Phaelon56 wrote:If your tamper is fractionally smaller than 58mm and fits fairly snug against the side of basket then try using a tamper that is 1 mm smaller. I have "57 mm" and a "58 mm" tampers. I can't get a tight tamp with the 58 mm tamper when my dose is below 17 grams and have experienced problems similar to yours (using Isomac Tea and LM double basket) when trying lower doses. If I switch to 57 mm then I have no issues.

yeah, I noticed that too, 17gr works but it seems that for anything below, the basket is to big with the tamper touching the slanted sides at the bottom of the basket.

I also noticed that that the a big part of the bitterness is wiped out by flushing down to 200F and pulling the shot directly, previously I flushed to 203F and go. With flushing to 200F the bitterness was gone, and no sourness but still no sweetness, it tasted very flat and dull.

jammin wrote:not insult your intelligence, but

1.) how fresh is the coffee?
2.) do you normally get sweet shots from this blend/SOE?
3.) have you tried other blends/SOE's with similar results?

i also agree with the comment about headspace. it might be time to try out the old "nickel trick" - place a coin on top of your coffee cake and lock in the PF. you can adjust your dose volume until the coin just slightly makes an impression in the cake. this should help get your headspace in the ballpark. you may need a smaller basket to get good results with the desired (lower) dose.
~j

1) 02.12.2010
2) not on my machine, but tasted a very good on a commercial machine from the same batch.
3) I usually manage to get some more sweetness from the beans, but almost always with a lot of bitterness.

hmm. maybe its time to try out the single basket.

I've just been wondering about this topic: My brew pressure is at 10 but the only defect I've noticed is that the shot starts to flow very soon after hitting the brew button. I do a quick manual pre-infusion, the shot runs 20-25 seconds. I tried adjusting the grind down to 2 from 2.5, beans are fairly fresh. I'll get out the wrenches later today and adjust down to 8 bar w/ blind filter. Should I do this with a cold machine or fully warmed up?
Thanks, KDM

jonny2 wrote:2) not on my machine, but tasted a very good on a commercial machine from the same batch.

One of my favorite shops has a 3 group Synesso Cyncra and Robur Es. If I try to pull shots at their 20g 203°F* parameters on my e61s, it's just bitter swill. 16g @ 198°F yields a delicious shot. It's not the same shot. Trying to replicate exactly on vastly different equipment can be an exercise in frustration.


* - shot end temperature on e61 with Eric's adapter