Difficulty Dialing in Espresso - Page 2

#11: Post by ***sigh*** » July 31st, 2018, 5:39 pm

So your grinder is going to be a limiting factor, especially if the small change you can make yielded that large of a difference.

Your dosing is all over the place, do you know what size basket you actually have?

Two things you could try, keep it at the finer grind setting and let the shot run longer, don't worry about the time just try and get closer to 30-35g out and see how it is.

Or, go back to the more coarse setting and updose a little more. It's normally a method to get over having stale coffee, but it is one way to slow down the shot.

Don't worry about the crema, if its a light roast the crema can be all over the place, only concern yourself with the flavor.

July 31st, 2018, 6:14 pm

I'm using the double basket that came with the machine I believe it is an 18g basket.

I just tried 19g under setting #5 again, and I was able to get around 32g in 30s. very different from my first attempt. I'm wondering how come. Even still, I'm concerned that this will be overwhelmed by the milk once I add it.

July 31st, 2018, 6:36 pm

It could be tamping pressure that caused the difference. Or your originally shots were channeling and this one didn't.

One thing to keep in mind is not all coffees are going to hold up super well in milk. A lot of light roasts are really better enjoyed on their own and really get dominated by adding milk to them. I would get the coffee to where it tastes good straight and then maybe look for a coffee better suited for milk for your next go around.

July 31st, 2018, 6:53 pm

Hey, thank you for helping me with this. I got coffeed out after 5 consecutive shots of espresso, but I'll try the #5 setting again tomorrow and will see how it holds on milk. The coffee shop near me uses this exact bean, and they produce one of the best lattes I've tried so far, so I would love to be able to pull this off, but we'll see.

I'm thinking it might be wise of me to find a beginner friendly bean. I'm thinking about trying Red Bird Coffee. Especially given the price (since I'll likely keep on screwing up for now). What are your thoughts on this?

#15: Post by **Blacktip** » July 31st, 2018, 7:25 pm

Many specialty coffee shops use acidic coffee to standup to milk drinks, and it usually has thin crema. I suspect the coffee you are using is lightly roasted.

My advice is to try something different - something between medium to dark roast. It is easier for beginner to pull darker roast than lighter ones.

I recommend to start with Italian roast like Kimbo Superior or Fillicori. WLL sells a 1kg bag for around $20. Very forgiven with a lot of crema, full bodied, and rich chocolaty flavors . Plenty of coffee to practice without wasting money on specialty coffees. For Italian roast I use 14g and 1:2 ratio for espresso, and 18g and 1:1.5 ratio for milk drinks. It is delicious either way with plenty of crema. Always in my rotation.

#16: Post by **Okccraft** » July 31st, 2018, 9:21 pm

I've been struggling with lighter roasted blends and SOE for the past several months since I upped my game with a second hand E61 machine and a Sette. Trying to replicated the flavors my local shop was getting was difficult to say the least. Last week I had better luck with George Howell Alchemy blend. Light and fruity to my taste, but much easier to work with.

#17: Post by **Okccraft** » July 31st, 2018, 9:25 pm

I primarily drink cappuccinos btw.

#18: Post by **ojt** » August 1st, 2018, 4:23 am

One more thing that came to my mind (and I read a bit around the forum): have you played with pre-infusion at all? You only said you "pull the shot" but as I understand, the E61 HX machines should have a pre-infusion mode that you can activate with the lever by stopping it just before it starts the pump.

I think once you get your grind, distribution and tamp in control, you should try the pre-infusion, unless of course you are already doing it.

Too bad I cannot be of more help as I have a manual lever machine myself, so these things are almost obligatory for me. Or at least much more of a natural part of the process.

And as said before, yes, do get an easier bean for starting out

I myself have been fighting with this light roasted Indian SO here for a month, and magically today I pulled a great shot with it.. Probably it is mostly due to my sub-par grinder I've had these issues.

August 1st, 2018, 8:03 am

Hey everyone, thank you so much for helping me out through this process. I did the 19g in 38g out in 30sec today. Tasted pretty good pre-milk, and though I was able to taste it some with milk, it was still a bit overpowered. I'm going to try to updose it next. 20-40 in however long it takes (same grind). If that is still too weak, I'm going to try the finer setting and just let it run until I hit the proper weight. (probably around 40-45sec)

Just for some image comparisons, here is what the espresso I'm pulling looks like:

Here is what it looked like in the shop:

And just for fun, here is what my latte looked like this morning:

Once again, thank you for everything... still trying to dial in the shot but almost there - thanks to you all!

#20: Post by **ojt** » August 1st, 2018, 8:35 am

Good to know you are getting results

Now just tune one parameter at the time and you'll get there.