Good try.

It seems that you are running the shot for about 35 seconds which is a bit long for a shot without preinfusion so try to kill the shot 3 seconds after the "blonding point".

The flow needs to run a bit faster so you have two choices

1) Reduce the dosage down to 14.5g with the same grind settings and same tamp pressure. Easier to do it first.

OR

2) Set the grinder at 47 dial (coarser than current setting) and use 16 g of ground coffee.

In either case you need to respect the 2:1 ratio (30-32 g of espresso in the cup for 15-16g of ground coffee).

Try to stick to the standard dosage until you find the right dial setting. Then once you achieve it, increase/decrease the dosage to your personal tastes and even better use the same method with other coffee beans!

fridayloco wrote:
So this morning I lower the dose to 15g (3.15s) at 45. The ground coffee didn't fill-up portafilter, so I have no way to level it other than shaking the portafilter. My machine doesn't have preinfusion. The extraction flow is a little slow but it's not choked. The flow started to come out of the basket at 10-12 seconds. I let it run for 35s and it made 57g espresso. It seems to suggest either to lower the dose further, or to increase the grind setting. Next time I'll try 14g coffee at 45, hope the flow will run faster. I'll keep you posted.

I only drink 1-2 cups of coffee a day so please bear with me on the slow progress. I'm having a lot of fun tweaking the settings and I appreciate your feedback.

I decided to go with the 16g direction. Today I made two cups with completely different result...

#1
Grinder setting at 47, got 17-18g coffee (hard to control with E10 as it's too fast)
Extracted for 25s, got 27g espresso.
Grinding video: https://goo.gl/photos/mtTX5oibiucP78zW6
Extraction video: https://goo.gl/photos/xxBgvu54pZy8hbHv9

#2
Grinder setting at 48, got 15-16g coffee (again 16g is the goal but went a little under)
Extracted for 25s, got 52g espresso.
Extraction video: https://goo.gl/photos/A9y6US3xgNstFjdt8

I purged 5g coffee before every try. Maybe my tamping pressure is a little off between two cups. Anyway I believe if 16g is the goal, the sweet spot is somewhere near 47. Next time I'll try 16g coffee at setting 47, hopefully I can get 30-35g espresso.

Two additional questions:
a) during the extraction I noticed that a small amount of espresso comes out first from the edges first, then large amount coming from the entire surface. Is that normal? Or is it suggesting a little uneven distribution?

b) I looked for espresso on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espresso, and found the following paragraph. It says for normal length, double shot (14g) should use 60ml water that means a double shot should produce close to 60g of espresso? Is the 2:1 ratio the golden rule in modern days?

The length of the shot can be ristretto (or stretto) (reduced), normale/standard (normal), or lungo (long):[citation needed] these may correspond to a smaller or larger drink with the same amount of ground coffee and same level of extraction or to different length of extraction. Proportions vary and the volume (and low density) of crema make volume-based comparisons difficult (precise measurement uses the mass of the drink). Typically ristretto is half the volume of normale, and lungo is double to triple the normale volume. For a double shot, (14 grams of dry coffee), a normale uses about 60 ml of water. A double ristretto, a common form associated with artisanal espresso, uses half the amount of water, about 30 ml.

thanks again!

Hi,

In experiment #1 you clearly overdose (17-18g of coffee at setting 47) then modified the dose back to (15-16g on setting 48) in experiment #2 and you normally got two different results which is normal since you touched two variables: dosage and grind setting. For peace of mind and simplicity, you only need to change one variable at the time to be able to make comparisons.

You need to program the E10 grinder to give you an x amount of coffee (16 g of coffee ) in a specific amount of time (ex. 3.75 seconds) then try to apply a medium tamp pressure and see how the flow looks like. If the shot is too tight then decrease the dose by -0.5g or increase by +0.5g it if it flows too fast until you achieve the desired quantity in cup within 25-30 seconds. Then most importantly taste. Remember to do a cooling flush wih your oscar before each shot for 8 seconds as high water temperature of stagnant water may modify the aromas.

As for the brew ratio here is an interesting article which may help.

http://home.lamarzoccousa.com/brew-ratios-around-world/

Thanks for your feedback! That article is interesting and does answer a lot of questions I've been wondering for a while.

To close out, I experimented more settings in the past couple of days and I think I'm getting very close. Right now the setting is 16g (3.35s) at 47, it makes 35g espresso in 28s pretty consistently. I think these numbers are all within the right range and I'm very happy with the result.

I've had E10 for almost 2 weeks and I like it a lot. It's clearly a big step up from my old Rocky. My friends who have tried my latte these days all think I switched to some better beans but couldn't believe it's from the same bean out of a different grinder.

Lastly, I read about the VST basket this morning and ordered a 15g basket immediately. I'm sure that will further improve the result. Can't wait to try it!
=)

That's great news.

The feedback you have been getting from your friends lately means you may have found the "near-perfect " setting for the given espresso beans. Remember you will have to adjust the settings slightly as your beans age (almost every week) and you will almost have to start over if you change the type of coffee beans in the future but at least you will have a framework as guide and will understand of how to dial in your grinder. Next time it will be easier.

Curious to hear about VST baskets as I have never bought any. You were very inspired to buy a E10 OD! Keep us posted and enjoy your espresso and lattes!

...coming in a little late to the game.

My rotation of about 3-5 different types of beans (from week to week, not single dosing) keeps me between grind setting 35 and 47 on the e10. I will occasionally disassemble for cleaning, which alters the zero point, in which case it may stay the same, or my numbers will decrease by about 10 points to make my range 25 to 37. The burrs are the same distance and same grind size, just my collar is in a different location. My time to get 18.5-19g ranges from 2.85s to 3.05s depending on bean type.

FWIW, I have a set of VST baskets 18 and 21(?), but I have had better luck with IMS precision baskets. I have found the ever so slightly tapered edges to be more forgiving in the IMS versus the VST which give me more sprays and sink shots due to more angled edges.

Overall this grinder has been a total pleasure. The particle size consistency is incredible.