It finally arrived! Monolith Flat + SSP burrs - Page 4

#31: Post by **JayBeck** » October 26th, 2018, 10:08 am

grog wrote:I pulled two shots this morning at 400 RPM. Flow rate was spot on but the extractions were still starting a little wonky - multiple streams that took a few seconds to coalesce, slight halo at very beginning. Dial down to 350, same coffees and grind setting, and back to perfect pours.

Either way the shots taste great. I haven't tinkered with grind setting, but so far my conclusion is that higher RPMs give you faster beans to basket, but with the trade off that you need to prep your basket meticulously. 350 and it's surprisingly noticeably slower - like a good 15 seconds slower - but basket prep is much more forgiving. It's rather surprising what a difference this small adjustment makes.

I have also found that if you push the pile of beans toward the back of the grinder, you have no issues with them feeding into the burrs nor sticking to the funnel due to RDT. Think of making a 45 degree angle with the beans, with the angle facing you and the high point the furthest away.

What is your work flow? I'm having perfect pours at 550 doing the following:

1. Weigh out beans, 18-20g, and do 2 squirts if RDT with the supplied bottle
2. Grind beans into a stainless steel catch cup (better work flow and helps reduce static)
3. Pour ground coffees into PF. I use a Decent Funnel instead of the supplied funnel as the Decent Funnel sits on the lip and prevents channeling
4. Use the WDT stir rod supplied with the machine to ensure even distribution and break up any clumps
5. Use WDT spin tool
5. Use LevTamp

Doing this leads to a perfect pour every time. Feels like cheating.

#32: Post by **grog** » October 26th, 2018, 11:27 am

Mine is identical except I grind into PF instead of catch cup. I do have the one that was 6 bucks on Amazon that others recommend so maybe I'll try that. Also one cannot discount that maybe my basket prep game just needs more refinement, even with all of the various tools. Also different baskets can make a difference, with all of the precision baskets out now. Some are designed to restrict flow more than others, etc.

In the end it's just splitting hairs. We're talking about the difference between nice and gorgeous pours, and they all taste great.

Just got my LevTamp yesterday. I have a sentimental attachment to my old tamper handle (it's made of one of my old skateboards) but damn is the LevTamp an impressive tool. I read in some thread that non-level tamps are still possible with it. Just to be obstinate, I've tried to accomplish an unlevel tamp and cannot do it.

#33: Post by **MonLon** » October 26th, 2018, 6:17 pm

grog wrote:I also turned my pressurestat down to .7, and really like the results. I'm working with a commercial lever and even at that low setting, there's plenty of steam for the occasional milk drink.

What was the reason for preferring a cooler shot with the Monolith?
What pressurestat setting were you using before?
And what's the difference in what you're getting in the cup?

#34: Post by **grog** » October 26th, 2018, 8:24 pm

Difference in the cup is immediately, noticeably increased clarity. More flavor separation and fruit notes really pop. I had wanted to lower brewing temp for a bit and just got motivated to finally do it. Maybe a better way for me to have phrased it would have been that the Monolith motivated me to do some overdue fine tuning on my espresso machine. Not that it's hard to turn a screw in a pStat but it ends up being fiddly as you figure out exactly what adjustment gets you to the sweet spot.

I went from .9 to .7. Loving it now.

October 27th, 2018, 6:20 pm

grog wrote: My only 'problem' now is that I want to keep pulling shots just to play with the grinder, and there are only so many I can drink each morning!

I get awesome shots with decaf with my MF. Maybe you need to test some parameters around decaf now. I just roasted one from Sweet Marias that is great.

https://www.sweetmarias.com/ethiopia-ka ... decaf.html

For those that home roast and want to try a Monolith with decaf.

October 28th, 2018, 12:06 am

Exactly what I've been on the look out for - a good East African decaf - knowing that I'm going to be doing a lot of shot-sampling during my MF+SSP breakin. I'm a little late to the game though, I don't have a very good roasting set up right now. I'll add that one to my next SM order.

#37: Post by **N6GQ** » October 28th, 2018, 12:10 am

JayBeck wrote:User Greg Gardner ('grog') asked me here: Monolith Conical TiN burr option vs stock to discuss more my comment on RPM as relates to SSP vs Mythos burrs on the Flat.

There are several threads on HB (many inside the Monolith Max thread) that talk about optimum grinding speed. The consensus was that the Monolith Flat's optimum grinding speed was 350-450 for the best grind distribution. Many use 350. Basically the lower the RPM the fewer the fines and the finer you can grind to achieve a desired flow rate. So you can grind at a '3' with 350RPM where that same '3' setting at 600 RPM would choke the machine due to the increased fines.

When I got my SSP Flat, one of the first things I did was turn the RPM down to 350RPM. I noted that Denis had it set to 550RPM. I had horrible first impressions. 1 minute+ grind times coupled with odd flow and issues grinding finer than a 2:1. So I emailed Denis and got some interesting information.

In taking Denis' advice, I increased my grind speed back to 550RPM. My grind times are back in-line (~20-30 seconds) and the espresso has been the best of my entire life. So I would recommend SSP Flat users follow Denis' advice and stick between 450-800 RPM, using 550 as the base line.

I *REALLY* appreciate this post - thank you. I've been thinking there might be a touch of difference in breaking in the SSPs as opposed to the MF standard burrs. Time to get some cheap beans to burn through. I noticed mine was set to 550 upon arrival too

October 29th, 2018, 1:27 am

I never did the burn through but I have been getting amazing grinds and shots. I don't think I would waste my time with the cheap bean burn though. I am not sure if that's even necessary.

#39: Post by **grog** » November 14th, 2018, 4:19 pm

gophish wrote:This is really interesting because basically the opposite of the approach I take, although with the same concept in mind. I find the IMS and especially the EPNW HQ baskets reduce flavor transparency and acidity in light roasts, so I tend to favor the VST to grind finer and increase extraction. But, by restricting flow, I suppose you're also trying to increase extraction... similar principles, but different results, at least for me.

I liked to use the IMS when I just can't get a coffee to taste good in a VST or when the VST routinely tastes underextracted, which is rare, and the EPNW HQ when using a more traditional/comfort roast to limit overextraction. I find these three baskets follow the same order for demands of grind quality, distribution, and prep/technique, where the VST is the most demanding and the EPNW HQ is the most forgiving.

Bringing this over from the MonoCon thread since I'm just derailing that thread with MonoFlat-specific thoughts.

I've tried gophish's suggestions as above and have really liked the results I'm getting with Kuma's Wuri Ethiopian. Previously I was dosing 18g in the EPNW HQ 14g basket and the past week or so, I've been using the same dose in a 20g VST basket. I have to say, having shots side by side (the advantages of a two group lever) from each basket, I clearly prefer the VST shot.

Tomorrow I'm going to try 16g in the EPNW basket vs 18g in the VST and see where that gets me.

November 14th, 2018, 11:44 pm

Very interesting. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts. I still like to dose 20-22g for each shot. I feel that plus PI brings out the most flavor in these lighter roast. That is just IMO of course.