To answer one of the questions, as long as the shot was between 36 and 50 grams it tasted ok to great in a Latte. I have not developed a taste for straight espresso. Too me they all taste way to strong, bitter and sometimes sour. But mostly too strong. But blend it with some steamed milk..... that is what I like.

I got an email back from Baratza support asking me to call in. I have a couple times but had to leave messages.

So I decided to do some experimenting. I got some cheap coffee beans (trader joes french roast decaf). BTW the first thing I notice was how dark and glossy/ greasy these were compared to my Portland Roasting Company Tillakum decaf. I wanted to find the grind that would get me close to a 1:2 shot in the 25 seconds that my PID is set for. (just like the Rocky)

Here are the results.




Observations and Conclusions:

1. This coffee not only looks really different than my normal coffee but it behaves very differently. I was getting good results on the Portland Roasters coffee between 9-1 but with this coffee I had to go down to 1B!!!

2. I was using a simple tamp routine. Grind into basket with a funnel. Tap lightly 2 times on sides to keep coffee in basket, then tap vertically lightly 2 times, then put the tamper in and make sure level with just finger pressure. Rotate tamper a couple times.... done. In shot 13 I used m my old method with grain distribution more deliberate taps and a heave tamp effort. In this one time it looks like it shortened the shot by a few grams. So not a big deal

3. On effort 14, I threw in a grind back at 9E, and then for that shot pulled it back to 1B. I wanted to see if moving the setting changes what you used to get at the same setting. It did seem to change it by a couple grams.... not a big deal.

4. For my purposes, once I got it down to about a 40g shot it kept coming in within a few grams which is good enough for me.\

5. For this coffee I would need the shims that they offer. But I don't particularly like this coffee so I will be sticking with the Portland Roasters.

Next step is to try for repeatibility around 40g with the better coffee..... this afternoon.

congratulations to arriving at the espresso world one of the first lessons for everyone is that bean age actually does matter:). Those beans are old, thats why you have to go so fine on them.

Ahhhhh

I think I figured out what the probem was. I think my Burr's were seasoning ( I think that means the sharp edges were wearing off). Because with the first use of this grinder on my coffee I was getting settings of 7 and 9 with all the letter combinations to get a 1:2 shot in 25 sec. I ran a whole pound of coffee through the grinder,20g at time with cheap coffee (see previous post of mine) and I finally got a consistent repeatable shot size. I think that wore the burr's down. Because I got some more of my good coffee that wanted settings between 7 and 9 BUT now I get consistent 1:2 shots at 5G setting. And its pretty steady shot to shot where it was jumping around before. That 5G is pretty close to what Baratza suggests for a starting point. but that all depends on the coffee. Like the trader joes coffee wanted a 1B.

One bad news for me is that my wife Caff. coffee wants a 7D setting vs. my 5G. And she does not like to futz with any mechanical device. So I will not have to make sure that this setting is switch as we go back and forth.

So forget all my previous posts.... maybe I can delete them? Because right now this grinder is working well for us.

Talked with Baratza support. It took them 24hrs to get back to me but they are overloaded with questions right now. Here is what he said.

1. I told him that on my beans for my 1:2 shot I started grind settings in the 9's and now 2lbs of grinding later its 5E. Is that normal? He said yes that there definitely is a break in period and that amount of change may happen. BTW they should have this in their manual.

2. I was having the problems with the grinder jamming or stalling when I tried to grind a whole bowl. Turns out there is a thermal cutoff switch. His suggestion is to not grind more than 20 sec at a time and then give it a 50sec rest before grinding again. That will be fine for my coffee making.... but that should be in the manual as well. And if you are grinding for a really large coffee pot...... I guess you do it in 20 sec batches

3. I am still experiencing some drift on my grind where I have to modify the fine setting a letter or two. I asked if that was normal. He said that it is normal for the fine setting to be changed shot. Beans age, tamping varies, burrs wear. BTW I am at a 7D for my Caffine espresso and a 5I for my decaf espresso. The Trader Joes decaf french roast was a 1C!!! but I do that drink that stuff but was using it to season the burrs.

How many grams can you grind in 20 seconds for pour over? I would imagine at least 40 grams, but that still seems ridiculous.

i have not tried that but for espresso i grind for 10 sec for 20 grams but most of the grinding is done around 6 seconds. it is fast. so for espresso 20 seconds should get you 60 plus grams. a coarser grind would be faster than that so 70-80 g i would be guessing?

samerino92 wrote:One possibility could be that the burrs need to be seasoned a bit? I don't have my sette yet, but I have a couple pounds of old coffee ready for seasoning. (I'm not sure if a couple pounds would be enough, but I figure it's better than nothing.)

That's what I was going to post when I read yours. My Sette needed about 5 #s before I was getting true consistency with my Strega. Meaning no offense, the Silvia is most likely not nearly as easy to obtain the consistency you can get from a spring lever. YMMV

I also agree that the OP should use a scale for these tests, and stop the shot at a predetermined weight, say 35 grams, whatever. Then check the times.
One thing he mentioned was the color of his shots as they were pouring. That he went tan relatively quickly (at least compared to what I've experienced) lends me to believe there may be a slight issue with distribution. Granted, the Sette makes it easier...no WDT necessary with all but beans with some oil on them.
I usually have (had..no more Strega) a uniform darkish striped pour for the first 10 to 12 seconds, then a slightly lighter color for another 10 seconds, and finally the onset of blonding, but not till near 25 seconds.

uilleann wrote:
So forget all my previous posts.... maybe I can delete them? Because right now this grinder is working well for us.

No worries about your posts. That said, all the information Baratza imparted over the phone was clearly shown in the manual, and the copious amounts of YouTube "how to" videos.
I do not recommend using beans roasted to oil...not with the Sette. I'd also recommend you now watch the video showing how to lower the burr assembly and CLEAN your Sette, which is now contaminated with old stale, bitter oil.
BTW, no apologies necessary for loving a really good milk drink you made using your own skills!!! Most of us espresso lovers still enjoy a nice cappa or latte, especially in the morning. ENJOY!

IMAWriter wrote:................... Granted, the Sette makes it easier...no WDT necessary with all but beans with some oil on them.
I usually have (had..no more Strega) a uniform darkish striped pour for the first 10 to 12 seconds, then a slightly lighter color for another 10 seconds, and finally the onset of blonding, but not till near 25 seconds.

Could you expand on your experience with darker (2nd crack?) beans, the Sette and the need for WDT? Other jim mentioned he had some difficulty getting a good pour from extreme roasts.....However, for very light or very dark coffees, the Sette is only mediocre in taste....

I don't have a K30 to compare the specific darker coffee that I am playing with, but what I do notice is the flavors are impressive; more opened up compared to a 58mm flat, and, as an aside, there is some clogging/clinging in the plastic ring exit passage below the inner burr. I suspect the clinging to the exit is enhanced by the oils, but back to your flavor/pour experience...

Any comments?
Thx