You comments please on my extraction video.

[shadow745]

Shadow745,

Agreed. Great response.

Unfortunately too many people cannot think for themselves and take things too literally. Every competent barista, professional or otherwise, that I know diagnoses and brews based on your described method. That being said, you and I both know that there are definite indicators and windows that all things will fall into. Above all, it's learning to diagnose by taste. Flow and texture will get you in the ball park. As I mentioned in an earlier post, people end up chasing numbers rather than chasing flavor. Numbers are a great way to communicate to each other to explain what you have done... but it's not how you get/got there in the first place.

I learned from a "traditional" Italian background. We learned how to pull single shots just as easily as a double and learned to tamp and dose by feel. The one thing that I am sure you find is that if you weigh what you dose/tamp you will find out you are incredibly consistent when you practice and learn the way you are. Without understanding from a practical standpoint HOW you got from point A to point B, the numbers are meaningless.

Yeah I agree and have said the same thing for some time... people chase numbers over flavor/texture, etc.

I do weigh my doses at home due to the complexity of my routine, but have never measured tamp. My average tamp is likely 10-15# max as I like to grind a bit more fine and tamp less. You can compress coarser ground coffee only so much. Surely you can relate to this... I have gone through the process so many times I can make grind/dose adjustments based on the feel of the tamp alone, just by how the grounds compress under pressure.

 

[shadow745]

Did another shot with the; portafilter spring valve removed, grind setting of 8, proper tamp, same triple variety of beans.

View attachment 7845

The color of the coffee itself is pretty good, but of course the crema is thin/pale. Main thing is taste... as long as it's good to you, then that's what counts. You would be surprised with how much different super fresh coffee would be.

 

[shadow745]

This is a typical double I extract from my unmodified Rancilio Silvia/Rocky. Around 18.8 grams of home roasted Altiplano Blend (Sweet Maria's) aged 6-7 days. Reddish brown, very thick/silky... Probably 2/3 of the volume is crema until it settles a bit and crema still clings to the demitasse all the way to the last sip.

 

[mawil1013]

I don't think it's freshness, the three beans are: Starbucks Sumatra Dark, Yukon Blend Medium and Ethiopia Medium.

 

[Musicphan]

I don't think it's freshness, the three beans are: Starbucks Sumatra Dark, Yukon Blend Medium and Ethiopia Medium.

Do you know when they were roasted? Espresso extraction is very sensitive to freshness of the beans. Grab yourself some fresh roasted beans from Counter Culture.

 

[shadow745]

Yeah fresh for espresso means the window of opportunity is to start using the coffee within days (4-5) post roast and using within 2 weeks or so. It is THAT critical I assure you. I won't even leave coffee in my grinder hopper overnight as even that bit of exposure to oxygen makes a difference. The result will be a bit more thin/flat to me. I brush/vacuum out the grinder after each session to ensure there is nothing left behind to stale and ruin the first double the next morning.

I understand your dilemma on sourcing/using coffee. You mentioned a Food Saver, which is how I once stored coffee. I bought fresh roast in 5# bulk, vacuum packed in wide mouth Mason pint jars, then put in our deep freezer. That works quite well and will work with the bags as well, but the key is to do this with FRESH coffee, as within 4-5 days from actually being roasted. If a roaster lists a use/sell by date on the bag it likely isn't fresh enough for espresso.

Good espresso/consistently starts with the coffee, then focusing on other variables like water temp, dose, etc. to dial it in.

 

[mawil1013]

Yeah fresh for espresso means the window of opportunity is to start using the coffee within days (4-5) post roast and using within 2 weeks or so. It is THAT critical I assure you. I won't even leave coffee in my grinder hopper overnight as even that bit of exposure to oxygen makes a difference. The result will be a bit more thin/flat to me. I brush/vacuum out the grinder after each session to ensure there is nothing left behind to stale and ruin the first double the next morning.

I understand your dilemma on sourcing/using coffee. You mentioned a Food Saver, which is how I once stored coffee. I bought fresh roast in 5# bulk, vacuum packed in wide mouth Mason pint jars, then put in our deep freezer. That works quite well and will work with the bags as well, but the key is to do this with FRESH coffee, as within 4-5 days from actually being roasted. If a roaster lists a use/sell by date on the bag it likely isn't fresh enough for espresso.

Good espresso/consistently starts with the coffee, then focusing on other variables like water temp, dose, etc. to dial it in.

U folks do remember that I use my shots for Latte? Doesn't that mean Crema doesn't add to taste once in steamed milk? Are we over playing Crema in this situation? OH! And doesn't medium roast by its nature reduce Crema?

 

[shadow745]

Yes I realize you're using the espresso in milk, but the fresher/better quality the base (espresso) the better the end result will be. Roast level doesn't affect crema much if any at all based on what I've tinkered with over the years. Fresh roast will produce buttloads of crema regardless... Supposedly there is quite a difference between arabica/robusta regarding crema. Never roasted or consumed robusta, so I personally can't confirm.

 

[mawil1013]

Do you know when they were roasted? Espresso extraction is very sensitive to freshness of the beans. Grab yourself some fresh roasted beans from Counter Culture.

I had them well past all references to what shelf life should be for great espresso, but I simply cannot afford to throw away expensive beans for perfection. Real life stuff here. One thing I won't be interested in is buying green beans and roasting at home, just have no interest in it. Going back to earlier post, I personally know native Italians very happy using a preground bag of Illy that is in a cupboard and loaded with sugar., which makes me wonder if in USA we are obsessing too much.

 

[shadow745]

I can respect that as I surely don't have lots of $ to throw at coffee. Bought my Silvia/Rocky barely used, but at a great price. Built my roaster... my entire setup cost me about $500 and paid for. Even though you're not interested in roasting thought I would add that all said/done my coffee costs me around $7/lb roasted once I buy greens, factor in shipping, weight loss, etc. Before home roasting I was paying a minimum of $12/lb for artisan roasted coffee and that is on the low end of price spectrum compared to some nationally recognized roasters.

Italians may have invented espresso, but it took finicky/determined Americans to perfect it. Typical Italian roast/espresso leaves a lot to be desired based on what I've tried over the years and read about via tons of threads/forums. I will admit I'm obsessed with espresso, but feel like I've earned that right based on my journey over the last 9-10 years. IMBHO if one must add sugar to espresso to make it palatable then they just aren't getting the process right.