cannonfodder wrote:From what I see of the gauge, I would say a Vetrano, Quick Mill and I don't suppose that would be one of the new stepless Macap's. Is Chris sending you toys to try out again?

Aren't you the observant one! Yes, there's extra equipment coming for EspressoFest, including the Macap M4 doserless, Quickmill Anita, and Fiorenzato Colombina that have already arrived. As time allows, I'll do short "behind the scenes" writeups in the coming weeks.

HB wrote:Aren't you the observant one!

A good student always spends more time observing the teacher and less time talking.

I wish I could go to the EspressoFest. I know how much I learned talking and watching Barry and Ed (homeroaster.com) for one day. Getting a chance to just sit in a corner to watch and listen to the experts is wonderfully educating.

I just put up a new video of a pretty good one ounce shot, not a perfect extraction but it tasted really good. My two year old son has some pretty funny commentary on it. Hope you enjoy!


http://shaundoreenevankeegan.blogspot.com/

That pour held together surprisingly well for a 36 second extraction. Your son thought it tasted good, what did you think?

I pay close attention to the first few seconds and you can see the center is weighted, producing an initial "donut extraction" that's later enveloped. The coloring reminded me of the Yemen from Intelligentsia I've been pulling lately. Oh man, while I haven't managed a perfectly balanced espresso with it, I'm hooked on the off-the-charts Belgian chocolate, the sumptuous crema, and cocoa powder finish. And for you bottomless portafilter fans, its striping is Barista magazine centerfold material. Beauty shots are so easy, it feels like cheating.

You caught me on that one Dan, this shot does show a more resistive center and it is something I am working on this week based on a few video's I have taken. Getting right under the naked pf with the digicam has shown me much more compared to torquing my neck over to try and see the full pf. Reviewing the shot a few times on a big monitor lets me get really critical of my technique. I have seen some good improvements working with video and this shot proves it in the cup.

You might notice that the bar pressure is generally around 11 when I am pulling, I have really come to like a very tight grind, updosed to approx 18-19 grams and run anywhere from 35-55 seconds. Jon Rosenthal's treatise on ristretto's created a monster and it is really hard to go back to 9 bars at 15 grams and 28 seconds. The shot was good enough that I could sense the various offerings from the blend of Harrar, El Salvador and Java. Of course it would have been that much better without that center resistance.

The next video I am going to load up shows a different resistance point but in my opinion looks fantastic dripping out with that gloppy honey drip. Google is just verifying the video now, look forward to your critique.

HB wrote:...the Yemen from Intelligentsia I've been pulling lately. Oh man, while I haven't managed a perfectly balanced espresso with it, I'm hooked on the off-the-charts Belgian chocolate, the sumptuous crema, and cocoa powder finish. And for you bottomless portafilter fans, its striping is Barista magazine centerfold material. Beauty shots are so easy, it feels like cheating.

Hmmm - my secret is finally getting out!!


Here's a decent pour made using the WDT:

onemoreshot wrote:Approx 18-19 grams of Harrar, tight grind, 11 bar, just under one ounce volume. Result - everything you would expect out of a Harrar. It was, very, nice! You can see a small initial resistance point during the pull, but I didn't notice its effect in the cup. Perhaps I like resistance points.

Let me know what you think.

Looks very similar to your previous video, i.e., long extraction time, low volume, center-weighted. My running joke on Friday espresso labs is that we'll allow 42 seconds before declaring a shot "choked"; if it manages 3/4 ounces by that point, it's declared fissile material, only drinkable by Mr. Triple-Power Ristretto himself, Mike Walsh. Your shot was two seconds past our unofficial redline.

Seriously though, I would expect such a long, low-volume extraction to exhibit harsh / overbearing characteristics. It might be less "punchy" at a faster flow rate, but more mellow / flavorful. To further quibble, I noted the center flow is "puckering" because of the higher density / low flow. Nonetheless it's clear that your technique is solid; the next step is exploring the extraction space.

The referred article was fantastic, I read it when it first came out and just enjoyed reading it again.

Dan, I'm such a tool, but you are going to love this one. Center weighed, I have been fighting it for the last week based on the video work I have been doing and studying. I have been going to the extent of loading the outer edge of the basket with additional grind through an elaborate method of distribution. Immense amounts of effort put into precision tamp and placement of pf, etc, etc. Always getting various degrees of some kind of center resistance. Shot quality at times good (when I went back to square one) or getting worse (when I started to devise new ways of distribution). This had gone on for too long, granted some of the shots were soooo much better than commercially available but enough "offness" to be irritating.

In frustration I decided to do a deep clean and scrub down everything this afternoon. Ta dah, the culprit in my opinion and the source of a good head-shaking session and a sense of relief simultaneously. By pulling off the screen and rubber seal on the Brewtus II, it was instantly a snap into focus on the screen's inside design. The wire screen was reinforced on the inside by a web of reinforcing metal, pretty common, but the center point in the screen has a big circle of metal that obscures the wire mesh by a guess of 1.5 - 2 centimeters. A big bloody built-in blockage (alliteration intentional).

SO, I am off to a local shop to get a screen like some I have used in the past. That should solve the center resistance. Now as for the fissile nature, I do love the gloppy shots - can't wait to see some extra-even gloppiness with a new screen.

onemoreshot wrote:The wire screen was reinforced on the inside by a web of reinforcing metal, pretty common, but the center point in the screen has a big circle of metal that obscures the wire mesh by a guess of 1.5 - 2 centimeters. A big bloody built-in blockage (alliteration intentional).

Some E61 screens have a "dot" welded to the outside / middle, some only have a center area devoid of holes like the one shown below. I'm skeptical that it's the source of the restricted flow near the center. I assume you've tried the WDT?


The shame! After a few weeks without chemical backflush...

That looks like my screen for sure. I haven't tried the WDT, I am stubbornly resisting, an almost blind stubbornness believing I can resolve my center resistance by other means. I am going to try a different screen as I can't see the screen pictured in your post as being neutral during a shot.

Is this the screen you use on a regular basis?