Hi HBs!

I am a total noob to high quality coffee (well, I've always drank from a moka pot, so I guess I could have done worse! , although I do add sugar to the cup) and based on the review here on HB, took the plunge and acquired an Achille last week at a decent price (US$470). Yes, despite all the messages about leaks and such. I am extremely comfortable with taking stuff apart and have always fixed my own appliances, cars, plumbing, etc. So Gaggia must've had me in mind when they made the Achille! I also purchased the Kyocera hand grinder from OrphanEspresso. Last thing I reeeally need is a tamper, that plastic thing is terrible.

Anyhow, a couple of questions, and please keep my lack of experience in mind if something I mention does not make sense...

1- In the Achille "guide" here on HB, Cannonfodder mentions that he gets 2 oz of water per complete lever pull sans PF... I get just a hair under 1.5 oz, both with PF completely removed and with coffee-less PF in place.

a) Does this indicate a problem? Mine is a June 2006 model, maybe they changed the displacement? Doubtful I know, but what else would explain such a big difference?

b) Does this mean that for a double I should just use two full pulls. Taking into account the "overhead" that the puck absorbs leaves me at 2.5-2.8 oz for a double.

2- I too had plenty of squeaking and the bubbles going back into the water reservoir, and when I ground too fine had the major leak down at the base level that wet all of the electrics down below... this was due to my mistake though, I was putting waaay too much force on the lever when that happened, something told me I should have quit, but I didn't listen. So I proceeded to disassemble and lube everything (couldn't find Dow 111, so used 90% Silicon Grease from Ace Hardware labelled as "non-toxic", safe for O-rings, upto 450 degrees F ,and for faucets and such, so I figured: close enough.) This really quieted the machine down, not a single squeak anymore and no more bubbles in the reservoir once primed.

a) The shots I pull have tons of crema (about 15-20% of the shot glass) that lingers for plenty of minutes. I haven't timed it with a watch, but counting Mississippis tells me I'm between 20 and 30 seconds, but have no clue how many pounds of force I'm applying, although it "feels" right (don't laugh, I know I'm new). Yet, I in the cup, I taste a bit of bitterness, maybe it's supposed to be this way, and I don't know any better, but I just want to make sure I'm not over-extracting or something. When I add sugar all is well, but that's not what I want out of my espressos. Compared to espresso shots I've had at Starbucks, mine taste a good bit better, but this doesn't say much according to what I read here. I was just expecting such a lack of bitterness that sugar would not be desired at all. If I've always drank moka coffee with sugar, should I expect to like a well pulled espresso with no sugar at first taste, or does this need to be acquired? My plan is to go to a true-blue cafe and taste what my goal should be.

b) Even after the o-ring fix, my pucks are soaking wet. What is required to get them to come out dry and in one piece?

Oh, btw, I'm using fresh beans bought a few days ago from Caracolillo here in tampa, ccmcoffee I think is their web name. I bought their Espresso Roast. It's pretty dark, oily sheen to it. Grinding in the Kyocera minutes before use.

Anyhow, I'll leave things here for the moment... there's more, but don't want to overwhelm.

Most importantly, despite all of the above, I'm really enjoying this machine, and even using the wand attachment (and thermometer) am frothing milk better than any locally purchased place nearby... my wife LOVES the cappas, so all is well. I just want to get better-n-better.

Thanks!

Jesse

My Achille is from the earlier production run in 2005 so YMMV, but I get a true 2 oz per pull so I'd keep looking for an answer on the short volume.

Regarding the espresso bitter taste, you didn't say how long your pulls were taking and since bitter usually = too hot or too long of an extraction were your pulls longer than 25-30 seconds? What is the pressurestat set at? Anything over about 1.1 bar causes me problems with a longer pull as the heating element will flash boil the water in the HX at the end of the pull if you're not careful. In the Bench thread on the Achille Buyers Guide HB recommends turning off the machine, flushing then pulling after a rebound to flatten out the temp profile and I've had good luck with that. The machine is capable of incredible shots when everything clicks so don't give up!

Regarding pucks, any search will get you more info than you ever wanted on puckology With no three way valve to vent the pressure after a shot the water seems to stay on top of the puck for me, although they are solid when they hit the bottom of the knockbox. The only way I get a really dry puck is to updose the heck out of the shot, I'm talking about hitting the screen on lock in.

Good luck!

Ok, I'll try the turning off prior to flushing trick... do I turn it back on when pulling, or at all?

I mentioned that my shots take 25-30 "mississippis", which is roughly 25-30 seconds if I do it right... the trick is to count saying "mississippi" between numbers... 1-Mississippi-2-mississippi-3- and so on... some people say "one thousand" between numbers for the same thing.

Also, the pressure reads as 1.2 all the time, so like you said, maybe that's a factor... I'll try the other tricks first though, and also visit a cafe to determine a reference point. I'm thinking I can tell them what I am up to and maybe they can purposely pull a cold/short, hot/long, and "just right" shot for me (at a discount for buying bulk??)...

Still wondering about the difference in displacement though...

Thanks!

Long story short: try lowering the p-stat and pulling more gently.

Elaboration:
There's much latitude for personal taste in the pressurestat adjustment on lever machines. You can set it anywhere from .7 bar to 1.5 bar, depending upon the machine and your personal preference. The higher the p-stat setting, the hotter the boiler temperature. On an HX seeing commercial duty, you would want a higher setting to accommodate rapid-fire milk drinks. But for an HX lever seeing domestic duty, I'd start out with the p-stat low, using minimal flushing, and bump it up only if the lower setting were inadequate for your steamed milk requirements or were too low for the roast/blend you're using.

Some roasts/blends do well on the cool side (195 F range, plus/minus a few degrees) and some do well at 201F plus/minus a few degrees. When the temp is too hot for the roast/blend, bitterness is the typical result.

But temperature is not the only factor in overextraction; too much brew pressure may contribute to it. Domestic levers can produce excellent espresso at only 6 bars, so don't assume you've got to be pulling with effort. The visible flexing of the Achille in Cannonfodder's videos suggest to me that he's taking the machine up to and possibly beyond its physical limits. The frequency of reported leaks may be the result of overzealous pulls. With the length of the Achille's lever arm, the distance between pins on the fulcrum, and the diameter of the piston cylinder, the mechanical advantage is considerable, and so you don't need to pull very hard to attain 9 bars. You could pull fairly gently and still be in the 6 bar range.

$470 is a very good price.

Ok, I've found a few answers already, thanks to you folks...

Regarding the displacement... 1.5 ounces was with the machine stone cold... turn it on, measure the same pulls after warm-up and voila, right at 2 ounces per pull.

Next, the bitterness... I tried powering off after to flushing, then pulling a slow quarter-pull preinfusion, followed by a single full pull. Results were better but definitely still bitter. Even tried powering off before flushing, better still, but at four flushes before a boil-less pull, I knew I would have to follow your advice and:

I lowered the P-Stat setting about 30 degrees counter-clockwise... I had mentioned before that it was set at 1.2 all the time. I was wrong, after observing it more closely, 1.2 was it's floor, with a ceiling of 1.45 or so!
So after the adjustment I brought it down to a 1.05-1.25 cycle... this only requires a couple of flushes, and with the power-off-after-flushing trick it gave me my first bitter-less shot! Yay! But being the last one, and already 1:30am on a weeknight... I'll have to try it out a bit more to make sure this wasn't a fluke.

I'm pretty sure this rather dark "Espresso Roast" from ccmcoffee has a lot to do with the bitterness at anything but the coolest of settings and procedures... so I don't think I want to go any lower on the P-Stat than this, considering that I want to try other beans pretty soon.

Note to other noobs... if you power off for the espresso, remember to power back on when steaming! After about a solid minute of frothing and the thermometer barely moving from 140, I was starting to think there was no way I could leave the P-Stat so low... well, let's just say the Achille steams a whole lot better when it's on.