Any collection of coffee dialling settings?

[martinlhoff]

New here, new to levers (with an EPC-8 + Mignon Notte). Geek by trade. Dialled in one coffee blend. Trying to dial in the second one and... Isn't there a table somewhere listing equipment, settings, ratios and coffees?

Not as a Bible but as reference points.

Do coffee geeks keep notes on their dial in results for a given equipment + coffee? Does anyone publish them?

[Wantboost]

I keep my own of coffees I have tried. So when I buy them again I have a reference. But with so many different grinders and machines I doubt will be useful for u

[martinlhoff (original poster)]

Once there's enough entries, it'll get to a point where it is useful. If I buy same coffees as you, and coffee A needed 2 steps finer grind than B, I'll know how to start dialling coffee A or coffee B.

[martinlhoff (original poster)]

We could aggregate some notes. Here's my initial foray

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

[NicoNYC]

The main issues I see with trying to aggregate different peoples' experience is that there are just so many variables going into it, many of which can be measured and communicated, but many of which can't. It's like trying to conduct a science experiment where you're changing all the variables at once and trying to make meaningful observations.
- Coffee freshness, which is many-fold: how long from roasting to opening the bag, how long from bag open to grinding, how was it stored after opening?
- Grinder calibration. Some grinders allow some sort of "zero-ing", many don't. What about burr wear and alignment?
- Humidity levels in your kitchen
- Temp and pressure of your espresso machine, often the built-in gauges on machines are off by 1 or more bar, and digital temp probes need to be calibrated if it wasn't done at the factory.
- Coffee is a natural, seasonal product. Beans harvested in April will differ from those harvested in August, and many blends will change out coffees based on availability and to try and maintain a particular flavor.
- Portafilter size? Regular vs IMS, VST, etc.

That said, I think where it is useful to see the relative differences someone else has observed. If you found that you generally had to grind finer and brew cooler for coffee B than for A, then I can using that as a starting point if I've dialed in either coffee A or B before.

I guess it's like buying shoes. I can read all the sizing guides and reviews from someone online ("these fit 1/2 size larger than my Adidas Sambas"), but at the end of the day, the only way I'll know for sure is when I can try the shoes on myself.

[cafeIKE]

I keep notes, but they are only useful as a very rough starting point. Over the years, the same blend may vary ±0.5g or grinder number or °C or bar. Sometimes grind goes finer, temperature & dose go down. Other times, the reverse. And that is with the same hardware. Change grinder or machine and all bets are off.

[martinlhoff (original poster)]

Exactly like shoe sizes - guidance to get quickly to the right ballpark. Nothing else.