Hi All,

Ive been buying CC blends the last few weeks
(Aficionado,Toscano,Rustico) and trying to pull shots
according to their dosing recommendations (17-19g),
and having a very hard time of it.

Its very hard to fit the amount of coffee they recommend
into the Bezzera. Even with the LM double ridged basket I got. Its
either pressing into the screen, or Im grinding so fine, Im choking
the machine.

When I go with smaller amounts (14-15.5 is the most I can fit)
, Ive gotten decent shots, but have
trouble getting over .75-1oz, without a lot of blonding.

I dont mind the smaller shots much, but I feel Im either missing something,
or wasting coffee..

Am I doing something wrong, or should I try another Basket?

Aficionado has been my favorite, FWIW...

Thanks in advance.

appa wrote:...trying to pull shots according to their dosing recommendations (17-19g), and having a very hard time of it.

Their dosing recommendations are based on a La Marzocco Strada and their preference, i.e., these brew parameters have little bearing on your setup. According to Jim Schulman's comments on the BZ02 he's tried, it doses at a maximum 16 grams.

appa wrote:When I go with smaller amounts (14-15.5 is the most I can fit), Ive gotten decent shots, but have trouble getting over .75-1oz, without a lot of blonding.

Sounds like symptoms of channeling to me. Do you have a bottomless portafilter? Can you post a video?

Thanks Dan,

I will try posting something over the weekend.

But it seems I am better off focusing on lower doses at least,
rather than going w another basket?

Dan, feel free to move this to another forum, if you feel this
is more of a technique/machine question.

Thanks

I've run in to these kinds of problems before too, where because of some difference in your setup or what coffee you're using there aren't good recommendations to get in to the ballpark when trying out a new blend. Here's what I try to do to get dialed in when I don't have anywhere to start from:

1. Use a good middle dose for the machine & basket, whatever will leave some headspace, but not too much. If nothing else this seems to reduce the chance of channeling or spritzers for me.

2. Adjust the grind to get a good flow. A bottomless PF is very useful here, but even with spouts it should be clear when the shot is pulling nicely, and when something's gone wrong. Don't worry about volume, I'd rather have a little bit of good espresso then a lot of mediocre espresso. Plus some blends will produce lots or very little crema, and it can make it very difficult to judge how much espresso you're actually getting.

3. Make adjustments for taste. I'm no expert here, and trying to figure out what combination of grind and dose changes to make can be tough. But trial and error always seems to work eventually Taking notes is definitely a good idea, I keep a notebook by the machine, and try to use it at least every time I try a new blend. At this point the best advice I could give myself would be to "try more espressos and take more notes."

4. When I'm really stuck, I like to try 3 samples from the shot as it's pouring (just pull in to the drip tray, and grab little spoonfuls), from the beginning, middle and end (or split the shot up in to three cups for a more leisurely experience). It's amazing how different the espresso can taste from different times during the pour. I find this helps me identify the good flavors I'm trying to emphasize and figure out where any off flavors are coming from. Again, this is something I should do more often, instead of just trying it out when I'm completely lost it's probably something that would help me turn more good shots in to great shots.

5. If nothing else is working, clean everything, the grinder, the baskets, the machine. Break out the brushes and Joe Glo and go to town. I've definitely had a little gunk or residue somewhere screw up a whole morning's worth of shots before.

Good luck!

I used a Bezzera for a few months. They are very Elektra like in both grouphead design and shots pulled. As I recall, the stock double basket was quite small. The ridged LM basket is a little deeper but I used a LM ridgeless double most of the time. The machine needs a millimeter or two of headspace between the puck and the dispersion block/screen. Dosing till the puck touches the screen before pulling the shot tends to get channeling or a meltdown shot. I was getting the best results with a dose that is below the rim of the basket. My Reg tamper sides were just below the lip of the basket when tamped.

Thanks all,

After some experimentation, I found that
the higher doses were exaggerating issues
with side-channeling.

Thanks to advice I read here on
similar "dragons", I am now tamping w
NWSE ( wasnt before), putting some weight on
the edge, but only tamper weight on the center.
This has helped immensely.

Thanks again to all, I can focus on the coffee again.