Hi all

Just wondering whether you guys can comment on this pull from my Gaggia classic. I used 17.5g of Kenyan AA beans, given 24hours rest (roasted just the day before). The extraction gave me 30ml in about 30seconds, and the coffee tasted great (although it was prepared as a latte so defects may be covered up).



The main questions I have is:

Why is the coffee so black at the start of the extraction? Is that normal?

It seemed to run faster towards the end, but a. it doesn't seem to be blonding (Can still see strips of color in it), b. it's really fresh beans. So I suspect that it may be excess crema that's adding to the bulk. What do you guys think?

Thanks
Sing

Looked pretty normal, but maybe a little underextracted. You might down dose and see what happens.

First. You need to let the beans settle/degas for at least 3-4 days before pulling shots. Most beans have optimum flavor window 4-5 days from roast til about 10-14 days... Some beans go even longer.

Second, try increasing dose. 19 grams? 20? 21? And/or dialing the grinder in tighter. I have a Gaggia Classic - and think it works better with longer pulls - 35 seconds or more yielding around 1.5 ounces.

Plus all beans and blends and roasts are different. Even then there variables on a Gaggia you cant control - pressure and temp - and those will vary, esp temp, not just from shot to shot, but even within the same shot.

Oh... Are you backflushing? Temp surfing?

A Gaggia Classic, once you get familiar with it and you have good beans at the right roast window (not to mention a good grinder) can pull excellent shots.

Good luck.

Looked like a good pour. And if it tasted great, then you pulled a good shot. No need to mess with it.

vitomatt wrote:First. You need to let the beans settle/degas for at least 3-4 days before pulling shots. Most beans have optimum flavor window 4-5 days from roast til about 10-14 days... Some beans go even longer.

Yea I know that beans are probably optimum at least 3-4 days post roast. It does vary from bean to bean though (with some coming of age a little sooner), so I like to start trying them from day 1/2 and note how they develop.

Second, try increasing dose. 19 grams? 20? 21? And/or dialing the grinder in tighter. I have a Gaggia Classic - and think it works better with longer pulls - 35 seconds or more yielding around 1.5 ounces.

Hmm, I found that if I do anything above 18g on the classic double basket, the puck starts to touch the shower screen and I often get channeling (probably due to the lack of headspace). I used to dose at 19g and eventually found that 17.5g seems to work best in terms of headspace for the puck. What's your experience with this? Plus increasing dose + tightening the grind, wouldn't that cause it to choke (since I'm already getting 1 ounce over 30 seconds)?

Oh... Are you backflushing? Temp surfing?

Yeap, I backflush regularly. I've tried finding out how to temp surf, but other than "pull the shot once the heater turns on", I can't find anything else about it. Recommendations?

So just to ask again - is it normal to have such a dark pour at the very start?

Thanks
SC

TheMuffinMan01 wrote:Looked pretty normal, but maybe a little underextracted. You might down dose and see what happens.

When you mean underextracted do you mean it seems to be flowing too slow (otherwise dosing down would cause it to run faster)?

irrelevancy wrote: I've tried finding out how to temp surf, but other than "pull the shot once the heater turns on", I can't find anything else about it. Recommendations?

Sometimes some of this seems like more superstition than anything else, but my temp surfing routine is to flush the boiler about 2 oz let the heater come back on and then once the light comes back on turn on the steam for about 5 seconds (depending on the bean), then pull the shot.

I also like trying to get my shot to be about 1.5 oz in twenty five seconds, maybe a little less. In the end follow the excellent guide that is on this site to figure out what is going wrong if your shot is bitter or sour.

Down dosing will extract more, in less time. You said it was a thirty second pull... but I don't know how it tasted. If it tasted sour or excessively bright, I would down dose. If it tasted thin and bitter, then I would up dose and/or coarsen...

The reason I said down dose was because the streams looked a little dark at first to me but looking again it seems to be done by about 21 seconds. If that is indeed the case, and it tastes bitter at that point, up dose. if it's sour at 21 seconds, grind finer.

Shot looked fine to me, the pour sped up b/c the coffee you used was too fresh. I would wait at least 3 days post roast to use for espresso. I never dose more than 18.5 grams for my Gaggia classic and d90 machines, all have a standard Gaggia 14G basket. I don't see how one can pack 20g or more into a double Gaggia basket and actually avoid channeling.

I'm a newbie, but what I've learned so far is that the darker the roast the more you'll get that black drippy stuff at the beginning of the pull. With lighter roasts like full city you'll get less.

J.