Grind is dialed in... however espresso pours lack rich thick appearance - Page 2

[jeffg]

well i took the spring out and it is definitely the more heavy spring. My cup tray does rattle a bit. What is your pressure with the blind in? Thanks

[cannonfodder]

As a general rule, one bar higher than brew pressure with a blind basket in a vibe pump machine. So 10 bar is 9 while brewing, 9 is around 8 and so on. I have my machine set just below 10 bar if I remember correctly which was around 8.8 bar when brewing. I would have to put the ScaceII on it to verify.

[jeffg]

I may adjust mine the same, currently it is 9.2-9.5 on mine with the blind in if i recall correctly. Does a pressure increase speed up or slow down the shot or is that only controlled by the grind/dose/tamp?

I had a barista tell me the other day "you'll have no idea what the hell is fully going on until you pull around 3,000 shots" lol. I pretty much feel like I am in a mode of 3 steps forward 2 steps back. I feel like I'm making progress and that is good for now

[cannonfodder]

Well, that is complicated. As pressure increases you would think the water flow would increase, but as the pressure increases, the coffee cake will compress under the added brew pressure which will actually slow the extraction but will expose any defect in the puck by channeling like mad. I believe Illy did some research about that but I do not have his book to refer to.

I would recommend leaving the pressure alone and try small variations in your dose/grind while keeping your tamp pressure the same. It will take time to get a grip on the process, but not 3,000 shots. Make one small change at a time, observe the results and then make another small adjustment. Your kit will produce a good shot, it just takes time to learn the craft.