I hear that the PV Lusso is very forgiving but it would seem that my sins are too grave!

Firstly, I have some experience with a Sunbeam 4800(?) at my workplace using pre-ground beans from various local coffee establishments and have gained some experience extracting reasonable crema and espresso by varying my dose and tamp depending on the bean and grind purchased. More recently I have been using a low end hario grinder and freshly roasted beans with the sunbeam and again have been able to produce nice strong flat whites. Double shot with a milk ratio of about 1:2. I'm no Barista but I can manage a flat white and have some basic concepts down.

I've read alot about the PVL techniques, seen all the you tube videos and read a good deal of discussion on this site and others. I have probably made 1 worthy shot out of 30 tried and although it tasted OK it looked terrible. I was making myself taste almost every shot as I felt it might help me get a feel for what was happening. I tried coarse and tamped hard, and tried as fine as I could with the hario and concentrated on a light but very level tamp with a light polish. I also concentrated on the recommended "head room" for the puck at around 5mm. I was very careful with the pre-infusion and Fellini - very cautious - slow and purposeful.

I got results that included choking the shot through to a free flow at pre-infusion. I just couldn't get a nice crema and espresso.

I adjusted the machine to switch off at 1.1bar of pressure. It has been doing so very faithfully.

I am expecting a Rosco grinder in the mail in the coming days and I was wondering - does any one else have this set-up? PVL + Rosco? If so could they post to the forum with some idea of where they set there grinder. Without having the grinder in front of me yet - I am thinking 6-7mm

Any ideas would be great.

I've read alot about the PVL techniques

The Peacecup school advocates a full dose and a slightly firmer tamp.

Fill the basket, level tamp it, fill it again and level it. I use 15-16g. Grind coarse enough so that you can tamp a little more firmly (you don't need 30#, just light but firm). The "no tamp" school apparently get good results, but I have never been able to duplicate them.

The Rosco will be excellent, but even your current grinder should be ok if you fill the basket.

Let us know if things improve!
PC

Hario barely makes it for espresso if you ask me.But no worries, I bet my money on good reports from you once the Rosco arrives.

p/s: I have a Rosco mini myself for Caravel

peacecup wrote:The Peacecup school advocates a full dose and a slightly firmer tamp.

I finger tamp with good results. Try both methods out and see what you prefer.

I get best results on the PV Lusso from a 7 second pre-infusion followed by two full 12 - 15 second pulls for a double. The second pull immediately after the lever had completed moving upwards.

My manual from the UK importer warned against interrupting the travel of the lever such as the Fellini move as this can lower the pressure in the group from 9 bar to the 1.1 bar boiler pressure.

Your new grinder should help immensely. When I went from the Zassenhaus, a good grinder which could choke the Lusso, to the Pharos, the quality of the shots went up many-fold.

I'm not sure what you want in a capp or latte, but I have great success with the small basket, with about 7.5g of coffee, lightly to medium tamped. I hold the lever at about 3 o'clock and put the portafilter on. Then I slowly pull the lever and hold it for 8 to 12 seconds. Sometimes, depending on the age of the roast, espresso starts coming out slowly around that time. That and 60ML of steamed milk make for a smooth drink.

Occasionally I pull again after the first pull is up to 2 o'clock and hold for a few seconds.

The large basket I fill with 13 to 14g of coffee and do two or three pulls and 100g of steamed milk. That gets around 1 to 1.5 ounces of espresso.

The PV Lusso really is an amazing machine. It is unassuming but cranks out great shots, one after the other.

The pressure in the puck will drop from brew pressure to boiler pressure when the lever is pulled down. But there is nothing inherently wrong with that, and I routinely take 3-4 partial pulls, holding the lever down for a few seconds between pulls. This allows the group to cool the water before the shot.

Since the Prof claims wonderful improvement with the Pharos over the Zass we'll need to take his word for it. I'm sure the Rosco will measure up though. Don't give up in the meantime though, a little patience will pay off.

PC

A quick update on the Ponte Vecchio Lusso and Rosco combination.

The Rosco has been easy to use, has increased the consistency of my results, and allowed me to make coffee in the neighborhood of where I'd like the espresso to be.

Trouble is I'm not getting the crema I'd like and I'm sure I could do a lot better. Especially if the you tube videos are anything to go by.

I'm going to resort to making coffee by the numbers - hopefully settle into a consistently good rhythm and then tweak as required.

So with the aid of some scales I am going to try 14g, 15# and hopefully get 25sec pours. I'm using fresh beans from a local coffee shop blend renowned for good coffee. The other variable I'd like to keep consistent is the post-tamp volume. I'd like that to be 3-5mm.

Without the Rosco I had difficulty producing two similar shots in a row - which made learning from my mistakes difficult.

In summary - I'm making progress.