buzzmc wrote:Nice. I hadn't thought about the water reservoir tray being some of the vibration... The only other source for me is the drip tray.. Not sure what can be done about that really.

Thank you!

Really? The drip tray in the front of the machine rattles? Hmmm?!

Mine fits pretty tight - you kinda have to shove the top (with the wire mesh) under the flared out sheet metal on front of the machine and the drip tray drawer presses into it's sliders firmly, eliminating any vibration.

Have you been able to identify which part of the drip tray assembly is making the noise?

Ann

It might be the water reservoir deal... I need to do some more isolating to try and quiet it up.

Back to my original problem, light crema: Let's say I up the temp by *10* degrees F, and end up with a 30 second shot that's still light in color... Where else do I look? I've been slowly upping the temp where the PID is set at 230 now, and conventional wisdom says the offset's probably 14-18F, we'd be at 212, which should be quite a bit too high.

Grind finer and tamp with less pressure?

For reference, with the same coffee at the shop who roasts it, I'm 6? shades lighter... Significantly lighter, and the taste just isn't there... It's bland is the best description I can give.

Still makes good latte's.. But I want to make good espresso's dangit

buzzmc wrote:...Back to my original problem, light crema: Let's say I up the temp by *10* degrees F, and end up with a 30 second shot that's still light in color... Where else do I look? I've been slowly upping the temp where the PID is set at 230 now, and conventional wisdom says the offset's probably 14-18F, we'd be at 212, which should be quite a bit too high.

Grind finer and tamp with less pressure?

For reference, with the same coffee at the shop who roasts it, I'm 6? shades lighter... Significantly lighter, and the taste just isn't there... It's bland is the best description I can give.

Still makes good latte's.. But I want to make good espresso's dangit

Ok, from what I know the PID is giving your boiler temp - so group temp is going to be less (please, someone clarify this if I am incorrect). I got an idea of this from http://www.1st-line.com/cofffact/cofffact.htm (scroll down to the VBM manual). On page 4 of the manual that doesn't quite describe our machine, because this is for an HX machine - its got some detail as to the difference between boiler bars of pressure on the gauge, the actual temp in the boiler and the approximate brew temp. Hmmmm - quite a difference. I'd be neat to verify this with a Scace device. (Hello, someone with a Scace device!)

Along those lines, I've got my PID set to 101 degrees C.

Ok, my grind on the VBM - much more fine than I ever used with Anita. If I remember right from reading your posts, you've got a Quickmill as well, an Andreja, if I remember right. I think, with the exception of swively no burn steam wands and some other goodies, our machines share some of the same parts and the same pump.

The last two mornings I've used the VBM I've ground even finer on my Macap. This morning was pretty darn near perfect. And my tamping has had to get a lot better, a lot more exacting and careful, otherwise I can see channeling on the underside of the naked portafilter. Initally, what was perfectly fine tamping on Anita gave me all kinds of spritzing on the VBM. Basically, I've had to refine my technique, considerably, as the VBM appears to be far less forgiving to my own sloppiness! So its not that I'm tamping harder - just making sure that I'm super uniform. I'm actually thinking of replacing my old Protamp, which isn't sized very well, with something that is a much closer fit in an LM triple basket.

Anyway, a grind that would choke Anita makes a nice stripey extraction with a really pretty result in the shot glass with the VBM. I don't get quite the perfect cone I got in Anita - but my espresso is really good on the VBM!

And I'm sorry - I've not timed my shots, crouched down there watching the underside of the naked portafilter - because timing, like my dose weight, is so subjective to the coffee I'm drinking.

So try grinding a little finer. Also depending on your grinder (because I had this problem with my commercial SM90 with doser) make sure you aren't getting any left over coffee from previous grinder adjustments in your current attempt. I've got to sweep the inside circular spout of the Macap really throughly after I grind and cycle the on switch a couple of times, otherwise it can retain a couple of grams just in the spout.

The other thing that happened to me, was after 2/3 a lb of coffee in sink shots, I couldn't taste differences anymore. Luckily I had a test subject, who could tell me things - but if you don't - step away from the machine...

Ann

Try to go ristretto'ish. Dose 14-15 grams, tighten up you grind, lighten the tamp (use two fingers) and shoot for 1 to 1.5 ounces in 38-40 seconds. That includes the preinfusion cycle, 8-10 seconds after you engage the pump the drips start, then another 30 seconds to the end and see what happens. I would drop you PID back down as well.

Frustrated, doh!

I tightened up the grind... two notches. Light tamp, choked machine. Backed off a notch, still choked the machine. Back to my normal grind, and what I think of as a 'medium' tamp, then I'm back to my normal results... Very uniform in color, light color, and somewhat thin espresso.

Thankfully I figured out how to steam milk so lattes are still acceptable... But I'm perplexed

Update on espresso..

New beans today... PID's at 226... I think that's too hot... The espresso was too hot to drink, comfortably anyway...

Espresso had lots of crema, 80% of the cup, but quickly dissipated. Taste was ok... I think it lacked "body" or complexity maybe, for lack of my descriptions... BUt it wasn't really foul, so that's an improvement.

I think one more thing that's been missing so far w/the VBM is any sort of tiger stripping/mottling, which I've always managed to get w/the other machines I've used.

Tomorrow I'll take the PID down some more.. probably 220, as the coffee I have is supposedly best brewed at 199-202...

Since I want to keep Anita's Rancilio bottomless portafilter with her kit, I purchased one specifically for the VBM from Espresso Care and received it today.

Also suggested and included was an 8mm gasket.

Wow! What an amazing difference.

While I was really pleased with how well my shots have been tasting and the extractions look pretty good, I wasn't quite getting the same perfect cone I'd gotten with Anita.

Now I am - I'm not sure if it is entirely the differences in the portafilter or the gasket, but I'm getting shots that look even prettier and run longer before they blond.

As soon as I've got Anita out of the way and can get my camera in my work space, I'll post some pics!

Ann

So are any of you LOVING the new DoubleDomo or are you waiting for the upgraded boilers to comment?

It is top of my list for my new machine....I've heard so much good stuff about the HX version...

Was just wondering about everyone's first reactions!

Thanks!

I love mine - the espresso extractions are wonderful. I'm definitely looking forward to the new boiler as I think it'll make my milk stretching a LOT better. Next on my list is to add some material to quiet it down a bit, but I'll be jealous of the rotary whenever that ships stateside!

Timing shots... 25-30 seconds being "ideal". When does the clock start? When you flip the lever, or when you start to see espresso falling in the cup? Sad to admit if my timing's off, since I've always timed shots from beginning of flipping the lever.