Hi all,

My first post here, so here goes some background info. This is a great site and a wealth of information for the coffee community.

I'm from (and currently live) in Brazil, although I've lived in California for 4 years in the past. I've been a long time coffee aficionado, but only recently decided to step up to dedicated espresso equipment (Rancilio Silvia V3 + Baratza Vario).

I have a 1/10 gram scale and weight all doses (may eventually take advantage of the Vario's timer...). The Silvia is operated with reverse temp. surfing. (wait 26 secs after light goes off + 4 sec cooling flush). Doses between 14 and 15g on the double basket. Coffee is a blend from Santo Grao shop in Brazil, within 7 days from roast (http://www.santograo.com.br).

I've been hitting the 60mL in 25-30 sec, although for more "bodied" (less acidic and fruity coffees) I like to kill the shot at 27-28 sec. In the cup it is been very good/excellent most of the time and pretty consistent,
although the temp surf routine is tiresome sometimes. When problems occur, I suspect it is due to chanelling, probably causing localized overextraction and bitterness in the cup...

Thus I'm concentrating now in getting the tamping consistent (I have a 58mm rattleware tamper with a stainless steel flat base).

Which leads to my question. Putting 14g in the Silvia's double basket, and the Vario adjusted to get 60mL/30sec, when I try to tamp (using nutation movement first and pressing down after), the tamper edges make contact with the basket walls.

I wonder if this may result in uneven/bad tamping and may contribute to channeling.

Any tips ?

ps. a bottomless portafilter may be in order in a near future...

Gui

Hello Gui, and welcome to H-B. If your tamper binds partly into the filter basket, I would suggest using a different filter basket. In particular, ridgeless baskets such as these have an additional advantage: you can prep the basket outside the portafilter, then gently slip it in just prior to pulling the shot.

Another suggestion: weigh your extractions and calculate the brew ratio. 60ml is a large volume to pull from 14g, so your pours may be on the lungoish side.

And yes, a bottomless portafilter is highly recommended.

Thanks for your reply. Indeed a portafilter with a different shape may help. My currently feeling is that, with 14g it seems there is not enough coffee in there**. The puck sits pretty low in the basket, and when I try to tamp harder the tamper makes contact with the basket, presumably preventing adequate tamping...

**Edit: despite that, in the cup the coffee is good, aside from a bitter shot once in a while, which I'm supposing it's been caused by channeling, given that the other variables have not changed...

Gui

Judging from forum discussions, the stock Rancilio basket isn't very popular. Many report better results with a ridgeless double basket as John suggests.

Oh, that's right...I made a confusion here. I meant 30mL and not 60.

Depending on the grind adjustment I get around 20mL or 30mL. Getting close to 30 it starts to blonde but I confess I dont use this to guide the shot. I kill it at 28-29 sec anyway (if the grind is on the finer side, it may result in a nice syrupy ristretto).

Gui

RapidCoffee wrote: 60ml is a large volume to pull from 14g, so your pours may be on the lungoish side.

And yes, a bottomless portafilter is highly recommended.

Gui Marques wrote:Oh, that's right...I made a confusion here. I meant 30mL and not 60.

Depending on the grind adjustment I get around 20mL or 30mL. Getting close to 30 it starts to blonde but I confess I dont use this to guide the shot. I kill it at 28-29 sec anyway (if the grind is on the finer side, it may result in a nice syrupy ristretto).

Gui

In that case, consider letting your pours run to greater volumes. A double shot of 20ml (2/3 oz) volume is an uber-ristretto, at least if there's much crema. My 15g doubles generally run about 45ml in volume, and produce brew ratios of about 2:3 (67%).