Radio.YYZ wrote:I was finally able to pull a shot and i have mixed feelings about the flavour. Either the process was not executed properly or its my beans that don't produce the best result. I ran a shot, no pre infusion, first drip was 18.9seconds and i watched for blonding and i stopped at 89sec mark. My HX machine was not able to maintain consistent temperature throughout the shot as i i dipped from 199.5 to 194.4.
the first few drops looked syrupy and looked very good but taste is not how you explained it.
Hey Radio.YYZ, from trying tons of beans to get where I am at with the ristretto results I have been consistently getting,
the emphasis should be placed on the beans themselves. I am sure that there are those that might say that they can make
the ristretto I have talked about with any coffee bean.
However, I have found that the wrong bean and everything falls flat in the taste department, and mouth feel of course.
After spending 100s of dollars searching for the right bean over many many years, the two below are the ones that work.
Our favorite of the two is the Filicori Delicato without a doubt, but the Masini is a close second.
In any case, they can be treated the same as far as dose and grind and the signs for when to stop, etc. are much the same.
So give these coffees a try when you can.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075Y ... LBZG&psc=1https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HR ... UTF8&psc=1That being said, the tamping technique looks really simple, but it isn't. The tamping is by feel, so it does take practice, but the
feedback is there: how long it takes for the first thick drop to the cup (20-30 seconds is the sweet spot), how long it takes to stop
(26-40 seconds), if there are some or no signs of a ghost drops, and, last but not least, is the coffee to your taste.
I don't like bitter much at all. This method with the two bean blends above yields sweet, complex, chocolaty, rich, deep flavor
with outstanding mouth feel, thick.
The following steps I take yield consistency in the taste and feel as above: 14g double basket at a very fine grind (see my earlier
descriptions for what I mean by "fine" ). Tamped (for at least a minute) with the technique that I described to start this thread
and in later elaborations. The usual temp on my machine is 200.
Below are some pictures I promised which show the bean color for darkness, if you roast your own or have some other dark or medium
dark roasted beans you like. Lighter roasts, even MedDark ones, which have no sheen, no surface oil, just a dry looking or light bean
do not work at all. Bad bad taste, and can not go the distance for the ristretto results.
Unfortunately the beans in the pictures are NOT Filicori Delicato or Essso Masini, it is the remaining bag that I had in the freezer that
I wanted to use up, the Kicking Horse Cliff Hanger blend. It is ever so slightly more oily or should I say shiny on the surface. In
comparison the Delicato is a duller sheen and so is the Masini. But the color of the Cliff Hanger is very much like those blends.
The pictures of the beans are from the request by Hp23 as he roasts his own. The other pictures are of the grinds in the portafilter
after tamping with the technique I shared here. I had described that the surface after tamping should look quite smooth with almost
no texture if the grind is fine enough.
I took several pictures of surface in different light and same for the beans, as the light can affect what you see. No kidding. Hope this helps.
BTW you can always come over sometime and have a ristretto (or two)
when you can.


