aindfan wrote:Anyone have 45mm yogurt cups (so I can stop using the rolled up and taped Intelligentsia publicity postcard)?

I grind two scoops and catch the grounds in a little cup, then pour the ground coffee slightly heaping into the basket—cover, toss, level with the chopstick.

That sounds similar to PeaceCup's cut corner dosing method. I'd prefer to dose directly into the basket - one fewer cup to clean, quicker, and I tend to take too long getting the last of the coffee out of the cup and into the basket. Towards the end I would have trouble keeping the pile assembled (grounds would start rolling off the edges of the pile onto the table).

My friend, who happens to be on the road to becoming a home barista (or at least avoiding the mistake many of us made and splurging on grinder+FP now and espresso later), took some great pictures of a shot last Sunday and gave me permission to link them here. Behold, the power of a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens and a good photographer behind it:

Coffee photos from last Sunday

Note: I know that it is best to upload photos here so they don't disappear, but in this case I'd prefer to skip that as I didn't take them.

An update from this morning: I tightened the grind down to a drip. Only about .6 oz from two pulls, but it was mostly delicious crema. It was so good that I broke my one shot rule, loosened the grind a bit for more flow, and pulled another. I'll try to get pictures of the new shot soon. The crema no longer has the brighter spot where the streams fall.

Thanks again for the tips!

aindfan wrote:It was so good that I broke my one shot rule,

It's a slippery slope I'm afraid....

PC

aindfan wrote:An update from this morning: I tightened the grind down to a drip. Only about .6 oz from two pulls, but it was mostly delicious crema. It was so good that I broke my one shot rule, loosened the grind a bit for more flow, and pulled another. I'll try to get pictures of the new shot soon. The crema no longer has the brighter spot where the streams fall.

Thanks again for the tips!

Ah, success....
Enjoy the 'spro!

aindfan wrote:Anyone have 45mm yogurt cups (so I can stop using the rolled up and taped Intelligentsia publicity postcard)?

Fortuitously, I opened our fridge tonight to see something called Yoplait Kids yogurt. It is a small cup, and the bottom measures about 45-46mm. Might work.

http://www.yoplait.com/products_yoplaitkids.aspx

You're sweating the details again

Poor grinder.. I'll be filing assault and battery charges!

Nickk1066 wrote:Poor grinder.. I'll be filing assault and battery charges!

I did notice that the video makes the grinder thwacking more violent than it really is. As I said, the shots are much better with the tighter grind (even though the lever is moving much slower than it "should"). I'll experiment with possibly lower dose at this grind or same 15g and a bit coarser.