pcrussell50 wrote: Jealous on the Mono. Even though I have not a complaint in the world about my grinders, I am finding myself drawn to the Monos. I visit the page and wonder if I will choose a flat or a conical.

-Peter

Decisions...decisions!

If BDB owners are saying the BDB and Sette make wonderful espresso than wait until my MonoCon arrives. I'll be clicking my heels together three times and saying, "there's no place like home!"

You will enjoy the BDB+Mon combo for sure.

I just got the BDB (about two weeks ago) and the MonoFlat + SSP burrs (just today)! It's an amazing combo IMO:

It finally arrived! Monolith Flat + SSP burrs

Now I am debating if I need the VST basket as I already bought the naked PF. Thoughts?

Here's one of my pulls (it's a bit fast as I was trying new beans): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dwE995wNV8

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! I am here to learn as much as possible.

I would hold off buying a VST basket and put that money toward a scale if you don't already have one. The less variables you throw into the mix while you're getting things dialed the better. Since Malabar Gold was discussed earlier in this thread, I'll mention that I have been using it almost exclusively for a few reasons: It's great, priced very well, and I can try different brew parameters and have one less variable to worry about (the coffee).

One valuable lesson I have learned is that you can pretty much throw the 25-30 second "rule" out the window. I have been leaning toward longer shots that flow more slowly. Sometimes they take as long as 45 - 50 seconds to reach my target weight of 25-30 grams output; this is typically with only 1 or 2 seconds of pre-infusion (holding down the Manual button for a sec and letting go). If you keep in mind that bitter often equals over-extraction and sour often equals under-extraction (at a given temp), I would experiment to find what tastes best for a given coffee.

The shot in your video does look fast. What was the output fluid oz volume or weight?

eltakeiteasy wrote:Now I am debating if I need the VST basket as I already bought the naked PF. Thoughts?

I have some VST baskets and cannot tell much of a difference when comparing equivalent sizes. You might find the smaller or larger baskets useful if you need to deviate from the typical 18-19g doses; Breville doesn't offer alternate sizes so the VST can come in handy here.

My general recommendation, however, is to save your money or apply it towards a different "upgrade".

Yeah, the Breville are pretty similar style baskets to the VST, so worth considering down the road but just stick with the stock for now.

Thanks for the reply. Love saving money when possible

BaristaBob wrote:Yes, I believe you disconnect the hot water micro switch and that allows you play with pressure profiling without running the hot water. Sounds like something I need to start playing with in the near future because I'm starting to get pressure profile envy.

I disconnected the microswitch and the water still runs when using the hot water knob. How did you get this to work?

The purpose of the switch is to disable the shot pull if tripped by turning on the hot water. Disconnecting it means that you can run the water at the same time as the shot is pulling, diverting water away from the group head, allowing you to pressure profile. You do still want the water to run. I place a milk jug under the spout to collect the water during a profiling pull. So it sounds like yours is ready to rock!

On mine, either the micro switch is not so sensitive, and I can divert water into the pitcher and get the pressure down under 3 bars, and I think close to 2. Can't remember exactly, will check tomorrow. So I didn't do the mod. But some trip at much higher pressures, so you do need to disconnect them to profile. The switch's purpose is not a critical function, so the tolerances on its trip point are not tight.