Hi ! My name is Francesco and I'm posting from Italy (ain't that a shame)

I recently had an old Andreja (not premium) restored straight from quick mill themselves (I live quite close to the factory and that's lucky enough for spare parts).

The machine has been thoroughly cleaned & descaled. Brand new pump, bolier pressure gauge, OPV, gaskets, silicon tubes, vacuum breaker valve. It's pretty much new now.
I also bought a grinder (Quick Mill 060, which I modded to stepless with teflon tape because the steps were just HUGE).

Boiler pressure is set to 1.2. Brew pressure is sligtly less than 10bar, measured with a blind basket with gauge.
I'm tamping with a 30lbs calibrated tamper, to keep it consistent.

I believe I should get at least decent results. But the fact is ... I don't. Not at all.

1st problem: dosing. I'm concentrating on single shots only, because that's what I usually want to brew. I'm reading about 7-8 grams for a single ... REALLY ?

This is what 7 grams look like in my single "stock" basket:


and after tamping:


I can't see that being the intended dose for this machine.

10 grams look more like it:

... but ain't that a huge dose ??

The taste isn't *THAT* bad.
However, the shot is overall very "thin" and "watery". Crema also is very thin and dissipates very quickly.

It's *nowhere* near the rich dense shots I see in videos with the exact same machine. ;(

I would really appreciate any help in troubleshooting my situation ...

thanks, f.

For starters try dosing the basket full, using a card to sweep the extra grounds off the top of the portafilter. Tamp and try that.

Dial in the shots from there and when you have things working better weigh the dose for accuracy.

On my Bezzera Strega with the single basket I dose to just under 13g, but each basket will be slightly different.

Francesco welcome.

You don't mention how fresh are the beans. If much past two weeks from being roasted that is your problem.

Yes, so, what beans are you using, when were they roasted? It's hard to tell, but the grind looks a little coarse. Also, consider a double until you are satisfied with that - many people report having more difficulty drawing a single than a double. Other advice you'll get is consider getting a bottomless portafilter to help you analyze your shots.

I'm using Illy Rosso (quite popular over here):

http://it.aliexpress.com/item/Pure-coff ... 00807.html

Right now I'm testing with a brand new can which I opened this morning. I get pretty much the same result every time. More or less correct flow/time but thin and watery ... if I grind finer I just get less flow. ;(

Thank you !

Ciao Francesco
Stefano (Milanese in Oregon)
riempi di piu' il basket (as suggested)
in inglese per gli altri,
make sure the grouphead AND the Portafilter and the cup are up to temperature
and try a coffee ground finer, pre-ground coffee are generically optimized
but NOT customized to a specific machine, ultimamente you might need to buy a grinder so you can fine tune,
check also that your OPV con il filtro cieco apre a 9-10bar

Well, I would say the beans are old, only from the fact you said you opened a new 'can'. You need to try with fresh roasted beans from a roaster in town, or at least shipped to you direct with a roast date on it. whole beans then grind yourself just before you brew.

Thank you, I'll definitely search for fresh locally roasted beans next week or so.
Could "canned" beans be really that bad, even out of a new pressurized package ? really ?

Ciao Stefano ! Milanese anche io Thank you for your advice. I'll keep experimenting.

nato e cresciuto nella zona che i miei genitori e nonni chaimavano la baia del re
che nella mia generazione invece si chiama
zona chiesa rossa
piazzale abbiategrasso/via meda/via barrilli
ciao