Setup: CC1 (PID temp = 205. 3s flush before shots, no preinfusion)

Been having a lot of problems with my espresso setup lately. Upgraded my setup from an Aroma + Infinity about a month ago. Have had problems with fast extractions from the beginning. Figuring the burs needed to be seasoned I gave the grinder the benefit of the doubt and limped along with lousy espresso until now. Have been using fresh coffee from either the local roasters or different online sources all with about the same result. Picked up a fresh bag today (as well as cleaned the grinder) and here are the results:

Finest grind:

• 14g = 15s and bitter
• 15g = 15s and sour
• 16g = 13s and sour
• 17g = 15s and sour
• 18g = 15s and sour
  
  1 click from finest:
• 14g = 15s but tasted "acceptable"
• 15g = 13s and sour
• 16g = 13s and sour
• 17g = 14s and sour
• 18g = 15s and sour

*WDT used for all shots.
**18g doses are making serious contact with shower screen

Nearly every one of these shots start out fine, taking ~4s before first drop and the flow initially looks good, nice rat tails and everything. However after about 6-7 seconds they all go blonde and flow like water. Amazingly the entire shot glass is nearly crema for all the extractions, and fades to a nice 2cm sitting on the top.

Out of all of these the only one drinkable was the 14g 1 notch from the finest setting, it wasn't overly sour or bitter but certainly wasn't full bodied. Anything over 16g showed some channeling holes in the puck and were not even worthy of a milk based drink.

My question to you is: do you think my grinder is at fault and should go back? Since there doesn't seem to be much change on the timing front between different finenesses I was unsure. Also, shouldn't there be more of a change with the different doses? Could it maybe be something with my prep? Any suggestions are appreciated!

If you are sure that your coffee is fresh, it has got to be grinder. Here is one of the first shots I ever pulled with CC1, this was literally second shot:



And this is one after that where I tightened grind a bit. Grinder I tested with was Baratza Vario and 17g of fresh coffee. All pulls without any problems and tasted fairly good:



On both I had little pre-infusion going but definitely that is not necessary at all.

This is tighter shot with Vivace Dolce a bit later:



So in general if you are already grinding as fine as your grinder can do and you still get fast shots with fresh coffee, its grinder. Toss it, get new one, machine is OK.

Grind finer. How old are the beans you are using? Check the roast date on the bag.

That's what I expected! Looks like they will be getting a call from me soon. Hopefully it will be a simple fix so I can start making some proper espresso!

Tekomino: Where do I get a bottomless for the CC1?!

Cannonfodder: Beans are 3 days old.

I wouldn't bother sending the grinder back, just order the shim kit if you are going to keep the Breville. I played with the Smart Grinder for about 3+ weeks as I thought it might be a good travel grinder for us. Changing shims is pretty simple & you can certainly get it to grind fine enough for a normal length shot but don't expect much as far as espresso quality goes. Shimmed to work in the correct range for a pump machine shot the Breville is very slow, you have a narrow adjustment range to work with & the motor is definitely laboring. While it does a decent job as a brew grinder the Smart Grinder needs more power & finer adjustment range to turn out a decent espresso grind IMO.

geeek204 wrote:That's what I expected! Looks like Breville will be getting a call from me soon. Hopefully it will be a simple fix so I can start making some proper espresso!

Tekomino: Where do I get a bottomless for the CC1?!

I would buy different grinder, you have nice machine with crappy grinder. You can get bottomless here: http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/CC1-Bo...g15551.htm