Rocket Appartamento - help, heavy channeling

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
Umayr93
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Joined: 2 years ago

#1: Post by Umayr93 »

Hi all, new to the forum so just hoping for some advice. Just purchased this rocket Appartamento and I'm having issues with my flow.

Double basket, 17g of coffee, distributed and tamped with plenty of pressure. What's causing such heavy channeling?

OPV adjustment needed or something else?

Thanks very much

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HB
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#2: Post by HB »

Gushers are due to very stale coffee or way-y-y too coarse coffee. Preground coffee will also produce spectacular gushers (well, without a pressurize portafilter, which the Rocket doesn't have).

PS: Your video will be much better if you hold the camera sideways and a bit more steady. ;-)
Dan Kehn

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Umayr93 (original poster)
Posts: 2
Joined: 2 years ago

#3: Post by Umayr93 (original poster) »

Thank you for the quick response!

So I purchased this coffee this morning where they had ground the coffee for me, particularly for espresso and had ground it right then and there, so I'd be quite shocked if it were stale. Guess it could be the grain size potentially..

Plinyyounger
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#4: Post by Plinyyounger »

The grind looks way to coarse to me, way to coarse. Grind fine enough to choke the machine then work out from there. Then there are the other 100 variables, lol. Kidding. Grind way finer and make sure the puck prep is good and you will be golden. Good luck and have fun with it.
Family, coffee and fun.

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HB
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#5: Post by HB »

From the FAQ: Use preground coffee while saving for an espresso grinder? Answer: No.
Umayr93 wrote:So I purchased this coffee this morning where they had ground the coffee for me, particularly for espresso and had ground it right then and there, so I'd be quite shocked if it were stale.
Ground coffee stales in minutes, not hours. If I ground coffee precisely this morning and tried pulling an espresso 4 hours later, it would channel. You have to have a quality grinder. Full stop. To use a car analogy, you're putting wooden wagon wheels on a sports car and wondering why it won't corner.

You may want to check out the video series Newbie Introduction to Espresso; it covers a lot of topics that will help you get started on the right foot.
Dan Kehn

ojt
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#6: Post by ojt »

Just a quick addition since I see many confused about this "espresso grind". For the huge majority of people and businesses out there, when talking about home espresso, "espresso grind" really means something akin to moka pot grind.

Why? Because it is intended to go into a home espresso machine, which implies a pressurized basket, which Dan above mentioned.

My own experience with preground when I first got my machine - well knowing I'd need a grinder but you know the excitement - was that I needed to tell the shop to grind a few notches finer than they would usually. "Is that your espresso grind? Ok, I dare you to grind it 3 notches finer. Yes I'm sure." Then it would kind of work for the first shots if I ran home risking a speeding ticket and a few pedestrian casualties. The rest went into moka pot.

But yeah, read the stuff Dan posted. The TL;DR is: invest in the grinder. More than you would now feel comfortable. It'll pay off in the form of much better coffee and a happier, less frustrated you.
Osku