Saeco, for near 2x the cost.

I bet I drink at least 2 cappuccinos tomorrow... haha
 
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