erik82 wrote:I did some of these shots some time ago and it work great with the Strietman. Just keep the lever up (or very light pressure) and pull it down once you're ready for the extraction. Haven't tried it lately so I'll give it another try these days.

Yea, that shot on the left is almost exactly how I pull my shots on the Streitman. Long slow preinfusion, usually around 30 seconds. Very little pressure, maybe .5 to 1 bar. And then once there is the beginning of a flow I ramp up to my target pressure. I think you had mentioned using that method early on when I first got the CT1, and then it wasn't until I was struggling with some extreme light roasts from Slate coffee here in Seattle awhile back and was talking to their barista at the cafe where they use slayer machines and she described to me how they pull shots to optimize extraction that it all clicked for me. Game changer!

I really do need to try it again as I only use very light roasts. I always try different methods and got back to a normal profile for a while now but I feel it's time for change .

With my very light roasts (probably 99% of the coffees I use), I have pretty good luck with <30sec shot and short preinfusion as long as it's above 1.5:1. When I want tighter shots, which I usually do, the long slow preinfusion becomes quite useful.

My parameters for the last month where between 24-28s including pre-infusion and a 50% brew ratio.

Where are you falling on the rpm? I had been trying a bit lower, 420 rpm (yes I have the brain of a 13 year old), for lower static and, ironically, faster grinding. Went back up to 1,320 since I just find I can go finer and extract more that way.

To eliminate some variables and keep track of the burrs breaking in I've only had it set too 600rpm. This seemed to be a good value and have tried 800rpm a couple of times but not so much as to make a very good judgement of the differences.

It's still on y list to play more with rpm. My burrs are giving me constant output now and I've tried some other things lately so it's nearly time to play with rpm and see what the results are.

I've been playing with rpm some more. My 1,320 wasn't doing so hot with a coffee I was pulling at 18:30 (I'm usually more around 18:25 so that's an exceptionally water heavy shot for me), but going down to 600 worked beautifully.

My working hypothesis is that higher rpms are better for getting the extractions I want with super fine grind and tighter shots, but don't behave as well when I coarsen the grind for not so tight ones.

I changed from 600 to 800 and 1000rpm a couple of weeks ago but with normal shots the extraction became less consistent and taste was also affected in a negative way. It seems that 600rpm is a good starting point where slower gives much longer grinding times and stress on the motor with very light roasts while higher rpm impacts taste.

I know the monolith flat uses different burrs, but I had the same same experience as you, Erik. I tried increasing the RPM up to 800 and found the extractions to become less consistent. I actually have been playing with 400 over the past month or so. Longer grind time, but getting good results in the cup.

aecletec wrote: They also don't need to find a way to stick/clamp the grinder to a counter.

You absolutely don't need to clamp the HG1 to a counter! My 3 year old daughter can literally grind a dose and hold down the HG1 by herself!

I'm reading a lot of "conical vs. flat" burr comparisons, and it's not at all definitive which is better. Even with light roasts and espresso, many (most?) prefer the conical.

I think the HG-1 is a work of art. Incredible design. Dead easy to use. Nothing to break, ever.
And at less than 1/3 the price of the EG-1, it's a no-brainer. Does the EG-1 really produce more than 3X better quality grinds?