Playing with a coarser grind to hit first drop in 2-3 second range...
And forget about keeping everything nice and clean... with one hand holding the camera, no way to insert the scoop to slide out the scale and cup when I hit the 24 grams output I wanted... so the old way of just letting it drip into the drip tray was the way to go...

Machine: Londinium R
Pre infusion set at 3 bar
Coffee: Vivace Dolce - 18 grams in / 24 grams out

I was trying to follow suggestion on how to pull a darker roasted bean... but I did not like it. Maybe my taste buds are ruined from the years drinking burnt espresso... but this was way too light. I was making it before at a much finer grind with first drip at around 10-11 seconds. That tasted better. Stronger, more body.... So I will stick to the previous way I was making it...

Honduras Laguneta Caturra from Saint Frank this morning. 20 grams in/41 grams out. 20 second E61 preinfusion followed by 30 second pull. This was pretty bitter, I think I need to drop the temp just a tad (pulled damn near 205F).

Been dialing in some Caffee Lusso Rescue Freedom Blend.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsY2Kxbv-1w][/youtube]

HotLava wrote:Been dialing in some Caffee Lusso Rescue Freedom Blend.

I added a bag of that one to my order... should be here Tuesday. How was it? From the video looks like it blonds quickly, but not sure if it was that or the lighting... How was the taste?

I have been doing the Vivace Dolce in 18 in /24 out with the grind finer and the pre-infusion back to 3 bar for 11-14 seconds and it has been delicious... to the point that I have not been adding any sugar (something I regularly do) and I can finally taste sweetness, chocolate, caramel, etc... but the second bag is down to the last few shots So is the Vita...they just need to last me until Tuesday... but I am going to miss the Dolce...

At first, the way I was making the Dolce (18 in / 34 out) I was liking the Vita more... Now I need to try the Vita in the same ratio and see if that is still the case... I have not touched the Vita since pulling the Dolce like this.

Last Dolce shot of the day



Stirred, not shaken.. creamy and delicious...

Caffe Lusso GMC for the first shot this morning in my new Inker Espresso cups. 20grams in, 42 grams out in 29 seconds. Probably should have cut the shot 5 grams earlier, a bit over extracted but still tasty!

Love the new cups!

I have not perfected it yet. The best shot was 18/34 in 33 seconds at 203. It definitely blonds early. It seems like it has a narrow window. I'm going to try to extend the time and shoot for like 18/32 in 30 sec. Caffee Lusso recommends the same parameters for all the espresso. So the range is a 1:7.7-1:2. I also want to try a 1:1.5. I pulled a few at 26-28 Second range and they were not as balanced. I think a few more seconds on water will get to more sugar on the extraction curve and balance it all out.

I did pull 2 really nice balanced shots. When pulled right you get nice bitter chocolate and sweet tangerine and cherry.

What temp are you pulling the Lusso at? It seems counter intuitive that they recommend such high temps for darker roast.

Just pulled a 1:1.5. It was intense salty bitter sweetness. Not bad but gone too fast. Later I'll try to hit 32 g in 30 seconds.

Atbat82 wrote:Caffe Lusso GMC for the first shot this morning in my new Inker Espresso cups.

Love the new cups!

I have these branded for Chris King. Been my favorites for a decade. Made in Croatia I believe. Did you get these from Canada? Isn't the mouthfeel great.

That said we just got some NotNeutral Lino's in Indigo to match our machine. They have a similar great mouthfeel.

In fact, I did get them from Canada. Only place I could find them other than eBay (where shipping was nuts). 6 cups and 4 cafelat microfiber towels and with the exchange rate it all came to less than $40USD including shipping.

I've got some NotNeutral Lino (The Intelligentsia Black Cat ones) and I like them, but not as much. I also just got some Nuova Point cups and I have some Ancap on the way. I'm on a quest for the perfect cup. And I'm going to end up with like 72 espresso cups because most come in sets of 6!

So far the Nouva Point and Inker are running neck and neck, but the Inker are a couple ml bigger so they have a slight edge. Plus they feel like they'll last forever!