I'm currently being trained on a Strada at a local cafe. I pulled around 15 shots today. I was surprised at how mediocre many of them came out... I got a lot of pale/blonde crema.

I'm used to a Rancilio Silvia at home, so obviously the Strada is a huge stepup.

Also, I was tripped up by the way they were teaching me to dose the coffee. The Robur is set to grind anywhere between 19-22g of coffee, depending on how full the hopper is...

If I was dosing on my own, I would probably grind the coffee into the portafilter, level it with a spoon or finger, and then tamp. But the way they were teaching me, was to tap the portafilter a few times on the grinder rack (whatever you call the thing where you rest the portafilter). This action will settle the coffee to the point, where sweeping it does very little, if anything, because most of the grinds are now sunk into the basket.

My trainers recommended the stockfleth method by jamming my palm into the basket. If you do it right, you sort of end up with a concave center. Still, the grinds are not perfectly level (especially the sides of the basket), because the stockfleth was not performed when the basket was overflowing, but rather below portafilter rim level.

So to put it into visual terms... you first have a 20g cone of coffee grinds in the PF. When you tap the PF twice on the grinder rack, the cone turns into more of a mound... and now the mound is below the rim of the PF. If you swept the basket rim with a flat tool, it wouldn't touch any of the grinds... by stockflething at this point, you'll need to jam your palm into the basket, and you end up sort of flattening the top of the mound... so you kinda get the idea. The top of the mound is now a bit concave, but the sides of the mound are obviously more depressed than the rest of the grinds. Not to mention, it's easy to burn your hand on the PF even by doing a simple sweep of the finger, let alone stockflething with a lot of pressure.

By dosing this way, I found that most of my pulls were coming out blonde. Only when I applied some serious pressure during the tamp, did I get decent results... and by serious pressure, I mean over 30 lbs of pressure.

At home, I apply 10 lbs of pressure on the tamp, if that...

I'll be returning in a couple days to resume my training. In the mean time, I've just been trying to figure out what I should do on the next go-round.

I'm thinking of forgoing the stockfleth, and just using a simple finger sweep to level out the coffee. And then maybe tapping it to settle the coffee, followed by a tamp... as opposed to tapping the portafilter first to settle the coffee, and then stockflething/sweeping below the rim of the portafilter...

'Cause the way I learned it, you don't need to tap the portafilter on the grinder rack/portafilter holder thingy, unless the basket is way overflowing (25g+). But the way the Robur is set up at the shop, it only grinds around 20g per double shot, so I don't think it's really necessary to tap the PF...

What do you guys think? Sorry if this post comes off disorganized. I'm just really at a loss, and I feel a bit flustered by the experience. Considering I come from a humble background of pulling shots on the Silvia, I thought I'd immediately start pulling god shots on the GS3 with little to no effort. Boy was I wrong...

BTW the coffee we were using was the Guatemala Huehuetenango Finca Vista Hermosa Single Origin by Victrola. Personally, it's a bit too acidic for my taste. I wish we would've used a coffee with a flavor profile that was easier on the palate. Basically the predominant flavor note is really tart citrus. So the way I measured the efficiency of my shot was by the level of acidity... the less acidic, the better... maybe the temperature was set too low (198F). According to Victrola's site, it should taste like chocolate/hazelnut/cantaloupe/citrus. I would've never figured there was cantaloupe...

EDIT: It's a Strada, not a GS/3. But having said that, I don't think it matters. Strada has 3 groups. GS/3 has one group, but technically the same build.

How is the dose determined? By weight, or volumetrically by the doser?

I typically dose around 18.5g of a local roast, and tap the portafilter against the counter and sideways with the tamper, to get a mostly level distribution, well under the rim. Works just fine. I use a schnozzola equipped super jolly.

Are you being trained as an employee, or is it a class?

How were the shots the trainer pulled? To me, if the mound is below the rim, the Stockfleth's move wouldn't work. Most of the baristi (is that the term for plural?) I've seen work with the mound above the rim but if the trainer was able to pull consistently good shots, then you're probably doing something wrong.

+1 with what Mitch said, agree on both counts. What were the trainers shots tasting like? The Stockfleths maneuver would be of little use after knocking the portafilter so abruptly (a light tap, yes then you would be able to distribute afterwards).

bigbad wrote:BTW the coffee we were using was the Guatemala Huehuetenango Finca Vista Hermosa Single Origin by Victrola. Personally, it's a bit too acidic for my taste. I wish we would've used a coffee with a flavor profile that was easier on the palate. Basically the predominant flavor note is really tart citrus. So the way I measured the efficiency of my shot was by the level of acidity... the less acidic, the better... maybe the temperature was set too low (198F). According to Victrola's site, it should taste like chocolate/hazelnut/cantaloupe/citrus. I would've never figured there was cantaloupe...

Indeed your perceptions are exactly how I would be pulling this SO at home. IMO, too high a dose, resultant coarse grind, too low temp..for my taste.

jfrescki wrote:Are you being trained as an employee, or is it a class?

+1

If you are a new employee and you would like to keep your job, do as you are instructed and do not look to the home baristas on this board for tips. You will have plenty of time in the future to experiment and make suggestions.

and do not look to the home baristas on this board for tips.

He did come on HB asking for our thoughts...

Oh, and also, you can use the Robur in a commercial environment...but don't ever, EVER, think of using one at home!

You should take your own scale to work, single dose with the Robur and a flux brush, and use a dosing funnel and dissecting needle for WDT. Also use a bottomless portafilter and be sure to weigh every single dose and shot. Your boss will be so amazed you'll be promoted right away.

Don't ask questions here, we are apparently incapable of giving appropriate advice or helping to understand anything related to espresso outside fantasy land

allon wrote:How is the dose determined? By weight, or volumetrically by the doser?

I typically dose around 18.5g of a local roast, and tap the portafilter against the counter and sideways with the tamper, to get a mostly level distribution, well under the rim. Works just fine. I use a schnozzola equipped super jolly.

There's a timer on the grinder that you can set for however many grams. It was set at around 3.8 seconds, which usually leads to around 20 grams.

We had a scale, so we were checking it every time. But the dosage can change, depending on the beans and the amount of them in the hopper. The more beans in the hopper, the more it's gonna grind in 3.8 sec, since you have more weight pushing it down.

If I was dosing 18.5 g, I would just use your method as well. You can't really sweep it, so just try to get it as level as possible by tapping it against the counter, followed by tamp.

jfrescki wrote:Are you being trained as an employee, or is it a class?

I'm being trained as an employee.