Coffee grounds riding up basket walls - Page 2

January 10th, 2023, 11:02 am

Thanks everybody!
Yeah, tamping more times made a noticeable difference in making the shot taste more hollow and bitter. I just tried lowering the dose and tamping a bit more gingerly. Having less coffee in the basket helped with the flavour, but didn't stop the channeling from under-compacted coffee on the edges. I'll try Nunas' tape trick while I wait for a new tamper! Really appreciate everyone's input, even if this was quite obvious

#12: Post by **skink91** » January 10th, 2023, 11:06 am

I have started tamping with my fingers pressing down on the edges of the top of the tamper instead of the handle itself. This allows me to feel with my fingertips if the tamper is roughly level around the basket, as well as stops me from unnecessarily tamping too hard.

#13: Post by **mrgnomer** » January 10th, 2023, 9:19 pm

What does the grouphead channel and showerscreen look like when you get a puck that climbed up the walls? Is there a lot of grounds in the channel and on the screen?

If so pulling up the lever while the portafilter is locked might be sucking up the puck. Europiccolas can do that. If you are locking in try lifting the lever with the portafilter sitting in the channel but not locked in and locking in just as the lever hits the point where boiler water starts filling the grouphead.

January 11th, 2023, 3:57 pm

The shower screen is always clean after pulling a shot

I already pull the lever up to the point just before water comes out, then lock in the portafilter.

January 11th, 2023, 4:55 pm

I'll start using my fingers as well, thanks!

#16: Post by **mrgnomer** » January 11th, 2023, 6:59 pm

Other than overdosing causing a portafilter tamp and the grinds blooming up and around the shower screen I can't think of another reason why the grinds would climb up the sides of a basket during an extraction. I find it is important to seal the edges of a puck and perform a nutating tamp to help ensure that. Most tampers are slightly smaller than the basket leaving a gap around the outside.

January 15th, 2023, 6:17 am

So I got a new tamper, it's a Motta 49 mm tamper, my basket is a 49 mm IMS. This does the exact same thing, here is the tamper in the basket (with 13g of coffee) and my tamped coffee before pulling a shot:

Since the basket flares outwards slightly with height, I guess I could try dosing 10g of coffee or less, but that seems like a weird workaround and I've never heard of anyone having this issue.
Do you think a nutating tamp is all it would take to seal the edges?
It just seems to me like my gap is huge! Maybe it isn't though.

#18: Post by **mrgnomer** » January 15th, 2023, 7:48 am

It works for me

#19: Post by **iyayy** » January 15th, 2023, 10:39 am

my vst15 g i measured as 58.55mm.
i use 58.50mm tamper.
made life a lot easier.

i have no idea where 0.75mm, came from, but thats looks about the thickness u'd have in your pics.

January 16th, 2023, 3:13 am

iyayy wrote:my vst15 g i measured as 58.55mm.
i use 58.50mm tamper.
made life a lot easier.

Did you machine the tamper yourself?