Hi everyone,

I got myself a La Marzocco GS/3 Auto espresso machine an a Ceado E37S grinder for Christmas, and I it is way more of a machine than I thought it was and need help dialing in everything to pull consistent shots. I will take in any and all advice from people.

I picked up a BrewGlobal Brewista Smart Scale to help weigh everything, and have a bottomless portafilter with a double and triple basket. I am currently using Water Avenue Coffee - Brazil COCARIVE Natural Reserve, and have a bag of Stumptown - Hair Bender that was roasted a couple days ago as well.

So, what I do so far is that I am trying to get the somewhat default 18g dry / 30g liquid / 25 sec ratio that I keep seeing here. Now I am having hard time figuring how to nail that in :/ I don't understand why machine turns off at different times. I would have same grind and try to do same tamp, and with get different times from machine, once would be like 14 seconds and next would be like 38 sec.

I set my brewhead temp at 200.1 degrees right now, and played by lowering and raising temp by couple degrees also and quality did change by a lot just there alone. But going into settings I see prebrew options by the second, and not sure what best default to have it on right now.

Any advice is appreciated. I am located around PDX OR, so if anyone wants coffee, come by and help me tune this beast in otherwise I will take any tips people throw at me. Bear in mind, I only had the machine for 6 days so far, so learning new things everyday!

Thanks!

Welcome to H-B! Nice setup you got there. I'm new to espresso myself, so I can't offer much, but I can tell you what I've been doing to learn. The key for me was to get the grind dialed in first. Whatever grind setting you used to pull the 14 second shot, adjust the grind just slightly more fine and try again. Keep doing this, and tasting your shots. Once you find the shot you like, keep at that setting for awhile. I think its best to make one adjustment at a time, instead of changing grind setting/tamp pressure/brew temp all at the same time. This helped me learn what each adjustment did to the final shot.

I've read that grinders have a seasoning period and that the burrs may take time to adjust to each setting settle in at that level.

Also, search this forum for your grinder and espresso maker and I'm sure you'll find a lot of good information on how to set each machine initially.

tossik wrote: I don't understand why machine turns off at different times. I would have same grind and try to do same tamp, and with get different times from machine, once would be like 14 seconds and next would be like 38 sec.

You are pushing one of the pre-set buttons? (as below)



I would get the proper grinder setting by NOT using one of the volume-based presets, such as the leftmost four buttons in the photo (your button setup may be different), but instead using the non-preset brewing (the "circle" button in the photo)and using a scale to get your 30gr weight and a timer for the desired duration. Once you have the grinder setting lined up, read the manual about "setting" the dosage of the volumetric pre-sets.

Here is an additional resource: New La Marzocco GS/3 owner - help with preinfusion setup

I'm no expert but in the past I have seen different brew times for the same weight output even with same input weight and back to back shots (no change in grinder settings). The only variable left is tamping. Not sure if you are watching the shot from underneath (using a bottomless obviously) but I have seen different times based on channeling or not, which seems to go back to tamping. I have only ever had one spritzer, but often get spots with less or no coffee coming through. And when I have that, it greatly impacts time.

Not sure if that helps at all, or even makes sense. You will get it, it takes some time. You will burn through a lot of coffee, I still am!

Howdy,
I also just received my e37s in preparation for a Vesuvius and am wondering how to achieve the proper grind set-up. As said previously, the 25 second number is what I've used for years with my Expobar/Baratza Vario, but when reading about the Vesuvius I see all kinds of different shot times listed when adding up the different steps of the Vesuvius programs being used. Makes me wonder how I would get the grind correct if the times don't seem to stay the same.

Thanx!

If the brew cycle is turning off by itself, you're using the volumetric brew buttons, which are the four to the left.

Do not use the volumetric brew buttons. They're pretty-much useless in my experience -- not consistent enough. They also have to be programmed for the desired brew time (water flow.) If you're hitting different buttons and getting different shot times, it's because the buttons are programmed for different times. Just ignore them.

Use the manual brew button that's second from the right to start the brew cycle. When the beverage weight reaches the desired amount, hit the button again to turn off the brew cycle. Also use this button when running in free flow (no portafilter) to clean coffee particles from the screen.

30g of beverage from 18g of coffee will probably taste sour if you're using one of today's light specialty coffee roasts. You'll probably like the taste better if you shoot for 36g.

Now you can focus on the grind. Adjust the grind so you hit 36g in 25-35 seconds. If the cup is sour, grind finer. If the cup is bitter, grind coarser.

Now that you have a nice cup of espresso to drink, sit down and read every word in the GS/3 manuals. If you don't understand something, post your question here. Plenty of people to help.

Some links, i have learned a lot from that you might want to go through

The following article series:

https://baristahustle.com/espresso-reci ... zing-dose/

https://baristahustle.com/espresso-reci ... ing-yield/

https://baristahustle.com/espresso-recipes-time/

https://baristahustle.com/espresso-reci ... -together/

}

as well as:

https://baristahustle.com/coffee-extrac ... -taste-it/

https://baristahustle.com/8020-method/

https://baristahustle.com/the-espresso-compass/

Youve got some good advice here. Reducing variables is important. I've gone through multiple bags of a single batch of roasted coffee working on this initially. Yours is going to change from stumptown to the other blend as well so it will take a while. Hang in there and you'll get the hang of it. FWIW, I pull stumptown hair bender at about 20g on a naked PF in my R58 with ceado e5P - taste best on mine around 198F 20g dose with 35-40 g extraction weight. I had alot of channeling issues until I went to a cheap WDT (paperclip and cut-off yogurt container) = drastically improved extractions. Good luck!

tossik wrote:Hi everyone,

I got myself a La Marzocco GS/3 Auto espresso machine an a Ceado E37S grinder for Christmas, and I it is way more of a machine than I thought it was and need help dialing in everything to pull consistent shots. I will take in any and all advice from people.

I picked up a BrewGlobal Brewista Smart Scale to help weigh everything, and have a bottomless portafilter with a double and triple basket. I am currently using Water Avenue Coffee - Brazil COCARIVE Natural Reserve, and have a bag of Stumptown - Hair Bender that was roasted a couple days ago as well.

So, what I do so far is that I am trying to get the somewhat default 18g dry / 30g liquid / 25 sec ratio that I keep seeing here. Now I am having hard time figuring how to nail that in :/ I don't understand why machine turns off at different times. I would have same grind and try to do same tamp, and with get different times from machine, once would be like 14 seconds and next would be like 38 sec.

I set my brewhead temp at 200.1 degrees right now, and played by lowering and raising temp by couple degrees also and quality did change by a lot just there alone. But going into settings I see prebrew options by the second, and not sure what best default to have it on right now.

Any advice is appreciated. I am located around PDX OR, so if anyone wants coffee, come by and help me tune this beast in otherwise I will take any tips people throw at me. Bear in mind, I only had the machine for 6 days so far, so learning new things everyday!

Thanks!

Nice set up! Definitively lots of room to learn and grow your skills with this set up!
The problem with great set up is the number of variables you can play with.
Personally, I like to fix as much of variables as possible. I typically fix coffee type, temp, dry dose, and ratio (mat perger's article above - and yuotube video on finding the right reciepe is great) once you get to a place you like in terms of taste, start playing with other variables one at a time.

Enjoy!

If the grinder is brand new or have new burrs the results will probably be a little uneven at first. Also as mentioned, how good/evenly you distribute the grinds and how you tamp will change things. Try to do everything the same way every time. And consider getting a tamper like my Pullman with the TampSure rings, which stops on top of the basket to make the tamp level and with the same depth each time. Another variable under more control.