Getting started with my new Expobar Brewtus III-R

by **08M3SedanSki** on Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:04 pm

I have made a few shots to test it out. I have read the how to sections on the this site but I am having trouble dialing in my grind. Any pointers? It says in the how to that it should take about 30 sec to pull a shot or double. My machine seems to be getting to 2 ounces much faster. Thanks for any advice.

Kevin

by **Beezer** on Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:09 pm

Nice machine! Please let us know how you like it and any impressions you have about it, since I believe you're the first Brewtus III owner to post here.

As for dialing in the grind, if your shots are running too fast, try grinding finer. It's a process of trial and error to get the grind just right, but hopefully you'll be pulling picture perfect shots very soon.

by **mhoy** on Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:14 pm

Also tamping pressure can change this. Getting to constantly use the same pressure is a plus as it makes things more repeatable.

Mark

by **jamhat** on Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:15 pm

It's a beautiful machine, Kevin! As for the speedy extraction - how fresh are your beans (roast date)?

I see that you are in Atlanta. Batdorf and Bronson Roasters has a booth at Star Provisions in Midtown. They bring coffee in on Tuesdays (roasted Monday) and Friday (roasted Thursday). Dancing Goats blend is a great multi-purpose espresso blend.

Best of luck to you!

by **Spironski** on Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:32 pm

Yeah, good buy! The answer to your question could be either one of the above, or a combination of the three. Try to change one variable at the time, otherwise you will be lost! I'd start with good, fresh coffee...

by **08M3SedanSki** on Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:34 pm

The coffee beans are from a newly opened bag of Lavazza that I just purchased. Don't know the roast date but the date printed on the bag is 30/08/2010.

However, I think I figured out my problem :oops:

. I was using the single shot basket for doubles... rookie error!

Thanks for the comments. Jamhat, I will check out the Roaster you recommended.

My first impressions... quite, heavy... feels very solid. My wife commented at dinner that it seemed commercial quality. I told her it was a "Prosumer" model. My boys wanted to know what that meant. (I have four of them by the way.) I said a combination of "professional" and "consumer". My oldest, who is 14 (noting the coffee shrine quality of my setup) said that it was more like a "Confessional"!

Witty kid. Takes after his mother.

This machine is like a good set of golf clubs in my hands... way overkill for my skill level

. Hopefully I will get better at pulling shots than I am at golf.

Kevin

by **Beezer** on Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:46 pm

OK, I think we've found your problem. Lavazza coffee is far from fresh. Most serious espresso-holics agree that coffee is best within two weeks of roasting. Your Lavazza was roasted who knows how long ago in Italy, bagged, then sent on a slow boat to America, put on a truck, shipped to a warehouse somewhere, sat on a shelf for an unknown time, then finally shipped to your door. In other words, it's probably at least a couple of months old, and more likely much older. With stale coffee like that, you're bond to get fast pulls with little or no crema, thin body, and bitter flavors.

It's pretty much impossible to pull a decent shot with stale beans. You absolutely need to hunt down some freshly roasted, high quality beans in order to get good results. Try one of the artisan roasters on this site for the best results. You may have good fresh beans from a local roaster, but many local roasters don't necessarily understand how to roast for espresso, or even which beans they should use. Better to start with a blend that's been proven to work.

by **08M3SedanSki** on Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:09 am

... but that Lavazza tasted so good when we were in Italy :cry:

.

by HB on Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:14 am

08M3SedanSki wrote:Don't know the roast date but the date printed on the bag is 30/08/2010.

Still good in 2010... wow. I'll bet it was bagged 30/08/2008, which makes it just shy of 4 months old. If coffee were cheese, it'd still be fresh. Who knows, if it were cheese, it might even be better in 2010. :lol:

Having dropped a couple grand on equipment, I think it's worth investing in fresh coffee. Even if you end up pulling sink shots for the first couple pounds, it's still a good investment. Attempting to dial in a new espresso machine using stale beans is a challenge only an espresso sadomasochist would enjoy. The smart money is buying at least 3 pounds of a solid performer (e.g., site sponsor offerings like Counter Culture Toscano, Intelligentsia Black Cat, Klatch Roasting Belle, PT's Coffee Bella Vita), putting 2 pounds in the freezer, and going to town.

08M3SedanSki wrote:... but that Lavazza tasted so good when we were in Italy.

It's been ages since I visited Italy, so don't remember what fresh Italian coffees taste like. Regrettably I believe most are stale on arrival in the US. Paying a premium for stale marquee coffee doesn't make a lot of sense when there's plenty of world-class roasters in the US who will guarantee freshness. As an added bonus, you'll find it a lot easier to ask questions if you start out with a well-known coffee.

by **networkcrasher** on Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:52 am

Hey Kevin, not sure what part of town you live in, but you can stop by Octane in midtown and pick up some (usually fresh) counter culture blends to give a shot on your machine. I know there's a place in town that sells Intelligentsia, but the name slips my mind at the moment.

Batdorf & Bronson's dancing goat is OK, but REALLY dark/oily straight out of the bag on a fresh roast.

If you have the time and a few hundred bucks for a Behmor, home roasting is pretty easy, fun, and a lot cheaper!

by **Todd Salzman** on Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:24 am

I highly recommend dialing in your grinder so that you get the best coffee you can out of the Lavazza coffee. I believe the coffee that we sent with the machine is the coffee Lavazza uses for the Cafe's under the model name "Super Crema". After you dial in the grinder you will be able to get a very thick and rich crema from it and you will be able to get the shot timing you desire. There is no reason for the coffee to run to fast, just set your grinder finer. I have no doubt that you will be very surprised by the taste. We get our coffee direct from Lavazza in Italy and it is packaged, put in a container and on the boat right after it is roasted. It will taste very much like the Lavazza you get in the Cafe in Italy. Second this will give you a great opportunity to mess around with your Brewtus and grinder, so that when you do go out and get your coffee from your specialty roaster you won't waste it while trying to learn your new machine.

How about letting us know how you make out after giving it a good try?

Todd Salzman
Whole Latte Love

by **Theodore** on Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:37 pm

08M3SedanSki wrote:... but that Lavazza tasted so good when we were in Italy .

Yeah,you are wright.I asked about and was told, that it is not the same Lavazza coffee, which goes to bars, with the one, going to our homes.

by **GC7** on Sat Dec 27, 2008 1:18 pm

Kevin

Your Compak grinder should be just great for fine tuning any grind you might need. However, I did find it MUCH easier to do and to change and repeat settings after I put the fine adjustment shown in the photo below. It's a shame Compak did not put an adjustment measurement worthy of the grinder with the product.

Good luck

by **08M3SedanSki** on Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:35 pm

Thanks for all the latest comments. I am skiing in Colorado this week but before I left, I was getting some great tasting shots with lots of crema from my "old, stale" Lavazza beans. I am sure that freshly roasted would give the best flavor but this tastes very good to me. Theodore, I have also been to Athens and had wonderful coffee there. GC7, thanks for the idea of how to better indicate grind settings on the K-3 Touch... very nicely done. The good news is that there is lots of fresh snow here! The bad news is that I am drinking drip coffee.

Kevin

by **shadowfax** on Sun Dec 28, 2008 3:02 am

08M3SedanSki wrote:The bad news is that I am drinking drip coffee.

Could be worse. You could be drinking bad espresso...

by **mariowar** on Sun Dec 28, 2008 4:19 am

08M3sedannski, I will be receiving my Brewtus III on January 5th.
Now I am considering to purchase the same grinder. I wonder if polished aluminum and polished stainless steel match well.....

Thanks

by **08M3SedanSki** on Sun Dec 28, 2008 9:15 am

I think that the picture exaggerates the color difference between the stainless and the chrome. They are definitely different but it doesn't scream out at you in person. If they would have had a true fire engine red color I would have gone with that but I didn't care for the other color options. My other thought was that if I wanted to upgrade the grinder down the road, the chrome version would probably be easiest to sell second-hand.

What I will tell you is that when I hear my wife talking to her friends about my new espresso machine and grinder the main point she makes is that she likes the grinder best because it is so quiet and easily grinds exactly the right amount on demand.

Kevin

by **08M3SedanSki** on Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:05 pm

My machine is now fully plumbed. For water supply I tapped off of the 1/4" supply to my fridge. The water goes through an RO unit in the cabinet under the machine. I used an auto shut-off supply line that will close if a too high of flow happens. The RO outbound pressure looks to be about 8PSI on a full RO tank which is working fine. I also ran a 3/4" poly tubing drain line into a stand pipe in the house drain system.

For convenience I installed a heavy duty digital timer to control the machine start time... ready to go when I get up. I also put a 2.5 gallon small wet/dry vac under the machine in the cabinet for quick clean-up.

My grind is now dialed in (grinder is amazing... quiet, fast, and fresh grind all the time) and I am getting good froth on my milk and good crema on my shots! Taste is great.

Regards,

Kevin in Atlanta

by **mhoy** on Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:51 pm

08M3SedanSki wrote:I used an auto shut-off supply line that will close if a too high of flow happens.

I just reset one of these auto shut-off valves. The toilet in the main bathroom stopped filling and yet the sink right beside it was just fine. I finally remember I had put in one of these auto-valves..... Don't take off the tape with the reset instructions or someday you'll be puzzling out where is the water...

Got any pictures of the drain line + stand pipe? It's still on my to-do list.

Mark

by **08M3SedanSki** on Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:12 pm

No pictures of drain but I can describe. I drilled a 1 1/4" hole in the plastic recessed panel behind the fridge that the water supply valve sits in to supply water to the fridge. I drilled a hole below this panel from the basement in the unfinished bathroom (only room left unfinished happened to be in the right place!) I snaked the 3/4" tube drain line down through the holes and across unfinished bathroom in floor joists and used a barbed fitting to connect to the stand pipe in the unfinished bathroom. Of course if the bath were already finished, I would still be using a bucket for a drain...


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