Hey guys,

I've been lurking as a guest for some time now and have decided to join in on the conversations.

A couple of months ago I updated my setup and am now working with a Quickmill Alexia EVO (got through Chrs'Coffee) and a Vario.

Although I can't say my shots are bad, I know I can really improve them. However, I am having trouble dialing in the correct settings and I was wondering if someone could shed some light on my problem and point me in the right direction.

I am brewing a single origin arabica from Mexico at 202° F roasted 10 days ago. Currently, I'm dosing at 14.5 g for doubles and the volume is very short of 2 oz (below 1.5). The shot time is around 30 seconds (33.5 on the clock but first drops come out at around 7 secs so I'm counting those as half seconds--cant find the reference for that although it is on of the guides here), at this point I'm getting some signs of blonding in the cup (light tan dot on top of the crema if I am a little bit late on cutting the extraction) and the brew ratio is in the regular espresso range, as per AndyS chart.

I tend to stop my shots short as I am afraid of blonding, but the ratio/time/volume makes no sense as to what I've read . I have tried grinding coarser and although the ratio goes up faster, and blonding occurs earlier, I am still well below the 2 oz mark. At this setting I tried going to 2 oz no matter what and the taste was extremely bland (although not bitter).

The crema looks fine on the cup but when pouring into a shot glass by the time I cut off the shot there is a clear separation between coffee and crema (crema accounting for around 1/5th of the measured volume).

I have no idea where to go from here.... Could any one please help with some insight?

Thanks!!

Santiago from Mexico.

I'd try a different roast/roaster. Overall, you've done what I would do and have taken the right steps to adjust to it. Crema separation, as described seemed pretty normal as well.

Thanks jwCrema! I've tried one blend and got very similar results. I'll have to try more to see what the real problem is. Short of going too coarse I don't know how to increase the volume (quick question: if I go coarse and have a faster flow, won't this affect the brewing ratio towards lungo?). They pull too fast for ristrettos but are far from normales.

I'll keep grinding coarser to see if that is a solution but from the tests I did it doesn't look like it. I'll dial my grinder a couple of notches to see how it reacts.

Thanks again!!

If anyone else out there has run into the same issue I would love to hear how you solved it.

Happy to lend a hand. I'd take a careful review of a good this thread Espresso 101: How to Adjust Dose and Grind Setting by Taste too.

Usual doses for shots these days are 17-20g, 14.5 is a bit on the low side if you want to get more oomph and less crema separation... I don't know if that'll work on your basket but that's where I'd try going first.

sarguelles wrote:Hey guys,

I've been lurking as a guest for some time now and have decided to join in on the conversations.

A couple of months ago I updated my setup and am now working with a Quickmill Alexia EVO (got through Chrs'Coffee) and a Vario.

Although I can't say my shots are bad, I know I can really improve them. However, I am having trouble dialing in the correct settings and I was wondering if someone could shed some light on my problem and point me in the right direction.

I am brewing a single origin arabica from Mexico at 202° F roasted 10 days ago. Currently, I'm dosing at 14.5 g for doubles and the volume is very short of 2 oz (below 1.5). The shot time is around 30 seconds (33.5 on the clock but first drops come out at around 7 secs so I'm counting those as half seconds--cant find the reference for that although it is on of the guides here), at this point I'm getting some signs of blonding in the cup (light tan dot on top of the crema if I am a little bit late on cutting the extraction) and the brew ratio is in the regular espresso range, as per AndyS chart.

I tend to stop my shots short as I am afraid of blonding, but the ratio/time/volume makes no sense as to what I've read . I have tried grinding coarser and although the ratio goes up faster, and blonding occurs earlier, I am still well below the 2 oz mark. At this setting I tried going to 2 oz no matter what and the taste was extremely bland (although not bitter).

The crema looks fine on the cup but when pouring into a shot glass by the time I cut off the shot there is a clear separation between coffee and crema (crema accounting for around 1/5th of the measured volume).

I have no idea where to go from here.... Could any one please help with some insight?

Thanks!!

Santiago from Mexico.

Santiago, what exactly is wrong with your shots? Is it the brew output? If so, you should be weighing this in grams rather than measuring in oz. At a 14.5dose looking for ballpark 29g of beverage. Less would be toward ristretto, more toward lungo.

One thing I noted with my Alexia, the brew temp offset was low by 10-11f from the factory. They programmed it for an 18f offset but it really needed a 28-29 offset. So originally I thought my brew temp was 200f when that was set point, but really my measured temps were about 190f...

Plus one on trying higher temperatures and weighing output. iMO 14,5 g is a great dose to work with, as long as you stick to a given ratio for a while you should be able to dial in .
For now I'd stop worrying about blonding and pour times and rely on taste to dial in, using the diagram on this forum as a guide.(I mostly read concerns with parameters in your post and little on what taste you're after)
Enjoy!