Surprised by my weight!

[roblumba]

Well, I'm not surprised by my body weight, I was surprised by the weight of the amount of coffee I was dosing into the portafilter. I finally received the digital scale in the mail, that cheap $11 deal everyone's getting from deals extreme. This morning I dosed as normal, dumped it into a small dish wish was tared on the scale. My normal practice was around 22-23 grams! Oh man! So I went down to 19 grams and had to adjust the grind, my 58mm tamper doesn't fit down far enough in the La Marzocco basket to tamp 19 grams so I had to pull out the 57mm convex plastic tamper provided with the GS3.

I was getting some crazy chocolate and rich flavors from 22-23 grams. Of course, But now 19 grams is like relearning my coffee again. Now I need to adjust temperature, grind, and volume and pull out the naked portafilter again to see how my technique is doing. And the 58mm reg barber tamper is too big!

[TimEggers]

I was getting some crazy chocolate and rich flavors from 22-23 grams.

Crazy good or crazy bad?

[roblumba]

Crazy good or crazy bad?

I was loving it. Although it was sometimes hard to get the more delicate fruity notes out. I think they are coming out in the 19 grams. My wife thinks it has more of a coffee taste too. She had become accustomed to the rich chocolate / coffee flavor

[shadowfax]

mmm, fond memories of my old triple ristrettos. I never had a scale at the time, but I am pretty sure I was doing the same as you. Unfortunately, I didn't have the control of the GS3 like you do, so I didn't get those amazing chocolate bombs as often, but boy were they amazing!

[roblumba]

mmm, fond memories of my old triple ristrettos. I never had a scale at the time, but I am pretty sure I was doing the same as you. Unfortunately, I didn't have the control of the GS3 like you do, so I didn't get those amazing chocolate bombs as often, but boy were they amazing!

My wife thought I was making mocha's. Actually, when you mix chocolate bomb shots pulled like that with Mocha sauce, it sorta ruins it. The Torani chocolate syrups is yuck compared to the chocolate flavors natural to the coffee.

So how would you describe the difference between your old triple ristretto style and your current style?

[shadowfax]

That's a tough call, actually. I haven't had my La Valentina for 1.5 years now, and since then I have just had a La Pavoni Pro. I use a naked portafilter and tend to overdose into a "large" Elektra basket that will take 15 grams or so. So I still tend to make a heavy ristretto on my current machine, albeit much smaller. The characteristics are a little similar, but rarely do they have the body or intensity of the triples I would pull on Valentina with the LM 21 gram basket.

I've actually got 2 58 mm triple baskets at the moment, the 21 gram LM and the Synesso ridgeless 18 gram. I am just waiting on UPS to deliver my Vetrano at this point. My plan is to start using the Synesso basket and see what it's like. I am kind of hoping to taper my heavy caffeine intake. I like at least 2 drinks a day when I have time, and triples add up a lot faster than doubles....


I know what you mean about the chocolate flavor of the coffee vs. the syrup, or even melted dark chocolate. My gateway to coffee was (gasp!) white chocolate mochas. I used to love them, and hate coffee straight. Over time I made my mochas with less and less syrup until I stopped altogether. A few months later I decided to make a mocha and poured it down the sink pretty fast. It tastes revolting once you can pull a good shot! I felt like I had buried all the depth and interestingness of my coffee underneath a shallow, at once fake flavor that overwhelmed everything.

[cannonfodder]

If 23 grams is what you like, why change? I would be tempted to get a triple basket if you are jamming that much coffee in the basket. I would think the puck would be bottoming out against the shower screen at that level.

[roblumba]

If 23 grams is what you like, why change? I would be tempted to get a triple basket if you are jamming that much coffee in the basket. I would think the puck would be bottoming out against the shower screen at that level.

Tim actually sent me a ridged triple LM basket with the naked portafilter. Perhaps I will give that a try.

BTW, I'm trying the 19 grams for a little while. I've sorta been on a quest to match the quality of espresso that Barefoot Coffee Roasters sells. Over the past few visits, that quality can vary depending on the barista, but the bar is pretty high over there. They are consistently very good. After weighing my own doses, I'm inclined to think that they put more than 19 grams but each barista is different. Sometimes it hard to see what they are doing. So I'm gonna start asking!

I guess I'll be forced to experiment and see what I like. I tried 19 grams this morning and again this evening. It was a little more dialed in and I think it is getting into a very tasty zone. I just need to experiment with the temperature too. I think down .6F will be perfect. We'll see.

[roblumba]

Okay, this morning I used 19 grams and the espresso was pretty nice, but the coffee flavor was practically lost in a 12oz latte. My wife thought this morning latte tastes like sweet milk and nothing else. Man, she has become very used to the rich chocolate bomb shots!

Perhaps an 8-10 oz latte would have better coffee flavor. Maybe I should consider lowering the volume of milk I put into the drink. I have had my eye on those 10oz ACF Nero Latte cups that are sold through Great Infusions in Santa Cruz.

[cannonfodder]

Down dosing is a good way to tame the bright acidity in a single origin African.

Try downsizing your drink. Instead of a 12oz latte, do a 6oz cappuccino and see what you think.