Everyone,

I need a little help. I am not new to espresso or to the HB forums. I have been lurking for a while soaking up all the knowledge I can from all the great posts here.
I am going to try to be detailed so I apologize for the long post.

I bought a Quickmill Anita about a year and a half ago off Ebay. It said it was almost new and it seemed perfect when I got it. I had a Rocky doserless grinder and after much learning I could pull a pretty good shot. They were all missing something though. I had a good bit of trouble with consistency and I wanted more of the really good shots. I read all the reviews I could find and decided to take the plunge and buy a new Super Jolly. My shots immediately improved and I learned a lot about distribution, tamping etc. Now it seemed it was down to following the same rituals and making sure I flushed to the right temperature. I bought Eric's thermometer which helped and I followed every HX temperature related post I could find. My shots continued to improve and I started experimenting with more coffee. My favorite roasters are Klatch, Counter Culture and a little place in Denver called Ink Coffee. I tend to like the sweeter full bodied shots and though I can describe the shots I like, I still have a little trouble telling the difference between sour and bitter shots.

Now to the problem. About 4 months ago my shots all started to go bad. I had been traveling for work and when I returned I ordered a fresh batch of Bella Espresso. After letting it rest a couple of days I went to enjoy some fresh espresso. I probably pulled a dozen shots and they either ran fast or went blond almost instantly. I kept dialing down the grind until I could get what looked like a nice dark tiger striped flow from the spout. It tasted awful though... It was very bitter and it didnt have the texture I am used to. I tried a few more shots though the next week or two with the same results. I was very busy at the time getting ready to move and feeling discouraged, I decided not to mess with it until I was settled in the new house.

I have been playing with it a lot recently and I cant get any consistent results. The first shot I pull of the day is usually ok. Not great but ok. I would say a little light on body and mouth feel but drinkable. I will try for a second shot to make my fiance a latte and it will take me 4 more attempts before I get one to pull right. They almost always start out looking ok and then after about 10 seconds the beautiful tiger stripe turns light in color, followed by a big increase in the rate of flow. I attributed this to a distribution problem, so I re-read a lot of posts and decided to order a naked portafilter. I also checked the dispersion screen which looks perfect. I tried varying grind, tamp and volume of coffee per dose. Lower doses seemed to work better but would go blond after about a half oz. They seemed thin and under extracted. I checked the pump pressure on the gauge and it reads about 9.5 bar while pulling a shot. Pressure builds at a normal rate and does not spike on the gauge.

My naked portafilter finally arrived and I went to pull my first shot. This basket is a triple instead of a double. I followed my standard dosing and tamping procedure (I don't tap or bang the portafilter) and as I suspected the shot started slowly nearest to the handle and slowly progressed toward the center. The edge that started first went blond fairly quickly but I stopped the shot a little early and it was ok. I proceeded to go through about a pound of fresh CC Toscano and no matter how I dose or tamp the flow always starts right by the handle. I even tried deliberately dosing toward the back of the portafilter and slanting the tamper slightly to make an uneven distribution. To my great amazement this shot also started from the back of the puck. I have read about some people grinding finer and almost not tamping. I tried this as well and the shot starts more around the edges but goes blond in about 3/4 to 1 oz. The center of the puck does not appear to be wet.
I switched back to the standard double basket and though the shot started a little toward the back it quickly filled the entire bottom and looked ok. Unfortunately they look better than they taste. They are still bitter, with thin body and light spots can be seen in the crema. After dozens of shots and lbs of coffee I feel like I should have stumbled on at least one shot that was as good as I could pull in the past.

I don't have any idea what could be causing this. I have asked other friends to try pulling a shot or two and they either turn out the same way with the shot starting from the back or about half way through the shot a side channel will form and coffee sprays everywhere.

The machine seems fine, I don't think anything should have changed. The grinder probably only has about 20 to 30 lbs of coffee run through it so I don't think the burrs need to be replaced. I regularly clean my equipment and when I started having problems I descaled the machine.

I am inclined to say that it is my technique but I have made many delicious shots following the same routine and I NEVER had this much trouble. I cant see what could have changed in the machine to cause this and the Jolly seems to be spitting out the same consistent grounds it always has. Thinking that the problem has to most likely be something I am doing I have followed videos and tutorials, following different guides and I always seem to end up with the same results.

I am hoping that someone here has been through something like this and can give me some insight. I am out of ideas and aside from trial and error (which I have done a lot of) I don't know what to do next.

On a related note I have not found many good coffee shops have in Atlanta. Octane Coffee is my favorite so far. Are there any other home baristas in the area? Where do you all go?

Thanks,

Griffin

Griffin,

You don't mention dose weight.
How do you determine dose?

Try running the pump for 3s and pull the PF. Knock out the puck and split immediately.


from Off centered water dispersion

If the wetting is uneven, Eric is spot on.
If not, how level is the group. Insert bottomless PF and place a small level across the bottom @ right angles.

I'm thinking that if the center of your puck isn't wet, it's a water delivery issue - not a screen problem. If the screen was dirty and plugging up the flow, the puck should be getting saturated.

What is the condition of your water? Do you have a RO system in front of your espresso machine? Is it possible that you're accumulating Minerals/sediment in your boiler?

That's my hunch based on what you've described. Not a bad way to justify a naked PF though, way to go on that one!

Paul