Last week, I was getting very nice espresso, great color, lots of crema, using my own beans (malabar Gold and SO Harrar). I bought some beans from a local roaster. He told me they were not more than 5 days old. Now, using the same technique, I get one of two things, watery coffee with no crema or the machine chokes. This happens using the same settings for the grinder. The only difference seems to be the tamp, but I am unable to get anything between the choking or the watery coffee. Any suggestions?
md

triathlon61 wrote:Last week, I was getting very nice espresso, great color, lots of crema, using my own beans (malabar Gold and SO Harrar). I bought some beans from a local roaster. He told me they were not more than 5 days old. Now, using the same technique, I get one of two things, watery coffee with no crema or the machine chokes. This happens using the same settings for the grinder. The only difference seems to be the tamp, but I am unable to get anything between the choking or the watery coffee. Any suggestions?
md

When my beans are about 4-5 weeks old i get similar problems, poor extraction, little crema and a need to grind much finer, which of course increases the risk of choking. I am not saying your local roasters beans are not 5 days old....just a similar problem when my beans get elderly.

There is only one other bean where I know they have to be ground much finer....even when fresh, Dominican Barahona (Sanata Domingo), don't ask me why, they just do, although crema production is good, there is an increased risk of choking due to the finer grind (so grinders grinding at the lower end of the acceptability range, may lead to choking).

triathlon61 wrote:Last week, I was getting very nice espresso, great color, lots of crema, using my own beans (malabar Gold and SO Harrar). I bought some beans from a local roaster. He told me they were not more than 5 days old. Now, using the same technique, I get one of two things, watery coffee with no crema or the machine chokes.

What are the coffees in your roaster's blend? Getting lots of crema from Malabar Gold is falling off a log easy, so it may be that your technique / setup needs tuning to other blends. First confirm the recommended brew temperature with your roaster (e.g., 92-93C) and brew pressure (e.g., 9 bar). You may wish to lower the dosage and make the grind finer. The S1 performed best for me with few millimeters of clearance; the screw lightly grazes the puck as shown below:


From Buyer's Guide to the La Spaziale S1

A bottomless portafilter would also come in handy. The alternating choke / watery pours could also be a evidence of side channeling ("donut" extraction), which is more common with past peak coffees requiring a fine grind.

HB wrote:What are the coffees in your roaster's blend? Getting lots of crema from Malabar Gold is falling off a log easy, so it may be that your technique / setup needs tuning to other blends. First confirm the recommended brew temperature with your roaster (e.g., 92-93C) and brew pressure (e.g., 9 bar). You may wish to lower the dosage and make the grind finer. The S1 performed best for me with few millimeters of clearance; the screw lightly grazes the puck as shown below:

image:
From Buyer's Guide to the La Spaziale S1

A bottomless portafilter would also come in handy. The alternating choke / watery pours could also be a evidence of side channeling ("donut" extraction), which is more common with past peak coffees requiring a fine grind.

I agree on the downdosing thing. The S1 does not like the filter basket to be updosed because the dispersion block sticks out from the group a fair distance and will seriously disturb your nicely packed coffee cake as you lock the pf into the group. This promotes channeling bigtime. La Spaz uses three different dispersion block thicknesses. The S1 uses the middle thickness, but La Spaz USA carries the thinnest block as well. It's worth the 23 bux it'll cost to buy it and ship it via UPS COD. The retrofit is a snap.

Personally, I think your problem is related to the coffee you're using. I'd get something from Barry Jarrett, or Counterculture, or someone like that who can provide a known quantity. Then I'd try again and see what you get.

FWIW, Brew temps on the S1 at the group run about 10 degrees F colder than the temp in the boiler. I discovered this a couple of months ago when I was doing measurements on mine. Mine produces 201F water with the boiler set to produce 100C (212F) minus 1C (1.8f), which is one flashing light to the left of the two central lights, when performing the fine adjustment procedure for the S1's produced before the Vivaldi 2, or whatever it's called. 10 degrees F is a little more than the temp drop on the Marzocco GB5 or hotrodded Lineas, but it's reasonable.


-Greg