Side channeling every shot - help please - Page 3

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
cmin
Posts: 1379
Joined: 12 years ago

#21: Post by cmin »

sluflyer06 wrote:What can you dose them to? I only see a 14g and then 21, what if you want to do 17-18g shot?
I dose my 21 around 18g, gone higher with lighter roasted beans. Very forgiving basket, I've gone down to 16g no prob. VST are too much of a pain in the arse imo lol.

Auburn Lion (original poster)
Posts: 7
Joined: 8 years ago

#22: Post by Auburn Lion (original poster) »

EspressoForge wrote: Did you try the technique in the video I posted?
Not yet. Will definitely do that once I have fresh beans.
EspressoForge wrote:Have you tried not using the VST basket?
I'll leave the VST basket alone for now and go back to the stock basket that came with the machine

Advertisement
EspressoForge
Sponsor
Posts: 1350
Joined: 16 years ago

#23: Post by EspressoForge »

brianl wrote:Do you prefer the ridgeless one? I believe there is a pretty significant size difference between the ridged and ridgeless ep baskets.
I've tried both of the doubles. In actual use, they end up nearly the same, the ridgeless one is a little larger I believe, but in practice once tuned to each basket shots come out nearly the same. Overall I like how the ridged basket looks more and how it has more holes at the bottom, but it's probably just an aesthetic thing with a nicer looking bottomless pour more than the actual taste! Distribution may be a little easier in the more tapered ridge basket, but not by much.

Overall they are both a worthy addition to any espresso kit IMO.

brianl
Posts: 1390
Joined: 10 years ago

#24: Post by brianl replying to EspressoForge »

Doesn't the ridge less one have more holes at the bottom? As it has straighter wall? I have all 4 of the baskets they offer but haven't compared them aside from seeing that I can get around 18g in the ridgeless double and 16g in the ridged double. Good to know the that mechanical differences don't affect taste as much. I do agree that the ridged one makes 'pretty pours'.

I currently use VST baskets but I'm not a fan of the thin shots as of late.

EspressoForge
Sponsor
Posts: 1350
Joined: 16 years ago

#25: Post by EspressoForge replying to brianl »

Visually to me I'd say no.

Ridgeless on the left:

Auburn Lion (original poster)
Posts: 7
Joined: 8 years ago

#26: Post by Auburn Lion (original poster) »

Interesting to read about the baskets, thanks!

Today I learnt a valuable lesson on freshness of beans: storing 4x250grams of beans in the freezer and then dumping a full 250gr in the hopper and using them in a week or so, means bad beans.

I just did a small badge of fresh beans (roasted sep 26th) in my hopper, dosed 20gr in my VST basket... 40gr output in 25 seconds. Balanced taste, sweetness and slight acidity...

Lesson learnt! I'm keeping the rest of the beans in an airtight, opaque porcelain container in at room temp. :-)

User avatar
CorvusDoug
Posts: 72
Joined: 8 years ago

#27: Post by CorvusDoug »

Leon-

Glad you got better tasting shots! If you've got an airtight container don't hesitate to throw it in the freezer!

As far as the baskets go, there are plenty of opinions out there and mine is that VST are the best on the market. If you don't want to use yours that's fine, but I would highly recommend avoiding baskets that taper toward the bottom or don't have holes that go all the way to the edge. These things affect evenness of extraction which is everything to taste. Take it, or leave it! :) Keep on keepin' on!
Corvus Coffee Roasters - Denver, CO

Advertisement
donniedarko
Posts: 21
Joined: 10 years ago

#28: Post by donniedarko »

Auburn Lion wrote:Interesting to read about the baskets, thanks!

Today I learnt a valuable lesson on freshness of beans: storing 4x250grams of beans in the freezer and then dumping a full 250gr in the hopper and using them in a week or so, means bad beans.

I just did a small badge of fresh beans (roasted sep 26th) in my hopper, dosed 20gr in my VST basket... 40gr output in 25 seconds. Balanced taste, sweetness and slight acidity...

Lesson learnt! I'm keeping the rest of the beans in an airtight, opaque porcelain container in at room temp. :-)
I used to use stainless steel canisters with locking lids. I buy a pound at a time and when I got down to half a pound would transfer to a smaller canister. I've since switched to a 64 ounce Airscape canister https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00167XN14 The advantage, it has an inner black lid that slides down the inside of the canister to rest on the top of the beans and locks in. A second clear lid sits on top like the normal canister lid. The advantage, you don't have air space between the beans and the inner lid. The beans stay fresh noticeably longer.

sprin001
Posts: 153
Joined: 8 years ago

#29: Post by sprin001 »

TomC wrote:I would second the suggestion to grind finer and reevaluate. Plus, I wouldn't examine the puck itself if I had concerns about channeling, unless I saw it on a bottomless portafilter.
What TomC said. Mine regularly looks like this but if you watch it in real-time on the naked PF there's no obvious channeling occurring.

BertrandFg
Posts: 1
Joined: 7 years ago

#30: Post by BertrandFg »

Very interesting post. You save my day!!! thanks

Post Reply