Extraction Too Fast - Grounds Too Coarse?

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
Soundbear12
Posts: 3
Joined: 2 years ago

#1: Post by Soundbear12 »

Hi all,

I just got a used Vario grinder and Gaggia Classic Pro with a 9 bar spring and am having a ton of trouble getting extractions to last more than 12 seconds for an 18g dose. It came with a bottomless portafilter and the nanotech 18g basket. I'm new to espresso, but have calibrated the Vario to the 2Q recommended touch point and still at 1M it runs through in ~13 seconds. While there's some spray here and there, it seems mostly even across the basket, just extremely fast. It also blondes very quickly.

My initial thoughts were channeling since I had a poorly fitting tamper, but after getting a Rhinoware tamper the quick extraction is still happening. I evenly distribute the grounds by doing the side tapping method and feel as though I'm accurate in evaluating it as level and distributed enough to not cause the extremely quick extraction.

So my primary thought is the grounds are still too coarse. Are there any other variables I'm not thinking of?

Thanks!

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TomC
Team HB
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#2: Post by TomC »

Welcome to HB Addison!

How fresh is your coffee? And yes, grind finer.
Join us and support Artisan Roasting Software=https://artisan-scope.org/donate/

Soundbear12 (original poster)
Posts: 3
Joined: 2 years ago

#3: Post by Soundbear12 (original poster) »

Hi Tom, roast date 12/16 and I've kept it in the bag with the top folded over since then. I don't quite have a measuring stick for what fresh is in this case, so I might need some guidance if you think that could be the issue.

I'll keep trying finer!

Soundbear12 (original poster)
Posts: 3
Joined: 2 years ago

#4: Post by Soundbear12 (original poster) »

Also something big and obvious I forgot to mention: the seller took out the adjustment screw (???) and I think I might have lost it in the box. I'm getting another sent by Baratza, but am curious if it's even possible to grind finer in the meantime. The touch point is still reliably 2Q, just as additional data.

Goldfinger
Posts: 8
Joined: 2 years ago

#5: Post by Goldfinger »

Hi Soundbear12, I'm going to grace your thread with my very first post here. Are you ready? :D
I had a similar problem as you when I started on this journey, a mere few months ago. It was frustrating, to say the least, as I thought that everything I was doing was correct and yet the results were so utterly underwhealming. Eventually, I was able to isolate two specific factors that were having significant negative effect on the quality of my shots.
1) The burrs in my Eureka grinder were two years old (I had only ever used this grinder for my old moka pot). Replacing them with a pair of new ones resulted in an immediate shift in flavour from the sour to sweet (i.e more balanced) while the extraction time went straight up. Unlike before, the dial on my grinder was now further away from zero while the overall grind was in fact finer than before, thereby resulting in longer extraction and delayed blonding. The new burrs also did away with that awful muddy appearance of my coffee that often accompany sour shots.
2) The generic baskets that came with my espresso machine didn't at first strike me as possible culprits. On the contrary, I thought they couldn't possibly make any discernable difference because..., well, they were just there to hold the coffee and filter out the liquid. Wrong. I replaced them (single and double) with their La Marzocco Strada equivalents (7g and 17g) and that humble change resulted in totally different looking and tasting coffee. Darker and thicker crema is the first thing you'll notice when you go from a generic basket to a precission one.

So there you go, my two cents. Good luck!

Nunas
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#6: Post by Nunas »

In cases such as yours, it's nearly always the grinder not grinding fine enough. Even with all but the stalest coffee, your grinder should be able to grind fine enough to choke the machine (i.e., no coffee comes out at full pressure, or only tiny drops). That missing screw could be the culprit. Baratza has a good track record for support, so you'll probably have the missing part soon. Please let us know how it turns out. Sorry, but I don't know what you might do until you get the missing screw.

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yakster
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#7: Post by yakster »

You're getting to burr touch, how do those used burrs look? Might need to replace them or get the grinder serviced.
-Chris

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