contraflow88 wrote:I would take into mind that your portafilter is 53mm so it's gonna take a finer grind and a lower dose to achieve good a cup.

The portafilter is 55mm. I made two custom tampers (a Kinu and a Bravo Tamper) with a diameter of 55.05mm and they fit perfectly.

The stock tamper that comes with the Mina, although of very good quality, works best with small doses in the basket. If you use the quantities I use (18g in the 28.5mm basket or 20g in the 32mm one), then the stock tamper leaves a lot of coffee on the sides.

My guess is that it actually takes a coarser grind, because the puck thickness is larger than that of a 58mm. I'll buy a 58mm kit from Dalla Corte and compare it with the 54mm (which is actually 55).

radu wrote:The portafilter is 55mm. I made two custom tampers (a Kinu and a Bravo Tamper) with a diameter of 55.05mm and they fit perfectly.

The stock tamper that comes with the Mina, although of very good quality, works best with small doses in the basket. If you use the quantities I use (18g in the 28.5mm basket or 20g in the 32mm one), then the stock tamper leaves a lot of coffee on the sides.

My guess is that it actually takes a coarser grind, because the puck thickness is larger than that of a 58mm. I'll buy a 58mm kit from Dalla Corte and compare it with the 54mm (which is actually 55).

Thanks for that, it is indeed 54mm, what is your typical dose at the moment?

contraflow88 wrote:Thanks for that, it is indeed 54mm, what is your typical dose at the moment?

I have a light roasted natural Ethiopia that needs a long preinfusion (Slayer shot) that I dose 20-22g in the 32mm basket.

Just finished a washed Kenya that I wanted to have no preinfusion at all so I dosed 19g in the 28.5mm.

Hi Mina Owners,

Can you please share the settings which you use for the light roasted coffee? What flow do you choose, after the long pre-infusion?

Would be nice if every Mina Owner can share the best Flow Profiles for various coffee....

Thanks
S.

If you ramp up to 5 or 10, it really makes no difference, unless the grind is really coarse. A lot of things are strongly related to the coffee you use, there really aren't that many set rules.

I have coffees that are totally "killed" by preinfusion, so I start with a smaller basket and a 6+ ml/s flow to get to 9bar ASAP. Other coffees don't extract enough without preinfusion, so I need a fine grind and a long preinfusion. I sometimes use a low flow (<2ml/s) for a longer time (10-15s), other times I use a higher flow for a couple of seconds (if I want to let 20ml of water wet the puck, I can use 5ml/s for 4s), then I lower the flow to keep the puck wet but not giving it enough water to fill the headspace and get up to pressure.

Some coffees are better with a ramp-down at the end (less harsh, more sweet), and other just lose the flavours if I do that.

It's an interesting machine and it really helps you learn a lot.

From what I can tell, light roasts need preinfusion. I sometimes use a really long preinfusion and the largest basket I can find.

If it's bland and bitterish without preinfusion (higher flow rate from the start) and you feel you're at the right temp, then grind finer, decrease the temp by 2C and try with a longer preinfusion (DFR 4 for 10s, for example, or DFR 2 for 20s). I aim for 40-50s extraction time and a little over 1:2. But it's just a starting point. Different coffees call for different extractions.

If I preinfuse the puck and it's bland and bitterish, then I go straight to a high flow rate type of shot.

The only light roasts that I successfully used without a preinfusion were really well developed roasts (like Coffee Collective or Manhattan). Hope I was of some help.