by DCAD on Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:45 pm oofnik wrote:There was a point a little while back when I was almost about to give it all up. I was getting undrinkable results that were excessively harsh and bitter and not tasty at all. This was after an extensive modification to the machine including a pressure relief valve and gauge, PID, boiler insulation, etc. I figured I could control variables with little difficulty that I didn't have control over before. I wanted to blame the machine but like everyone kept preaching, it was user error. Not necessarily dosing/tamping, but I think it had a lot to do with the temperature. For some reason my instruments had failed me and no matter what the display temperature was constantly way below the actual temperature, causing everything to taste too hot and overextracted.
I hate to say it but when I switched to using my Mininova I got instantly better results. I think it's true that the E61 design is more forgiving than others in the sense that you can still make a good espresso with a relatively (!) wide margin of error.
Anyway, for your case, I would recommend taking a step back like I did and thinking about what is really significant. If you say you're getting tasty shots, what's the problem? So what if you get pinhole jets every now and then? I know you feel like you're not reaching the full potential of the coffee. But then you have people with Versalab M3's and double boiler digitally controlled LM GS3's that have been pulling shots for more than a decade who still aren't satisfied. There's really no other explanation other than the human desire to improve on a learned skill. It's the reason why we're here on these forums.
Excuse my existentialism but I've just been trying to put the whole espresso world into a broader perspective and stop looking at fussy details lately, and I think it's helping my shots taste better for some reason.
I think that may be it. I am getting fabulous shots. It's the high point of my morning. Right timing, right volume, incredible crema. So what if I get a few pinholes? THEY TASTE GREAT! --- far too good to add milk. About once a week I get the desire to make a latte. But when I drink it, it's never as good as the straight stuff. My only problem is to discipline myself to only two doubles a morning. I'd really like to have three but that is a bit excessive on the caffeine front.
BTW I have been plugging away with people's suggestions and have been incrementally improving. I have lost the slight doughnut of initial drops (wasn't' that bad to begin with) and the pinholes are diminishing. Maybe I will get there at some point. But at this point I'll take a long term perspective and not stress all that much about it.
