Evening professor. I have to second your roasting sentiments. I starting roasting with a hot air popper, and while it worked pretty good, I often found that my shots were harsh, sharp, bright. I built a drum roaster to specifically extend the roast cycle. I find that it tends to accentuate the darker, deeper tones while the longer roast mutes acidity.

Funny you mention Yemen, Ethiopian and Brazilian. My running favorite blend consists of those three. Chocolate covered blueberries when I nail the extraction.

Having both a HX and lever, I can definitely say that a blend will behave differently between the two. I have had blends that were almost too earthy in my HX that suddenly turned to a smooth chocolate cup in the lever. I almost blend and roast per machine. It is interesting to see how the flavor profile changes between the pump and the lever.

sorry for coming to this thread late, but I use a Microcasa a Leva too...and I am puzzled with the recommendation for the single filter. I had tried it before...and last night, after reading this, I tried it again...all attempts were disaster.

I have pulled some 4000+ shots with the MCaL, so I guess I am not inexperienced. My doubles range from good to excellent...(my own rating, but I am rather harsh with myself, my wife and friends who drink coffee rate it excellent to fantastic, with occassional god shots which rival any they have drunk)

I have tried various types of grind...and from coase to very fine...even with my Mazzer Mini grinding out turkish powder like coffee - yes they are fresh (24 hours after roasting...but I have also tried 36 hours, 48 hours, 4 days after roasting)...I get gushers or chokers. I fear for going even finer on the grinder as I am feeling the burrs mashing.

So, what gives?

pchong wrote:...I get gushers or chokers. I fear for going even finer on the grinder as I am feeling the burrs mashing.

So, what gives?

Dear mchong,

My only suggestion is to try to get a grind and tamp combination that places you in between gushers and choke. The lever should get to its rest position at the top in 30 sec.

Truth be told getting to this range is difficult but it can be done.

KS

There are four main factors that control flow:

Grind
Dose
Tamp
Beans (freshness, roast level, type)

I recommend starting with a bean or blend you like, and sticking with the roast level. Try to get it fresh every week or two.
Then, measure your dose and stick with it - I use two scoops of whole beans in my hand grinder = 15 g.
Then get consitent with your tamp - you can go for anything up to a very hard tamp (30 lbs) but the main thing is repeatability - when I first started I just tamped basically as hard as I could, then set the grind accordingly. Lately I''ve been tamping more lightly and grinding finer, but this takes more practice to achieve repeatability.

Then, keep beans, tamp, dose, constant, and just adjust the grind to get the flow you want. If you choke the machine, back off a notch, if its too fast, tighten up a notch.

Once you're getting consistent results, you can vary the other parameters one by one to see their effect.

Karl, its good to hear from you - have you been enjoying your two-group machines? I recently aquired a pair of gently used white Nuova Point demitasses that are quite the bee's knees:



PC

peacecup wrote:Karl, its good to hear from you - have you been enjoying your two-group machines? I recently aquired a pair of gently used white Nuova Point demitasses that are quite the bee's knees:

PC

Hi PC,

Yes I am indeed still immersed in my 2-group Elektra-Cremina. They give me the most complete range and diversity. I use the Elektra 6 of 7 mornings and for more than half of the evening espressi. I have no interest in replacing either or in getting rid of either. My latest learning passion is a new Hottop Programmable. The learning goes slowly but now more steadily. I have finally settled on 2 profiles. Originally I had 6 profiles and learned far too little with so many variables.

While I like some cups ( Illy Pistoletto for example) more than the Nuova Point I must admit that they remain for me the Ur-cup for espresso. I had my first espresso in a brown one and have never really gotten over that joy.

KS