I just got a 1/10th gram scale and wanting to take a journey towards getting (good) 7gm single shots. My normal double shots started weighing in at 18-20gms and my singles were in the range of 13-14gms so it's a big jump to effectively halve the amount of coffee used for a single.
Ive weighed out 7gms and putting it in the basket and it looks like an insignificant amount incapable of pouring properly. The coffee barely covers the top of the sloping sides. I topped it up to 8.5gms which looks better in the basket and the tamper doesn't bottom out on the sides. Going finer with my grinder (Compak k6 wbc) started to yield clumping, so I'm using the Weiss technique to fluff it up. Even after doing this the amount of coffee doesn't raise above the rim so grooming the coffee in the basket is impossible with other techniques I know like Schomers NSEW.
The pours are a little fast so I need to grind even finer before I start trying for a good 8gm shot.
Despite these new experiences in heading towards 7gms the espresso is tasting good with more good ones than bad ones in comparison to the 20gm dbl.
Any assistance in getting to 7gms would be greatly appreciated as this is very new territory for me and most of my usual techniques and visual cues are geared at much higher dosed shots.

Single baskets tend to be very picky when it comes to dose. I detailed the technique I used when finding the sweet spot for a single.

One trick to gauge the dose starting point is to use a nickel as a gauge. Dose into the basket and tamp, then place a nickel on the surface of the puck, and then lock the portafilter into the group. Next, remove the portafilter and look at the puck. If the nickel is pushed deeply into the puck's surface, or there is any cracking of the puck, the dose is too high.

For more detailed information see Domobar Super espresso performance, singles

In the past months, I've switched from doubles to singles, something I could not achieve before getting the Baratza Vario (grind quality related). On the Silvia, I get good results with the Rancilio stock single basket at 7-9 g (I know I should buy a La Marzocco single basket but haven't done so, yet).

With the single basket, my Reg Barber 58mm was of no use at all: it reached the basket slope before any real tamping can happen). I had to relinquish it and I am now using the OEM plastic tamper (!). I have pretty good consistency when I :
1. grind half the dose (3.5-4.5 g) in the basket
2. tamp with the small end of the plastic tamper (something like 40mm, convex), to correctly tamp coffee in the middle section of the basket
3. grind the rest (3.5-4.5 g)
4. wiggle the big end of the plastic tamper against coffee to quickly distribute it in the basket (WDT would probably be better but doesn't seem necessary to me)
5. tamp again with the big end of the plastic tamper
6. make small tamping moves around all sides of the basket (tamper is smaller than the basket) in order to seal the puck on all sides
7. pull

Prepared this way, coffee does cover the inside slope of the basket.

I'm considering moving to a LaSpaziale Vivaldi (53mm) in the next months so I haven't bought any new 58mm accessories but if I was to stay in the 58mm standard to make singles, I would look into:
1. A proper 58mm convex tamper (I might be wrong but it seems to be a must to have a convex tamper to match the angle of the single basket slopes)
2. A proper ~40mm convex tamper (required to tamp coffee at half dose in the middle section)
3. A LaMarzocco single basket

Note: the end result will have less crema than what you are used while pulling doubles.

PS. I haven't been able to learn if this double tamping method is applicable/useful with the 53mm baskets of the Vivaldi, even when asking questions at s1cafe.com. Any hints from Vivaldi users would be appreciated).

another_jim wrote:The LM single basket requires a 47mm tamper for any dose less than about 11 grams (the handle end of your existing tamper is the best bet). The Faema single requires one of the very curved 53mm to 55mm tampers (like those mounted on the doser of regular grinders) for any dose below about 9 grams.

Jim, any hints on using 53mm LaSpaziale baskets?

Thanks.

another_jim wrote:In the single basket of any given manufacturer, the grind for a 7 gram single is about the same as the grind for a 14gram double in the same manufacturers' double basket. An Italian bar using one doser click for singles and two clicks for doubles would not be able to function if the baskets were set up otherwise.

There are many threads on HB that address the creation of single espresso (is there a thread on the correct plural of the word 'espresso'?) Some discuss the change in grind setting and how to arrange the grind into the basket. Here is a photo of my 58 mm basket with 7 grams finely ground, tamped with a 49mm tamper but less than 30 lb force. The resulting shot is thin, extracts promptly with drops into the cup before the lever is raised, but tastes good. The same grind, 14 gram dose in the double basket with 30 lb tamp also produced a thin shot with richer flavor. Because I stopped the extraction after 20-25 seconds, neither were bitter.

I think Jim's observation suggests an elegance between dosing singles and doubles that does not seem to actually work. Maybe someone with a metal shop and home espresso lab could design a single and double basket that really does accept the same grind and the same tamp with one dose for the single and double the dose for the double that produces the same resultant espresso flavor.

For reference, existing threads on making singles:

• Do you adjust grind from double to single espressos?
• Single vs double basket grinder settings change
• Ways to a great single espresso with a single basket
• How do you pull a single espresso?
• Want the best espresso on an E61? Use the single basket!

Chert wrote:is there a thread on the correct plural of the word 'espresso'?

Foreign bastardization notwithstanding, I'd start by giving due deference to the Italians, inventors of the word and the drink. As both an adjective and a masculine noun, espresso has a regular plural form, analogous to panino/panini i.e. espresso/espressi.

espresso
[e-sprès-so]
Definizione
part. pass. di esprimere
¶ agg.
3 si dice di cibo o bevanda che viene preparato al momento, su richiesta del cliente: piatto espresso; caffè espresso
¶ s. m.
3 caffè espresso

This works well for low dose singles and also doubles. Available from Stefano's Espresso Care


from How do you dose and level a LM single basket ?