Cafelat Robot User Experience - Page 334

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HokkaidoUni
Posts: 3
Joined: 3 years ago

#3331: Post by HokkaidoUni »

Hello! First time poster, have had robot a week. Love it so far. My question is around tamping a 10 g dose. I took the sette 270 down to 1A - the finest setting - and after tamping already achieve 30 ml in the cup (3x) after about 17 seconds of pull with a 7-8 s preinfusion at 2 bars.

I think the issue is that I cannot tamp fully - the tamper hits the sides as they slope towards the bottom of the basket

This gives me okay tasting shots but not the body or smaller volume

Do others have this experience?

Thanks! Glad to be part of the robot community! Love it so far and lot of decaf to burn through practicing so I don't have to ration my caffeine intake

Bluenoser
Posts: 1433
Joined: 6 years ago

#3332: Post by Bluenoser »

10g is a small dose for the Robot..

But you also need to install a shim in your Sette.. you should have gotten 3 with the grinder.. A shim will move the current 1 grind back to between 9 and 15, likely.

VoidedTea
Posts: 191
Joined: 3 years ago

#3333: Post by VoidedTea »

gilesw wrote:Does anyone have a recommended knock box for the robot? I'm considering getting the one cafelat make:-
Robot's pucks don't require knocking to release because the pucks are lifted up by the suction of the piston when Robot's arms are raised. The pucks remain lose in the basket and only need a flip to slide out. I found that knock boxes are generally very large for my space, and since the actual knocking is not required, I chose a smaller wooden bowl instead (see picture on Page 314). Works very well for me and I actually like the look of the pucks in the wooden bowl.

K7
Posts: 416
Joined: 4 years ago

#3334: Post by K7 »

HokkaidoUni wrote:Hello! First time poster, have had robot a week. Love it so far. My question is around tamping a 10 g dose. I took the sette 270 down to 1A - the finest setting - and after tamping already achieve 30 ml in the cup (3x) after about 17 seconds of pull with a 7-8 s preinfusion at 2 bars.

I think the issue is that I cannot tamp fully - the tamper hits the sides as they slope towards the bottom of the basket

This gives me okay tasting shots but not the body or smaller volume

Do others have this experience?

Thanks! Glad to be part of the robot community! Love it so far and lot of decaf to burn through practicing so I don't have to ration my caffeine intake
Yeah, I think 10g is too low for the default tamper and the dispersion screen. I love grinding fine and dosing low, but I found 14 - 14.5 g is as low as I could go for high density light roasts (could go a bit lower with low density darker coffee). Some reported 12g to be the limit in the past; I think it depends on the coffee, grind, and probably the exact curvature of the basket bottom which may vary a bit unit to unit.

Robot is not sensitive to tamping pressure but I do think it needs some tamping even if it's not much more than just the weight of the tamper. To work around, I thought of using an old 53.8mm tamper from my Breville days but haven't tried it yet -- very happy with my usual ~14g dose, knock on wood.

Dispersion screen not sitting flat on the puck results in cloudy water initially but may only be a minor cosmetic annoyance. I guess you do need to be careful not to press all the way down too hard to avoid damaging the screen. You can try the paper filter.

Jonk
Posts: 2176
Joined: 4 years ago

#3335: Post by Jonk »

HokkaidoUni wrote:I think the issue is that I cannot tamp fully - the tamper hits the sides as they slope towards the bottom of the basket
If you've got an Aeropress, you can use the plunger to tamp small doses. Also, I guess you'll have to calibrate the grinder but you could also get more resistance by skipping pre-infusion. I'd recommend to increase dose though, with most beans such a small dose will require excessively fine grounds in my experience.

VoidedTea wrote:Robot's pucks don't require knocking to release because the pucks are lifted up by the suction of the piston when Robot's arms are raised. The pucks remain lose in the basket and only need a flip to slide out.
This depends. Sometimes I need to knock it out, sometimes I don't. I do agree that you don't actually need a knockbox though - some just rinse the whole thing down the drain (not sure what plumbers think of that..) but a chopping board or something would also work fine.

One thing that is a bit unfortunate with the Robot is that the puck often breaks apart and leaves a fraction behind after flipping/knocking. I always end up washing the basket in the sink to get the last bits out.

ojaw
Posts: 288
Joined: 6 years ago

#3336: Post by ojaw »

I have the original screen, I find if I start the pour (regular kettle) hitting the rim of the basket the floaties are minimized. It's weirdly counterintuitive to me because it seems like the water would force the screen up, but my only issues occur when I try to hit the centre.
I found a pourover kettle more problematic.

thirdcrackfourthwave
Posts: 571
Joined: 5 years ago

#3337: Post by thirdcrackfourthwave »

gilesw wrote:Does anyone have a recommended knock box for the robot? I'm considering getting the one cafelat make:-

http://www.cafelat.com/knockboxes.html
I use an old salted caramel container. Before that I used a yogurt container. I'll probably go back to yogurt when the salted caramel thing fails.

HokkaidoUni
Posts: 3
Joined: 3 years ago

#3338: Post by HokkaidoUni »

K7 wrote:Robot is not sensitive to tamping pressure but I do think it needs some tamping even if it's not much more than just the weight of the tamper. To work around, I thought of using an old 53.8mm tamper from my Breville days but haven't tried it yet -- very happy with my usual ~14g dose, knock on wood.

Dispersion screen not sitting flat on the puck results in cloudy water initially but may only be a minor cosmetic annoyance. I guess you do need to be careful not to press all the way down too hard to avoid damaging the screen. You can try the paper filter.
Thanks to all for replies. I have only gotten through the first ~28 pages of this thread so apologies if asking repetitive questions.

How is the robot not sensitive to tamp pressure? I have had some very fast shots on the same grind size as much slower more appropriate shots so had thought lighter tamping was the reason. But this isn't the case? Any insight appreciated

Yes the shots are small. I am trying to enjoy more frequently without more caffeine! But maybe I will have to just move up to 14 g if it gives better shots.

When I use the paper only the paper starts to float up and leave the tamped coffee so I have been putting coffee then paper then screen and just making sure not to push out more than 20-30 g water

HokkaidoUni
Posts: 3
Joined: 3 years ago

#3339: Post by HokkaidoUni »

Bluenoser wrote:10g is a small dose for the Robot..

But you also need to install a shim in your Sette.. you should have gotten 3 with the grinder.. A shim will move the current 1 grind back to between 9 and 15, likely.
Interesting! I didn't know it needed the shims immediately! I will think about it. Maybe I will just move up to 14 g which seems to be about a 3C or something. Thanks!

Bluenoser
Posts: 1433
Joined: 6 years ago

#3340: Post by Bluenoser replying to HokkaidoUni »

Sounds like your Sette is relatively new.. but same happened with my 270 when new.. within about 2 months I had to install a shim.. 2 years later.. same shim.. You get 3.. Don't hesitate to use it if you are getting 3 or less on your macro dial.. as the shim will help you be more consistent.. It's normal for this grinder as the burrs initially wear in. They wouldn't be in the kit if you didn't need to install 'em. :)

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