JimWright wrote:I thought you said you had not used the timer for dosing here? In any event, are you using WDT or another method for distribution consistency?

Im new to the lingo and dont know what WDT means

I basically fill the double shot basket almost to the top. I measured it to be approx 17g. It does not come up to the rim n the basket. I acheive this by letting the m4d go for 7.7 seconds.

I thought that 14g was what to shoot for, but that was too little for the Vibiemme machine basket. I bought another double basket which is slight less and am thinking about changing baskets, but dont want to throw in too many variables at once. Its already hard to keep track of.

One thing is the m4d coming directly into the basket is "clumpy" and you try to smooth it out.

WDT : Banish Uneven Extractions with Weiss Distribution Technique

misterdoggy wrote:Im new to the lingo and dont know what WDT means...

I discourage excessive use of acronyms, but here's a tip: Search using Google and the site:home-barista.com parameter. For example, WDT site:home-barista.com.

malachi wrote:Given that you are relatively unpracticed when it comes to dose it is very unlikely you're consistent with your dose to less than 0.3g (much less the goal of 0.1g).

Dose consistency is far more important that tamp pressure consistency (for example) when it comes to consistent results.

If struggling with shot consistency the above cannot be stressed enough. Eyeballing it when it comes to dosing doesn't come close to cutting it without years of practice. And then it's still not just eyeballing it, but eventually rather eye and feel, more feel than eye. You can start a tamp and know if it's over or under, though I usually already knew before tamp during feel of Stockfleths distribution. AND need periodic shot build series checkups with 0.1g resolution scale to make sure you've not gotten lax and keep yourself calibrated. Personally I've never gotten good enough to do a dozen builds with 0.1g variance, my goal for a double is +/- 2g, 4g total variance max. That I can do fairly consistently, last checked myself today while working with a newer barista at my cafe. Her first series of 6 builds whopping 1.1g variance (target of 17.3g), 2nd series of 6 much better .5g max variance. I'm now having her pop the basket and weigh it on every shot while working a shift with instructions if build not to spec +/-2g dump it without even pulling. All shots pulled nekkid so (relatively) easy to quickly pop build and weigh basket. Sure it'll slow production a bit, but quality trumps speed and off shots.

I haven't had a Jamaica Blue Mountain that would pull a good espresso. The coffee is just not right for a SO, not to say that there is not one out there. They are too acidic and floral in an espresso.

Just to reiterate what has already been said, different coffees require different grind settings. The same coffee roasted a week apart will require different grind setting, sometimes that same coffee you pulled a shot of an hour ago will need a grind adjustment because a rain storm blew in and the humidity changed. Environmental changes, age, blend changes, and sometimes simply walking by the grinder will seemingly cause a grind change. You also need to be dosing withing 0.2 grams, preferably even closer if you want to repeat back to back shots that are withing a couple seconds in timing. You may also want to run the grinder for 2 or 3 seconds to purge old grinds from the internals.

Espresso is a moving target.

cannonfodder wrote:Espresso is a moving target.

Which is why I like the MG42

miKe mcKoffee wrote:I'm now having her pop the basket and weigh it on every shot

The popping is insane. Give her a scale that has the capacity to weigh the whole portafilter, basket and dose.

AndyS wrote:The popping is insane. Give her a scale that has the capacity to weigh the whole portafilter, basket and dose.

I do have a trade legal scale with 0.01g resolution capable of holding the entire PF. Being required to pop the basket out each time until she gets consistent dosing is impetus to focus on dosing consistency. When she can do a dozen in a row within my tolerance standard (max 0.4g variance) she'll no longer need to keep popping them out. The other option, which some bigger shops have the luxury to do, is she wouldn't even be allowed to pull shots for customers until dosing consistency attained.

This is not home setting, this is my cafe and my reputation at stake.

Coffee is an organic natural product which varies from batch to batch, blend to blend, and day to day. That is what makes it fun and makes it an art. Even with the same coffee, if the grounds are not as fluffy or are settled a bit more, they will weigh more and lead to inadvertent updosing is one is not careful.

cafeIKE wrote:WDT : Banish Uneven Extractions with Weiss Distribution Technique

This is very interesting as my grinds out of the brand new Macap M4D are clumpy to the touch. You would think that those light clumps would not resist the pressure of a 30lb tamp and fall apart under the pressure. However, I will try the technique.

I have heard that the clumping becomes less and less as the machine is used more and more.

My biggest problem is getting my wife to accept all my efforts as she thinks all this talk about me perfecting barista technique is a bunch of voodoo. I have to do it on my own secretively, but am not deterred.