Home-Barista.com

I have the BDB and noticed deviation this morning, i.e. 15gm dose with output varying form 24gm to 34 gm at 30 seconds.

As I use my leveling device as a tamper as well, I chalk this up to tamping variance, but perhaps I'm wrong.

As I exclusively make milk based drinks, this variance does not seem so critical to me from a taste POV, but I do prefer the shorter pull.

SAllen wrote:I have the BDB and noticed deviation this morning, i.e. 15gm dose with output varying form 24gm to 34 gm at 30 seconds.

As I use my leveling device as a tamper as well, I chalk this up to tamping variance, but perhaps I'm wrong.

As I exclusively make milk based drinks, this variance does not seem so critical to me from a taste POV, but I do prefer the shorter pull.

Which grinder do you have?

I totally agree that the taste is what is important. I do notice, though, that the slowest of my shots can have an harsh taste and a subtle "chemical" smell, even in a milk drink. So I would at least like to be able to reduce the variation a little.

Thanks for all the replies so far. I haven't been able to reply to all. I will definitely do a series of backflushes and pay attention to the pressure gauge.

I use the Sette 270wi.

Testing this morning, it seems that what I think is a relatively slight variance in the tamping causes the amount variance (27gm vs 37gm in 30 seconds).

Amusingly, when I ask my wife which she prefers, she always says she slightly prefers the first cap, which can be either the longer or shorter shot- there's nothing like that first taste when you wake up.

I too have experienced this with the BDB and Niche. I always suspected BDB was to blame but I think it's likely Niche isn't aligned well. When is the last time you cleaned it? What fixed it for me was a complete tear down and clean of Niche and when putting back together tightening the bolt way tighter than ever before (to the point I thought the NFC disc was going to crack). Once my bolt was this tight, my grind range doubled (from grinding 6-10 up to 18-20). I also gained much more consistent shots.

SAllen wrote:Testing this morning, it seems that what I think is a relatively slight variance in the tamping causes the amount variance (27gm vs 37gm in 30 seconds).

Tamping pressure probably wouldn't make that much difference--that may have been a fluke.

SAllen wrote:Amusingly, when I ask my wife which she prefers, she always says she slightly prefers the first cap, which can be either the longer or shorter shot- there's nothing like that first taste when you wake up.

For sure! I relate.


I'm talking more generally now and not to you specifically, but one of the things I've learned over the last eight years is that I used to be much too quick to call out patterns. I realize now it may take a lot of time and many shots to get a good sense of what's going on. For example, I've now pulled several hundred shots with and without a PorcuPress, and I'll still not ready to commit to a generalization. I'm doing the same with a BPLUS filter on top of my puck. And I've done the same for years comparing grinders. Often a pattern I think I'm seeing doesn't hold up over time.