Ok. I'm fine with it. Just wondered what you were trying to get at.

I can end up with a soupy puck sometimes. I posted a few comments about that on the first page of this thread. Maybe that's what you were referring to?

If I brew my decaf blend (usually stale) or other stale beans, it's common to get a soupy puck.

I'll keep up with the experiment, as suggested. Although, I must admit, I'm still not quite clear as to what we're trying to determine. I'm a musician, not a rocket surgeon.

Ok. Tried again with 16g instead of 18g, and ground one notch finer on the Virt. Flow was fast, blonde, and funky. I didn't have the courage to taste it. Puck was wet and soupy.

Mission accomplished.

Now what?

I'd try keeping things at 16 grams and tightening the grind until your flow slows down significantly. It may turn out that you can't "get there from here" with your grinder. I'd be glad to loan you an espresso level hand grinder for a few days if you want to give that a shot.

brokemusician77 wrote:Ok. Tried again with 16g instead of 18g, and ground one notch finer on the Virt. Flow was fast, blonde, and funky. I didn't have the courage to taste it. Puck was wet and soupy.

Mission accomplished.

Now what?

grind finer.

If flow is fast - fine the grind.
If flow is slow - coarsen the grind.

Play with dose, temp etc based on taste after you get the grind right.

Sorry guys. My "now what" was with regard to the experiment timo888 had me perform.

Using fresh coffee, not stale...

Once you're into "wet puck territory" with the non-tamp and dose, you can then make the grind finer and finer (leaving almost-non-tamp and dose unchanged) until the flow is where it should be. If you cannot slow the flow by going finer with the grind, other variables unchanged (16g, almost-non-tamp) then it's a grinder issue.

Malachi's advice was germane.

If it is a grinder issue, your alternatives are one or more of these:

• get a new grinder or burrs if applicable
• increase dose
• tamp more heavily

I'd be inclined to increase the dose in small increments as the least expensive alternative, and as the most easily reproduced.

I've been able to improve my consistency greatly since the purchase of some fresh beans. These beans have very different characteristics from my old stuff, so there's a bit of a learning curve again. As they degas I'm noticing nicer pulls. Instead of a huge gush of crema from start to finish, I'm noticing a much thinner stream with some beautiful tiger striping, quite consistently. Shots are starting to fall into the right range and taste.

I have noticed that the crema dissipates much more quickly with this blend than with my previous stuff. I also have to grind a fair bit finer than with my old blend.

18g seems to be the "magic" number in terms of how the pour looks. I'll try to dial in the taste a bit more this afternoon.

Although the grinder isn't going to get me fantastic results, I think it's going to be alright for milk drinks and the odd shot with a bit of sugar. I'll plan to upgrade to something a little more serious in a year or so. I like the idea behind the Vario and wait until all the data is in on that one.

Thanks everyone.

Had a great couple of days with these new beans. I've actually been dosing around 20g. Things have been much more consistent and I've had some really nice shots. Some of them have even been drinkable straight.

Seems I get a steady stream for a lot longer without gushing this way.