IMAWriter wrote:Timo, if 1.5oz from a Cremina with a 13.5 to 14 gram load at 30 seconds(including a 6 second hold at the top) qualifies as a ristretto, so be it! BTW, there is still a 2mm clearance between the top of my dry puck and the lip of the basket.
I always thought my 9 gram in a single basket .75oz pulls were ristretto pours, based on coffee amount, versus liquid produced. Truthfully, I'm not quite sure what constitutes a "strict" ristretto pour, if there is such a thing.

IMAWriter wrote:if I try a 1/4 pull "Fellini" thing, the lever will get stuck when I re-raise then attempt to lower the lever, unless I grind to salt consistency

Pull according to your tastes, of course, but if your extraction stalls after the preinfusion, that's typically the result of several grams overdose, though this can happen if you grind finely, tamp with force, and updose by only a couple of grams, especially if you pull with too much force: excessive brew pressure can stall the flow.

This is where micro-adjustment on the grind really pays off.

P.S. Going by volume can be misleading.

timo888 wrote:Pull according to your tastes, of course, but if your extraction stalls after the preinfusion, that's typically the result of several grams overdose, though this can happen if you grind finely, tamp with force, and updose by only a couple of grams, especially if you pull with too much force: excessive brew pressure can stall the flow.

This is where micro-adjustment on the grind really pays off.

P.S. Going by volume can be misleading.

Gotcha

michaelbenis wrote:Rob are you saying it chokes after your 1/4 pull?

Cheers

Mike

Yes. My grinder is actually sugar, maybe a touch coarser. The Vario has done a very nice job.
I keep a clean grinder, and a VERY clean Cremina, removing the screen every 2 weeks or 1000 shots, whatever comes first.
Gently clean the area where the piston resides, the piston head, and lightly lube with Dow 111.
Doug would attest to my fastidious nature.


EDIT
Yikes...I meant my "grind" feels like sugar, only a touch coarser.

I think Timo's hit the nail on the head there. I'd try grinding finer and dosing lower, though I have no experience whatsoever on the Cremina 67 and have heard it is more tolerant of up-dosing than the machines I am familiar with.

Cheers

Mike

I agree with Timo, (since everyone else is agreeing with Timo), but I second the notion of the intelligence and good looks associated with spring levers, or their users.....

Since the spring lever force is constant, the result springs fully from the control of the basket prep and finding that sweet spot combination of grind tamp and dose to make it all come out right. With the spring there is no wiggle room in the pull pressure to "save" the shot and when you lock in the pf the die is cast. With the same beans, same grind, same tamp, and slight dosing changes the shot is completely different as far as crema and even taste profiles. The spring does really force one to think and for some of us the good looking part just comes naturally.

With coupled spring levers (MiniGaggia, Peppina, others) the die is not quite totally cast since you can help the lever upwards if you've ground too fine. Or slow it done if you've ground too coarse. They are specifically designed for the semi-intelligent people.

* the lever connects both up and down. I follow peacecup's naming convention.

With the spring there is no wiggle room in the pull pressure to "save" the shot and when you lock in the pf the die is cast.

This is actually less true than I once thought. After developing my pre-infusion pulls on the spring lever to mimic those I'd been working on with the Caravel, I discovered that if the lever stalls on the first pull, a second, third, forth, etc. will slowly allow preinfusion to saturate the puck, and flow will begin. THEN I pull the shot. Not quite within the bounds of the 30-sec rule, but I had tossed that out a year or two ago anyway.

... Cremina 67 ... heard it is more tolerant of up-dosing ...

Much depends on the basket, especially with the single. I had two different single basket shapes, one with a narrower taller \_/ and the other with a broader shallower \__/. The narrow one had a smaller egress (i.e. fewer holes) than the broader one, in addition to allowing for a taller column of coffee. Identical dose and grind would result in very different shot profiles, with the narrower one tending to stall with a dose|grind that would result in a shot only slightly tighter than normale on the broader one.

orphanespresso wrote: but I second the notion of the intelligence and good looks associated with spring levers, or their users.....

and for some of us the good looking part just comes naturally.

I think I'm going to be sick

Bluecold wrote:With coupled spring levers (MiniGaggia, Peppina, others) the die is not quite totally cast since you can help the lever upwards if you've ground too fine. Or slow it done if you've ground too coarse. They are specifically designed for the semi-intelligent people.

I'll take a dozen of each.