Hello all,

We've been making espresso with our first machine for about a year now. Usually I make one cup for myself using a dual-spouted portafilter and 15g of coffee. When I make a drink for my partner, or guests, I rinse and dry the portafilter, flush and wipe the dispersion screen, and then start from scratch. I will steam milk for multiple drinks in a larger pitcher and save some time/labor there.

My questions are as follows:

First, if I wanted to make two drinks simultaneously (actually making use of those dual-spouts), I would be limited by basket size. The largest I've seen for an E61 group head is about 22 grams which would only allow for two 11 gram drinks, give or take. Since we prefer 15g in, I guess I'm just restricted to making the drinks separately? Any thoughts, tips, or suggestions on this?

Second, if I am making multiple drinks separately, is it necessary to rinse and dry the portafilter, flush and wipe the dispersion screen between each drink? If any of these steps can be skipped, which ones are essential? Again, tips, thoughts, etc welcome.

Thanks in advance for your feedback and help!

tn wrote:The largest I've seen for an E61 group head is about 22 grams which would only allow for two 11 gram drinks, give or take.

For starters, assuming a 2:1 ratio, you should be able to get 44gms of espresso from 22gm. That would be two 22gm shots. So all you would need is 15gm dose, no?

Second, the choice of dose should be limited by the basket diameter and coffee. I have a 58mm PF but would never go for a 22gm basket and load it with my light roasted Colombian. The flavor would be harsh. Some coffees allow a wider range of doses than others. Your coffee may result in good balanced flavor with different baskets and dose, but there will be a taste difference.

If you get a bottomless filter there are double and triple baskets that could allow greater volume of espresso per extraction. I believe that the triple is too large to fit in a PF with a bottom. Should then be able pull enough espresso and then steam milk for three nice caps.

EddyQ wrote:For starters, assuming a 2:1 ratio, you should be able to get 44gms of espresso from 22gm. That would be two 22gm shots. So all you would need is 15gm dose, no?

Like I said, for a single cup we're putting 15g in. But we prefer a 2.5:1 ratio so our ideal yield is ~37g. For two cups at 30g in, that's a 75g yield (37.5 each) - a fair bit more than 44g (22 each).

Randy G. wrote:If you get a bottomless filter there are double and triple baskets that could allow greater volume of espresso per extraction. I believe that the triple is too large to fit in a PF with a bottom. Should then be able pull enough espresso and then steam milk for three nice caps.

Yeah, I considered this... But then everything goes into one cup/glass. Do you just pour off about half into a second cup? No worries about even distribution of crema?

I plan to get a naked portafilter, but ideally I'll use that for single drinks. Would like to use the dual-spout for two drinks, but maybe that's just not feasible with a 15g per drink dose.

I can of course do what I'm doing now - prepare them separately. But I'm still curious on feedback regarding what should be rinsed/cleaned/wiped (and what doesn't really matter two much) between drinks.

I knock the puck, wipe the basket briefly with a towel and continue with my next shot. I don't touch the group or shower screen with hopes to preserve its temperature for the next shot. Any residual coffee from the previous shot is insignificant to the issues I would have if I flushed through my group any hot water.

tn wrote:Yeah, I considered this... But then everything goes into one cup/glass. Do you just pour off about half into a second cup? No worries about even distribution of crema?

I plan to get a naked portafilter, but ideally I'll use that for single drinks. Would like to use the dual-spout for two drinks, but maybe that's just not feasible with a 15g per drink dose.

I can of course do what I'm doing now - prepare them separately. But I'm still curious on feedback regarding what should be rinsed/cleaned/wiped (and what doesn't really matter two much) between drinks.

I would make them all separate and improve the workflow. purge/rise as one step, wipe PF, dose as best as possible directly into the PF to speed it up, puck prep (or whatever pre-tamp stuff you do), tamp, load the PF and start shot and do the milk while the shot is going. I wouldn't worry about wiping down the dispersion screen between drinks or just a really quick wipe unless it gets really messy, leave that for your final cleanup. if you know your machine well and can do these routines quickly without thinking about it you should be able to get a drink in about a min. The first and the last one is going to be a bit longer with warmup/clean up. You will have to practice your routine and establish an order that works best

You also you might want to relocate your grinder if it's an awkard spot. If you have two PF this might save you time (especially if you have an assistant). I would do all milk prep at the side of the steamer and all grind prep at the opposite side so put your grinder at the opposite side of the steaming wand. Also, keep a cloth for wiping down the steam wand separate from another cloth for wiping down the PF. Since these are all back to back the milk jug doesn't need to be wiped down but if fast output is important to you and you want to rinse you might want to consider installing a rinser.

Milk also corrects a lot of problems so I would be less concerned if the shot is a little sour as you're not going to tell that in a milk drink. if you're doing an espresso then you'll have to put more time in the espresso but otherwise, I wouldn't worry about the fine details of the espresso. if doing larger amounts of milk you want to evenly distribute the milk. do the milk in a larger container, pour 2/3 of it out in a smaller container then pour 1/2 of the smaller amount back into the larger container. this keeps the foam more evenly distributed between the milk jugs

DamianWarS

Thank you so much. This is such an excellent post.

I do a lot of these things you describe already. But reading it has inspired me to revisit my process and think it all through with a more critical eye. Much appreciated!