Tweaking my Espresso & Mazzer Setup

[jamiedolan]

Goodmorning;

Thank you again to everyone that has so kindly assisted with my recent questions. A couple updates for you. I have a Ariete Espresso machine that comes with a pressurized portafilter basket, 53mm. I was unable to find anyone that sold a standard portafilter for this size. This was frustrating, and a bit disappointing. My current portafilter basket has all the holes in it on the inside of the basket, just like a standard commercial basket, however, the bottom that is molded on, only had one hole on it. Since I could not find a basket, I decided to take my chances with a "mod". Off to the garage and I fired up the bench grinder. Well, it took a while, but now I have a standard commercial style portafilter basket. I ground that entire bottom plate off, but with extreme care, managed to not damage the bottom plate with all the holes in it, and I managed to get all the holes opened up. Success!

Last week my Mazzer Mini e came. I had the grind set so I was pulling about 30 second shots. Once I put the "new" commercial style basket in place, the same grind with the same amount of beans now pulled a shot in about 15 seconds. So I adjusted the grind so it was much finer, and now I am back to close to 30. I believe that I am using about 20-30 pounds of pressure for the tamp most of the time. I break up clumps and even out the top of the basket with care before tamping. I feel the shots are substantially better than any previous results I have ever achieved. I am putting 13 grams in the basket, because it is my understanding that a 53mm double shot basket should hold 13 grams. Now here are the questions I have.

1. With 13 grams in the basket, with my current grind setting, the basket is only about 2/3 to 3/4 full before tamping. Does this seem correct, or do you think I should be using more coffee?

2. I am pretty happy with the crema I am getting, but feel there is room for improvement. I am not sure what area I should focus on to tweak the crema. Any suggestions.

3. I am using Stonyfield Farms Organic Whole Milk for my milk, no matter what I do, my milk / foam always seem a bit thick to me. At the scaa competitions everyone was using organic whole milk. Should I try different milk or is it just the way I am steaming it, or possibly just because of my underpowered machine?

One last item to note; the bean of the day, that I am working with in regard to the above tests is a Costa Rican that I roasted to about a city roast in a RK drum, 2 nights ago.

Thanks Again Everyone!

Jamie

[TimEggers]

Hello Jamie nice choice on the grinder!

1. With 13 grams in the basket, with my current grind setting, the basket is only about 2/3 to 3/4 full before tamping. Does this seem correct, or do you think I should be using more coffee?

Having to dose below the rim of the basket is quite common and at times stumps us all. Dan sums it up well here:

If I want to updose, I gently tap the portafilter while dosing to settle the grounds at slightly past the mid-fill point. The puck's surface is about even with the midpoint of the basket ridge, which comes out to around 17 grams. For the baskets I use, 15 grams is beneath the ridge. I have a few "strict" 14 gram baskets and they can only accommodate 12 grams with proper clearance; at 14 grams, the puck surface is making contact with the dispersion screen on lock on. That's never a good thing.

When I downdose with this same basket, the distribution is actually below the rim, which case I use the Stockfleths Move for Dummies. Also see:

• Proper distribution technique when "down dosing" using WDT
• Which basket for a fill, level then tamp 14g dose?
• Dosing less than level with the rim of the basket

2. I am pretty happy with the crema I am getting, but feel there is room for improvement. I am not sure what area I should focus on to tweak the crema. Any suggestions.

Seeing that the coffee is fresh this may simply be the result of the coffee itself. Different coffees will have different amounts of crema when fresh. Robusta for example is renowned for its ample crema. If crema is important select a blend that has a high quality Robusta in it.

3. I am using Stonyfield Farms Organic Whole Milk for my milk, no matter what I do, my milk / foam always seem a bit thick to me. At the scaa competitions everyone was using organic whole milk. Should I try different milk or is it just the way I am steaming it, or possibly just because of my underpowered machine?

It may be the milk and it may be the machine. Yes I know that's not much help, but there is a trick to good steaming. Have you read The Home Barista's Guide to Espresso by Jim Schulman? It covers milk frothing: http://www.home-barista.com/espre...frothing-milk.html

[Randy G.]

Jamie,

Check the How-To lesson #12 on my website as I believe that it addresses a lot of what you are dealing with.

[sweaner]

I suggest you experiment with higher doses of coffee. Try putting in enough so it is level with the top of the basket before tamping and see how it tastes/looks.

[jamiedolan]

Jamie,

Check the How-To lesson #12 on my website as I believe that it addresses a lot of what you are dealing with.

I just did your coin test. 3 Half Dollar coins and a Nickel stacked just made the slightest ding into the coffee. The screen on the machine is a dome shape, so it is higher in the center.

This was with a 14 gram dose. I assume moving to a large dose is the next logical step. I am going to move up to about 15 grams and pull a shot.

Thanks
Jamie

[jamiedolan]

I suggest you experiment with higher doses of coffee. Try putting in enough so it is level with the top of the basket before tamping and see how it tastes/looks.

I just went to 15 grams, which was very close to being level with the top, I might be able to put in 15 grams and call it level if it stacks well when it is coming out of the Mazzer.

I ran the machine for 30 seconds, and pulled right about 1.5 ounces of espresso. I think my creama was a little better this time. So I think the way it was flowing, it would have been upper 30's for the full 2 ounces. Next time I will just pull 2 ounces and time how long it takes.

Now I am starting to wonder if I should move my grind a little more coarse and try to adjust my shot time that way, while keeping my basket full at round 15 grams....

Jamie

[TimEggers]

I suggest you experiment with higher doses of coffee. Try putting in enough so it is level with the top of the basket before tamping and see how it tastes/looks.

Adjust the dose because the taste is off not because you want to fill the basket. Follow your tongue.

[jamiedolan]

The taste seems off to me, and I am concerned about the pull time being off.

I thought a couple images of what is going on here might help.


The coffee out of the Mazzer, roughly leveled off, no tamping or pressure applied (this is 15 grams):



Same Coffee after Tamp:



A shot of what my current grinds look like out on a plate:



I am going to go pull this shot and see what happens.

Thanks

Jamie

[TimEggers]

Can you elaborate on the flaws in flavor? Is it weak, strong, bitter or sour? Any combination of those? Also keep in mind that the coffee while good may not be suitable for single origin espresso. In other words there may be little that you can do. In that instance I would recommend switching to a well established high quality commercial blend* at least until you get used to your new grinder.

* Home roasting adds a complete new layer of variables. Your problems may be the result of the roast rather than the brewing preparation. I'm an avid home roaster mind you, but when in doubt eliminate variables and select a good commercial blend.

[jamiedolan]

I just pulled that shot I showed the photos of in my previous post. The shot prior to this one, (the one that I cut off at 30 seconds) I would have been tempted to label it's problem as being a bit sour.

This shot, I full the full shot glass, it took 50 seconds. I feel the flavor is very weak, and it lacks body, it does not have that thick high quality espresso character to it.

Maybe this was a bad pull just now (too much tamp pressure maybe?), but 50 seconds sure seems like a long pull.

Jamie

[jamiedolan]

Can you elaborate on the flaws in flavor? Is it weak, strong, bitter or sour? Any combination of those? Also keep in mind that the coffee while good may not be suitable for single origin espresso. In other words there may be little that you can do. In that instance I would recommend switching to a well established high quality commercial blend* at least until you get used to your new grinder.

* Home roasting adds a complete new layer of variables. Your problems may be the result of the roast rather than the brewing preparation. I'm an avid home roaster mind you, but when in doubt eliminate variables and select a good commercial blend.

There is a local coffee shop that I can go pick up a pound of there espresso blend from. They have like a 6K roaster there in the shop. Anyway, I can get some from them that I know was roasted within the last 24 hours.

Jamie

[cannonfodder]

Low brew temperature can lead to low crema production, a pale crema color, sour/week taste, but so will low brew pressure. Channeling usually presents itself as weak and bitter from the over extraction of a small portion of coffee.

[jamiedolan]

I just pulled the grinder back so it is a little more coarse. I filled the basket up with a strong 15 grams, which is a bit heaping at first, then I leveled it out. I pulled a shot and it was almost dead on at 30 seconds, and the creama looked very nice, as good as anything I had seen with the pressurized portafilter.

The taste was pretty good, not as much body as I thought it should have, but there were no negative notes to it (no sour, no bitter). I suspect as was suggested that this bean may just not be the optimal bean for espresso. I am planing on running another roast soon, I will try a different bean, I will also pick up some commercially roasted espresso blend when I get near the coffee shop.

Thanks again everyone that provided assistance this morning. I believe I made a lot of progress. I am getting a much better feel for what it takes to make a good shot.

Jamie

[TimEggers]

Hello Jamie if you still want to try home roasting beans you should look for some good green bean espresso blends to compliment the other commercial blends you select. They should offer pretty good espresso as long as roasted half way well.

[jamiedolan]

Hi; Tim. I get a lot of beans from Tom at Sweet Marias. He has some blends of green beans for espresso, I will get some of his espresso blend next time I order from him.

I also purchased a bag of an espresso blend locally that was roasted that day in a small commercial roaster. It produced an even better Crema. I am much more pleased with my results with what I have learned this week.

Thank You.

Jamie

[TimEggers]

That's good to hear Jamie. Espresso blends tend to be more tolerant and forgiving (within reason of course). Best of all if ordering from Tom you can get both his roasted version and some greens to try yourself. Takes some of the guess work out.

I home roast because its fun and I enjoy trying to make my roasts better and better with each batch. Its simply another path in this hobby to better espresso. Relax have fun and taste every shot you make, that's the true joy of this hobby.