changing machine, grinder and coffee all at once is difficult (not to mention accessory arrangement- tampers, scoops, portafilters, brushes all in different places now because of new space requirements). i've blown through 2.5 bags of coffee and am still only in the neighborhood of decent espresso. the shift from doserless to doser is one issue, but my new machine seems more exacting. my daily caffeine intake has easily quadrupled. my baskets are obviously larger on the new machine as compared with the old one so proper dosing is still iffy. i haven't consistently produced naked shots this bad in, like, five years.

despite being far happier with my new machine (evidently still just espresso jewelry in my house) etc., i am not in heaven. it's like starting over again. but milk drinks are now great (accounts at least 1.5 of the 2.5 bags)

update: maybe it's my switch to black cat. decided to try it again after past failures. am beginning to think this particular coffee is just not my cup of tea.

The fastest route to dialing in all your new equipment is consistency. I would weigh both the dose and ending shot. I would use time to dial in the flow. If you keep the dose and ending shot weights the same (maintain the brew ratio) that will allow you to dial in your grinder for that dose.

Once you dial in the grinder, then you can play with the variables to dial in the taste with a systematic approach. But if you aren't weighing pre and post shot weights, then you will spend more time chasing a moving target.

mitch: the scale is already out. sam

i get more sprites on the single shot than the double. anyone out there know if this is the norm? thx

samster wrote:i get more sprites on the single shot than the double. anyone out there know if this is the norm? thx

It takes time to get to know new equipment.

By sprites, I take it you mean "spritzes" or coffee spraying out of the bottom of the basket at an angle other than straight down into the cup.

Yeah, I would say it's generally more difficult to prepare a single than a double. There's been lots of talk on this board and others about that. But it can be done with some care and patience. My advice is to pull doubles until you get the hang of your new equipment, then work on your singles technique.

I would also advise skipping Black Cat for now and picking up a more widely appealing and forgiving blend like Metropolis Redline. Try it at their recommended brew parameters, but also try it at lower doses. If that doesn't produce good results, pick up a lightly-roasted single-origin from Terroir and see how you do with 14g doses.

Presumably, you're using the GS/3 paddle's capability to do pre-infusion. Make sure you develop a consistent routine for this. The typical method is to pre-infuse until you see the first drops of espresso appear on the bottom of the basket.

What grinder are you using?

Peppersass:

Just a basic Macap M4. For my level of coffee, it's fine and the machine is definitely more than I ever dreamed I'd ever have. Things have gotten much better since i dusted off the scale, even with singles (15 gr, and doubles at 21 gr -- which seems high, but works for me).

I think I've tuned into the Black Cat -- it tastes like it's right... but I don't particularly like the taste. This explains why I think it's so god-awful when the extraction is off.

Will experiment with fewer grams and finer grind/harder tamp, etc. Pre-infusion is fine, but not sure what difference it really makes. Tastebuds aren't that refined yet.

Now am having fun again.

Thanks, -Sam

samster wrote:even with singles (15 gr,

what basket?
Anything over about 10.5g here [e61] hits the screen

cafeIKE:

that was a part of the problem. my last machine was an e61 and i was used to far smaller doses. on that machine (expobar lever) after a few weeks of measuring, i stopped weighing and just went by instinct. this worked fine until the new machine. my new baskets are quite large by comparison and it shows in the coffee, which is generally... "richer", i think. can't think of another descriptor but will keep trying.

-sam