(GPGT)Espresso machine hoot

[derazor]

their beans can ah?

Geisha Specialty Coffee - Bencoolen - Singapore | Yelp

 

[chikyblink]

their beans can ah?

Geisha Specialty Coffee - Bencoolen - Singapore | Yelp

Tmr I go try let you know

 

[chikyblink]

Just came back from Geisha. Run by a shanghai couple with 2 part time youngsters as helpers. Very small shop with coffee machines, roasters, grinders and beans all over the place. Tried their brewed coffee and espresso. The helpers take the orders and only the boss does the brewing himself.
A glass of ice water will be served with every order. I presumed its to cleanse your palate in order to fully enjoy their coffee.


Ethiopia Yirgacheffe $5

From the 1st sip, wow. Smooth, with floral notes and mild acidity. 1st time I taste floral notes in my coffee.

Next, I asked for a shot of espresso. $2.5 I think. Didn't took a pic coz once it came I wanted to finish it quickly with a few sips. B4 I drink any espresso I like to give it a stir to mix in the crema 1st but they didn't provide a stirrer. So I just give it a quick swirl. The 1st sip was ok. Most of the crema was still on top. Slight earthy flavour to it. Next few sips was disappointing. The espresso was too hot! Burnt taste and all. I almost had to blow on it lol. Finished it nonetheless.

As i got up getting ready to pay, the boss ask me how's the espresso. I said ok only, the 1st one was nicer. Den i ask what beans he's selling. He took out a ziplock bag of beans let me smell, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe beans he said. The 1st drink that I had. $21 for abt 270gm(I think I heard 270gm but my home scale only shows 240gm). Your mandarin must be good while conversing with him, his china accent quite strong so sometimes I didn't catch what is he saying. Then he says he's got some really good beans that have to be pre-ordered and roast on-demand. Shows me a bag of raw beans from St Helena. I think he said $100+ for 250gm not too sure.
I bought a bag of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe and paid $26 altogether. The espresso I had was FOC he said.

 

[derazor]

pls pls bear with me, I'm a newbie.

haha.. i too ask my col to purchase since he went there.

comments on my pull?

coffee start to come out at 3s
total pull time is about 25s

for my silvia, it's the first time pulling from a properly grinded coffee.
the taste is slight bitter and no sour as compared to those that I pulled using my manual hario.

Is this much better and conform to minimal spec? If OK, I'd proceed to get my doserless mc4 liao.

Appreciate feedback from pros here.

 

[chikyblink]

pls pls bear with me, I'm a newbie.

haha.. i too ask my col to purchase since he went there.

comments on my pull?

coffee start to come out at 3s
total pull time is about 25s


for my silvia, it's the first time pulling from a properly grinded coffee.
the taste is slight bitter and no sour as compared to those that I pulled using my manual hario.

Is this much better and conform to minimal spec? If OK, I'd proceed to get my doserless mc4 liao.

Appreciate feedback from pros here.

What grinder are you using now?

If not ok den how? don't buy grinder already?

tbh, all your shots looked very watery to me. and there are signs of channeling as well. check on your dosing and leveling technique.
for reference, this is a good shot

 

[derazor]

What grinder are you using now?

If not ok den how? don't buy grinder already?

tbh, all your shots looked very watery to me. and there are signs of channeling as well. check on your dosing and leveling technique.
for reference, this is a good shot

Grinded by Geisha cafe lor...

I think they should know how fine that they grind.

**I checked the video that you posted, I think I might not put enough coffee**
Maybe I should put more? The video even knock once and put more coffee.

I dose levelled to the portafilter. So should I add more?

what do you mean by channelling?

OK..so you mean technique or hardware issue?

 

[chikyblink]

Grinded by Geisha cafe lor...

I think they should know how fine that they grind.

*facepalm

well 1st of all stop trying for now.
2nd, never buy pre-ground coffee.
3rd, get a proper grinder asap.

you're trying very hard to do things when you don't have proper equipment. how are we suppose to help?

things you need:

grinder
weighing scale
a proper tamper if you don't already have 1

 

[chikyblink]

**I checked the video that you posted, I think I might not put enough coffee**
Maybe I should put more? The video even knock once and put more coffee.

I dose levelled to the portafilter. So should I add more?

your problem isn't the amount of coffee used.
your problem is are you using the same amount of coffee every time.

I so wanted to tell you stick to a certain amount say 16gm for now but you don't have a scale.
I also wanted to tell you grind a little finer but you don't have a proper grinder.

Its useless if you can't replicate the last good shot you've made.

what do you mean by channelling?

OK..so you mean technique or hardware issue?

start watching at 5.50min

That's channeling. Its nasty. Basically flaws in your dosing and distribution techniques. Not so much on tamping.
Water under pressure will find holes in the puck to escape. That's why your coffee must be evenly packed together. If there are holes/cracks, water will surely escape from there.
Also after you've tamped, GENTLY lock your portafilter into the grouphead. I say gently because any hard knocks may crack the nice puck you've just painstakingly made.

report back when you've got your grinder.

 

[derazor]

Ordered Macap MC4 doserless & weighing machine from AMZ..

Back to my aeropress...

 

[chikyblink]

My bottomless portafilter and 18gm VST basket arrived liao!


Dunno why i bought the 18gm one since i usually dose 16gm. Oh well, I'll try adjusting my grind a little coarser and use 17-18gm see how it goes.



Each basket comes with their own test result. Reminds me of my LCD2.


Holes comparison. On the left is a 21gm triple basket and on the right is the 18gm VST. The triple basket holes are kinda like straight through and spaced further apart but the VST's are like honeycombs!


My Rancilio bottomless portafilter. Time to perfect my techniques. Let the fun begins.

 

[derazor]

My bottomless portafilter and 18gm VST basket arrived liao!


Dunno why i bought the 18gm one since i usually dose 16gm. Oh well, I'll try adjusting my grind a little coarser and use 17-18gm see how it goes.



Each basket comes with their own test result. Reminds me of my LCD2.


Holes comparison. On the left is a 21gm triple basket and on the right is the 18gm VST. The triple basket holes are kinda like straight through and spaced further apart but the VST's are like honeycombs!


My Rancilio bottomless portafilter. Time to perfect my techniques. Let the fun begins.

if i know you order, i can tag along your shipping. how much is the shipping?

 

[chikyblink]

if i know you order, i can tag along your shipping. how much is the shipping?

For the VST is abt $20usd. From VST itself.
For the bottomless portafilter is abt $28usd. From spagsespresso.com.
That's for shipping only. The prices you can go the websites check.

 

[chikyblink]

interesting videos.

La Spaziale made a transparent portafilter and shows us what happens when water hits the puck.


Wrong extraction

correct extraction

 

[chikyblink]

Some updates on bean storage:

So I've been taking calbay's advice and putting my beans in the hopper. I only put enough beans in the hopper to last me a few days b4 needing to top up. I also bought a couple of small glass jars and split my 250gm bag of beans between the 2 jars and the hopper. Of course the jars are protected from the sun by covering them in a piece of cloth. I also covered my hopper with a cloth.



Every 1st shot in the morning, I purge out abt 10gm and do my usual shot. But the 1st shots of the day are always nasty tasting. Basically sink shots. 2nd and 3rd shots are wonderful though. Maybe I should purge more?

Also I didn't bother to clear out the grind chute anymore and leave it clogged. The reason I leave it clogged is to prevent air from entering the chute and ruin my beans in the hopper. Sometimes I didn't pull shots for 1 or 2 days due to late nights(couldn't wake up in time). By the 3rd day when I pulled a shot(after the 1st sink shot) from using the same beans in the hopper, I didn't notice any staleness. The shot still look and taste fresh, full of crema. Maybe I should try leaving the beans in there for a week next.

One problem I noticed, whenever the hopper is running low on beans(last 20gm or so), my shot run fast. I get 40+gm in abt 25sec instead of the usual 30gm. This happens every time the hopper is low on beans. Looks like there's a difference in grind size between a loaded hopper and a near empty hopper.

 

[chikyblink]

Eric's thermometer for E61.

Because 1 degree in the coffee world is a lot of degrees.

 

[chikyblink]

The HG One. Single dose with 83mm conical burrs and ZERO GRIND RETENTION.
which commercial grinder uses 83mm conical? Mazzer's flagship Robur 220v which costs abt $3.7k locally. The 110v version uses 71mm. The Robur is infamous for its grind retention with reports of up to 20gm retained.

The HG One in action.

 

[samsunggs2]

Hi bro... i have coffee beans given by a friend, where can i get it grind?

or is there a low cost machine that does that?

 

[samsunggs2]

these methods can or not?

How to Grind Coffee Beans Without a Grinder: 6 Steps

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

Bro can I ask where did u buy Eric's thermometer? I've been interested to try it out.

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

these methods can or How to Grind Coffee Beans Without a Grinder: 6 Steps[/url]

U can try to use a hand grinder. Hario or Porlex should be ok.