Sounds like a good blend to work with. The fact that it's used in restaurant accounts means it's going to be fairly forgiving. And I'm glad to hear about the upgraded details on the machine. As for your suggestion that I get myself to a twelve-step program, all i can say is that there'd be a lot of us from here... The serious point about that is the importance of consistency. If you're not, to the best of your ability, doing the same thing every time, it's much harder to learn. The downside, as I said in my post, is that without doing something uncomfortably close to actual work, it's hard to know which bits of the ritual are responsible for the results, and which are the espresso equivalent of spinning around three times and screaming like a chicken.

And the offer of a couple of shots still stands if you're ever down around Santa Cruz.

Best,
David

Might I suggest getting a bottomless portafilter, properly fitted tamper, 0.1 gram scale and beans of know quality (any of the HB sponsors). I would start by weighing your dose to make sure you are within +/- 0.3 grams for the sake of consistency. Then with your properly fitted tamper, use a consistent tamp pressure, then pull your shot and shoot a video of it. That will let us lend much more assistance and take several of the variables out of the mix.

Wow.

I just got the ECCO Northern Italian roast. The first shot was drinkable. The second shot was something I've never seen before. Golden syrup.

They didn't ship the Fazenda Cachoeira Screen Dried Yellow Bourbon. So I'll have to wait for more variety.

I know there's a lot of tweaking to get it right. But this is major progress. Happy happy joy joy...

edit- 92 C, about 13 grams in a double basket. Not enough headspace. I could see screen marks on the puck.

Congratulations! Sounds like you are on your way to seriously good espresso every day! Remember that coffee is one of the most complicated foods we have - so the same variety from different harvests might taste different. And certainly your roasters' consistency will influence your espresso "happiness". Good Luck! --don

Gregg K wrote:92 C, about 13 grams in a double basket. Not enough headspace. I could see screen marks on the puck.

Congrats. Call Mike and order a complete selection of baskets. Sooner or later you'll want them. I happen to like that coffee dosed to 16 grams in an 18 gram basket. With some coffees, 14 grams will expand to fill that one, so I use it and the 16 gram basket most often.

Best,
David

Gregg K wrote:Wow.

I just got the ECCO Northern Italian roast. The first shot was drinkable. The second shot was something I've never seen before. Golden syrup.

They didn't ship the Fazenda Cachoeira Screen Dried Yellow Bourbon. So I'll have to wait for more variety.

They just started selling the Ecco "reserve" espresso again and IMHO it's even better than the Northern Italian (which itself is very very good). As others have pointed out already - the Mini is a fine grinder and will serve you well. Its' biggest shortcoming is that it's prone to heat build-up if it's used repeatedly for extended periods of time - e.g. in a commercial cafe. But many smaller commercial cafes use the Mini for a decaf grinder.

I strongly recommend acquiring a Reg Barber tamper. Getting good espresso consistently is all about eliminating as many variables as possible. There are folks who believe in little to no tamping but I like the predictability of having a nice solid puck to start with. But having known to be good and really fresh beans (that are not overroasted) is crucial. And yes - there are roasters who have very little focus on espresso and don't assign a high priority to it. For that reasons I seek out beans from roasters who DO have a focus on espresso.

Oh my goodness. So this is espresso.

The triple basket arrived this afternoon. I just tossed in 16 grams of ECCO reserve. And right off the bat a thick golden syrup began flowing. Even I could take a sip of it right off the portafilter. In fact it was phenomenal. Not even a bitter trace after five minutes.

Thanks for all the helping hands. It's not a perfect world. But perhaps we've evolved as beings to the point where we've controlled our circumstances so that our achievements give us satisfaction. Or something like that. I'd have never discovered the essence of coffee by myself.

I saw a video from Barista champ Heather Perry where she recommends taking a spoon and tasting the espresso every couple of seconds as you are extracting. She recommends tasting this way so that you can identify when to stop the extraction at just the right moment. I usually do this by eye when the stream goes light. Sometimes this is 27s, sometimes 25s, sometimes 23s. Just another way to control what goes in the cup and build a "taste reference".

Glad you are having success! Cheers.

vanboom wrote:I saw a video from Barista champ Heather Perry where she recommends taking a spoon and tasting the espresso every couple of seconds as you are extracting. She recommends tasting this way so that you can identify when to stop the extraction at just the right moment. I usually do this by eye when the stream goes light. Sometimes this is 27s, sometimes 25s, sometimes 23s. Just another way to control what goes in the cup and build a "taste reference."

Good advice. You can also order the Schectermatic "TM" and benefit Coffee Kids at the same time: Support Coffee Kids with espresso cupping device.

I love that Coffee Kids website and the concept. I recently watched a documentary on fair trade practices. There is something so powerful about lifting those who work for so little. And leveling a global playing field. I think this is far more important than it appears.

I've been using a table knife to slip in and out of the stream as it pours. It fits right in there, and gives a very small sample. A beginning, middle, and end sample. I can see the experimentation can go on into infinity with this. I suppose that's part of the fun. Considering one can only drink so many espressos per day, perfecting the shot becomes practical.