Trouble with level tamp of single basket
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log4n
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 10 years ago
Hello, friends of good coffee 
,
as a newbie here I'm having a problem right away that I hope to get some help with:
I have had my VBM Double PID / Mazzer Mini-e combination for roughly two years now. So far, I have almost exclusively made only double espressos, simply because I find the basket easier to handle and nobody here has had a problem with the additional coffee in the cup.
Now, for smaller cappuccinos (and to make use of my beautiful thick Italian style cups, which are too small for doppios) I have decided to finally learn to handle the single basket, in my case a La Marzocco LM1.
Now, thanks to a funnel I have no problem filling only the deeper center of the basket, and I also have a 41mm tamper. The problem, however, is: No matter what I do, the puck is always elevated on one side, I never seem to be able to tamp level enough. I have tried various things, including WDT, NSEW technique, different combinations of grind coarseness and tamping pressure. Nothing has helped. The result is that always, about 15 (20, if it's a better one) into the extraction, the espresso starts to splash into the cup, the jet is not in the center anymore, but shifts a little to one side. The more even and less elevated the puck is to one side, the better the extraction was. So the levelness of the tamp is evidently the cause of the problem. For a hint to the solution, I'm counting on you guys.
Best regards,
log4n
,as a newbie here I'm having a problem right away that I hope to get some help with:
I have had my VBM Double PID / Mazzer Mini-e combination for roughly two years now. So far, I have almost exclusively made only double espressos, simply because I find the basket easier to handle and nobody here has had a problem with the additional coffee in the cup.
Now, for smaller cappuccinos (and to make use of my beautiful thick Italian style cups, which are too small for doppios) I have decided to finally learn to handle the single basket, in my case a La Marzocco LM1. Now, thanks to a funnel I have no problem filling only the deeper center of the basket, and I also have a 41mm tamper. The problem, however, is: No matter what I do, the puck is always elevated on one side, I never seem to be able to tamp level enough. I have tried various things, including WDT, NSEW technique, different combinations of grind coarseness and tamping pressure. Nothing has helped. The result is that always, about 15 (20, if it's a better one) into the extraction, the espresso starts to splash into the cup, the jet is not in the center anymore, but shifts a little to one side. The more even and less elevated the puck is to one side, the better the extraction was. So the levelness of the tamp is evidently the cause of the problem. For a hint to the solution, I'm counting on you guys.
Best regards,
log4n
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kwantfm
- Posts: 543
- Joined: 11 years ago
I started using a VST single basket a number of months ago (my wife prefers that dose). When I grind 7 g into that basket the untamped coffee spreads beyond the smaller lower basket and around the broader lip. I'm using an HG one so need to WDT and redistribute so I need to do two separate tamps. My first tamp merely uses the weight of the tamper and compresses the lower basket. I then have to shake or scrape grounds from the lip, move them to above where I have initially tamped and then I use a little firmer tamp to pack down those additional grounds. I never end up using anything like the pressure that I use with my normal 18 g VST and 58 mm tamper.
Terence
Terence
LMWDP #602
