Background:

I'm using a Quickmill Alexia, Macap M4 grinder, and freshly roasted beans from Barrington Coffee in Western Mass. The Alexia is the non-PID model and has been unmodified. I'm pulling with the OPV set around 9.5

I dose into the ridgeless LM triple basket, use WDT, even it out, and tamp with either a convex or flat tamper (i've used both to try to figure out what's going on).

The pucks, in general, are weird. They'll often knock out with a "divot" coming out easily, exposing what looks like a close-to-dry remainder. Imagine a \/ being knocked out.

It looks like the center never got saturated in the pre-infusion, or that the puck side-channeled aggressively. Yet there's no channeling marks or "holes" around the side. There is, though, an almost-constant donut extraction. I've over dosed, under dosed, tamped up, tamped down, etc. with the triple basket trying to get the puck to come out in one piece. If I overdose to the point where the showerscreen screws into the puck itself, the compression from the shot will give me a solid puck. Of course, the the shot sucks.

Has anyone had luck using a triple basket on the Alexia, or am I just asking for trouble? I'm dosing 20g of grounds into the basket.

Oh - the crema's also unsettlingly light. But it's not untasty.

Donut extractions are usually a sign that the basket is overdosed; but triple baskets seem particularly prone to the problem and require more TLC distribution (than they're worth?).

What is your flow rate? How long are your shots taking to extract?

Which ridgeless basket are you using (14g, 18g)? Or are you using the ridged LM triple (21g)?

Can you get a decent extraction out of a 15-16g shot without issue? My "go to" dose and basket on the Alexia is 16g in a ridgeless 14g basket. I'm assuming you want short tight ristretto shots (since you are using a triple basket), so try a 1 to 1.25 ounce shot from the 16g dose.

jesawdy wrote:Which ridgeless basket are you using (14g, 18g)? Or are you using the ridged LM triple (21g)?

Can you get a decent extraction out of a 15-16g shot without issue? My "go to" dose and basket on the Alexia is 16g in a ridgeless 14g basket. I'm assuming you want short tight ristretto shots (since you are using a triple basket), so try a 1 to 1.25 ounce shot from the 16g dose.

I'll try using the non-triple basket (I have a ridgeless double as well). The flow rate seems pretty decent; I've just been frustrated with the inability to get a good puck out of the triple basket. Thanks!

Can you post a video (instructions)? Here's a video I created to test the lighting:

[gvideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6752696243300996895[/gvideo]

Doesn't show details well, but still not a bad looking pour. If you want to keep trying with the triple basket, Jon's Making a beautiful "naked" triple espresso offers suggestions. Influenced by the recent (over)dosing discussions, lately I'm using more modest amounts of coffee (14 to 16 grams) with good results.

I have an Alexia and have had very good luck with this basket: http://www.espressoparts.com/product/W10813. I did not have good luck with the LM ridgeless triple, although I have made some improvements to my distribution techniques since then. I noticed you have a doserless grinder. Does it clump? With my Mazzer Mini DL, I have serious clumping and WDT alone wasn't enough to break them up. I still had channeling, doughnut extractions and generally inconsistent shots. Now I grind into a small container, cover the top and shake vigorously to break up the clumps then pour into the basket, use WDT, tamp and pull. My extractions have improved markedly in evenness, time before blonding and consistency. Good luck.

That's the triple basket I have. I've tried changing my dose and distribution techniques (I haven't gone beyond the WDT, but I'm happy to give the shake method a try). Even with the double basket, I'm getting a divot knocked out and a layer of what look to be nearly-dry grounds stuck to the bottom of the basket. This happens with all doses, convex tamp, flat tamp, WDT, and no WDT.

What else could cause a poor pre-infusion or constant side-channeling? I'm using the right size tamper, and tried tamping incredibly lightly. The donut extractions are more or less gone, but the puck divot remains. The tampers I'm using aren't a perfect fit (are they supposed to be?) and leave maybe 1mm of space around the edge.

Sounds like you may not be getting good adhesion between the puck and the sides of the PF (unless there's a problem with the shower or dispersion screen, which I wouldn't know how to diagnose). I assume you do not tap the PF during or after tamping. Do you use a yogurt cup for WDT? If so, do you tap the PF after removing the cup and leveling (just before tamp) to close the gap between the loose grounds and the sides of the PF? That's part of my routine - not sure if it matters though.