# Shot diary



## Django

As an extension of a previous thread, I thought I'd post my daily shots here and ask for advice. I've recently had delivery of a Porlex hand grinder and am trying to select the correct grind setting, and also work on my tamp. A year with a crap grinder has conditioned me to tamp with 150lbs of pressure!

This is the first shot of today. I've gone to a finer grind than used yesterday and am trying to lighten up on my tamp. I don't have any bathroom scales to calibrate my tamp pressure, sadly.






What do you guys reckon?

I'm looking out for a glass shot vessel too, so we can see the shot in full.

Peace


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## Django

I tamped lighter for this one so suspect the grind is a tad coarse. Also, the tails went a bit funny towards the end. Any ideas why? Sorry about the video cutting short, my phone rand which cut off the recording.


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## chimpsinties

These are great http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rattleware-Logo-Glass-Shot-Pitcher/dp/B001GZYTIW


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## MikeHag

It's certainly much better







How does it taste?

It took 8 seconds for the first flow to appear. I prefer something a little shorter than that... 5 secs max... so maybe you are still tamping a little too hard.

I would be good to know how much volume you are getting, or alternatively how much the shot weighs, as this helps with adjusting your technique to hit a specific target extraction .. e.g with knowing whether you need to grind finer/coarser etc.

As you can see, the left spout is struggling and that is very possibly a sign that the distribution of the grinds in the basket could be improved. When you tamped you probably left the basket with more grinds on the left side than the right. Try lifting it up to eye level, with the tamper still in it, and checking if it is level from both the front and the side.

The flow goes yellow at the end and wobbles because the brew water is now flowing through an area of the puck that has had all the good stuff extracted already. Better distribution would help with that.

Look up Weiss Distribution Technique... stirring with a paperclip to distribute the grinds evenly. It does help a lot. In time you won't use it, but for now you should.

Here's a vid I did to show what 30lb of pressure looks like.

Keep going


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## chimpsinties

That's a really interesting video Cheers Mike. I am guilty of tamping too hard sometimes, I know I am.


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## Django

Cheers chimpy! I will get one of those when I can afford it. The mug I'm using now is 60ml, I measured, which is helpful.

Thanks a lot, Mike. That's a really helpful post. I'll try all those tips in tomorrow's coffees and post them up. As for taste...the first one was a bit bitter, the second a fair bit better. The one in next video even better than that. Ichanged to two clicks on the Porlex for that one.

Here is a video of my last shot of the day. Getting better!


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## fatboyslim

MikeHag said:


> It's certainly much better
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How does it taste?
> 
> It took 8 seconds for the first flow to appear. I prefer something a little shorter than that... 5 secs max... so maybe you are still tamping a little too hard.
> 
> I would be good to know how much volume you are getting, or alternatively how much the shot weighs, as this helps with adjusting your technique to hit a specific target extraction .. e.g with knowing whether you need to grind finer/coarser etc.
> 
> As you can see, the left spout is struggling and that is very possibly a sign that the distribution of the grinds in the basket could be improved. When you tamped you probably left the basket with more grinds on the left side than the right. Try lifting it up to eye level, with the tamper still in it, and checking if it is level from both the front and the side.
> 
> The flow goes yellow at the end and wobbles because the brew water is now flowing through an area of the puck that has had all the good stuff extracted already. Better distribution would help with that.
> 
> Look up Weiss Distribution Technique... stirring with a paperclip to distribute the grinds evenly. It does help a lot. In time you won't use it, but for now you should.
> 
> Here's a vid I did to show what 30lb of pressure looks like.
> 
> Keep going


Holy crap Mike your pump sounds rattley. Nice pour though. I always thought Schomer suggests elbow in the air press down to ensure more level tamping but thats just what I read into it.


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## MikeHag

Yeah, old video. It has been tied up now. Was rattling against the frame.

The elbow up isn't to do with a level tamp. It was to do with avoiding RSI in pro baristas making lots of shots per day. Nothing wrong with it, and probably a good idea. I was just making the point about amount of force


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## MikeHag

Django, that's a big shot. Try doing two-thirds of that volume in around 25 seconds, if your porlex will allow it.


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## Django

Great video, Mike. Cheers for that. I did once work in a restaurant and pulled tons of espresso shots, and, thinking back, don't remember putting much effort into tamping. And we had a guy train us to make coffee. I wasn't so interested back then though.

I thought a double espresso should be 2oz (60ml)?

Will try some timed shots tomorrow and record for the diary. Can't wait to get a glass vessel. I think the porlex should be up to grinding fine enough. I've seen plenty of reports of this online, anyway. Would love to get me a Mazzer though!


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## MikeHag

Looks like that is bigger than 2oz but perhaps just a camera thing


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## chimpsinties

Django said:


> Cheers chimpy! I will get one of those when I can afford it. The mug I'm using now is 60ml, I measured, which is helpful.
> 
> Thanks a lot, Mike. That's a really helpful post. I'll try all those tips in tomorrow's coffees and post them up. As for taste...the first one was a bit bitter, the second a fair bit better. The one in next video even better than that. Ichanged to two clicks on the Porlex for that one.
> 
> Here is a video of my last shot of the day. Getting better!


That one looks nice.

I know what Mike's saying about it looking like quite a lot though. My espresso cups end up about 2/3 full when I have 2floz or 60ml but that's not to say our cups are the same size.

I really like my little jug especially because it's 3floz you don't have to worry about over flowing







It's only £6, go on, splash out. Just have 2 less pints this weekend


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## xiuxiuejar

I think we are all guilty of tamping too hard - I know it sounds silly but I think it comes from laziness. When I first open our beans, I dial in and tamp more or less correctly but as the coffee dries out after a week or 10 days, instead of grinding finer, I start tamping harder. It is just laziness - shame on me!


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## Earlepap

chimpsinties said:


> It's only £6, go on, splash out. Just have 2 less pints this weekend


That's how I rationalise any spending - "hmmmm, £8 for a bag of beans? well I'd spend that in a pub in an hour so it's fine"


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## chimpsinties

Today I took the bathroom scales down to the kitchen just out of interest to see what 30lbs felt like and it turns out I wasn't far off actually.

Sometimes you see people on YouTube like Gail and she seems to hardly press it down at all. 30lbs is still quite a press, it's just not an "all your body weight behind it" kind of press







Interesting little experiment anyway.

Got a beautiful 1.5floz out in 30 secs. Probably would have preferred a bit more but decided to stop it at 30 secs. Probably ground it a bit fine.


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## Django

I would love to but I really am quite poor right now. Surviving without a full time job before I begin my second degree in September. Boo hoo etc etc. My spending on beans already prohibits much weekend extravagance! It's definitely a 2oz vessel as I poured 60ml of water into it and it fit perfectly. Maybe it just looks big because it's mug shaped.

When people talk of a 25s shot, does this include the few seconds that it takes the coffee to start pouring?

I used to tamp the hell out of my grounds, it really is hard to stop that now. I think what I'll do is tamp pretty light - too light, on purpose- and then find a middle ground.

Fingers crossed.


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## Django

Would I get any benefit from knocking the spout off my portafilter?


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## chimpsinties

I tend to do a tap after I've put the ground coffee into the basket and during distribution. I'll just give it quick knock on the counter to settle any of the bigger air gaps out (if there are any) then give it a tamp. Definitely don't do it after the tamp or you'll risk fracturing the puck.

Oh and in answer to your time questions. people time it from the moment they hit the switch.


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## Django

Tamped too light I suppose. Funny thing is, it tasted a tab bitter. I distributed well with a thin wooden skewer - couldn't find any paperclips - and tried to approximate the tamp action shown in Mike's video. Better luck next time, eh. Not too bad though.


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## forzajuve

Rather than tamping harder I would grind finer. You get some blonding towards the end of the extraction so it needs to go a bit finer to get a nice dark flow throughout. This will also slow it down.


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## Django

Bah. This is the porlex's finest setting. However, one of the burrs is malformed and I'll be getting a replacement soon. How does one post pictures here? I'd like to show you guys the dodgy burr.


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## forzajuve

Django said:


> How does one post pictures here? I'd like to show you guys the dodgy burr.


Not sure how others do it but the easiest way I found was to upload to your Albums area on our profile, then in your post you can link using the insert image to the picture URL on your Album area.


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## chimpsinties

Or you can get an account on something like Photobucket and find the public link for you uploaded pics there. If you have a mobile you can get a dropbox account and upload any pics to the public folder then get the public link and do the same thing.


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## Django

Cheers guys.


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## Django

Check out the burrs. New grinder in the post today so hopefully that should help in my journey.

http://s1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg622/djscoventry/


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## chimpsinties

If you look for the "direct link" then paste that into the box that pops up when you press the little image icon you can get them to appear in the post like this:


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## Earlepap

Mine is like that too - a bit worse in fact - a little area of it is almost entirely blunted. I only noticed after using it loads though so have no idea if it was sent like that or I borked it some how. Not a concern now since it's become my travel grinder and will only be for coarser grinds. While using it for espresso I found it very difficult to grind fine enough with light roast beans, but not a problem with dark ones like Coffee Real blends or Hands On's Black Chough.

Having said that, now that I have an electric grinder and it doesn't take me ages to grind a shot of espresso, I've been making a lot more of them and my tamping technique has improved greatly. Can't underestimate what a difference that makes; perhaps if I tried a lightly roasted bean in the porlex for espresso now it'd work.


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## Django

Cheers chimp. I'll do that in future.

I think my beans are a light to medium roast, though I'm certainly no specialist here. I really, really want a Mazzer Mini or similar but will just have to wait.


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## Django

New grinder came this morning. I would hardly call the burrs 'precision cut' but they are better than the last set. My first shot - I didn't film it, sorry - was a very slow pull and horrendously bitter. I take this to be a good sign! I suppose it means that I can now grind finely enough to almost choke the machine. My tamp was gentle, too. In fact, the puck was quite wet in the portafilter and fell apart, upon knocking into the bin, very easily. Does this mean that the tamp was too gentle, and the grind too fine, or one of the other, or both?! Can we isolate the variable here?


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## fatboyslim

Could be tamp, grind size or dose. Try to keep at least two of those constant i.e. dose and tamp and only adjust grind size.

Pretty sure you can compensate for tamp by adjusting the grind but just be sure to keep tamp constant.


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## chimpsinties

Just thought I'd post this for you Django.

It's my standard size espresso cup with 2floz (60ml) in. Maybe a tiny bit less. It was just over the 2floz mark in my Rattleware jug with crema. So I guess your cups are tiny in comparison if you have measured them to be 60ml to the brim.


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## Django

Dose is consistent at 14g, weighed up. Grind is consistent as the grinder is stepped. I guess tamping is an issue. Getting there though. This shot at almost dead on 25s. Doesn't look great to me though. Blonding? But, it did taste pretty good. I know I should worry more about that than the process but getting it spot on is an addictive pursuit!

Sorry about the person shouting about salmon, she didn't realise I was filming!


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## Django

Cheers Chimp. They are tiny!


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## Django

P.S. They're not illy beans I'm using, it's just a convenient tin.


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## Danm

2 tips for you.

Keep you eggs in the fridge and if that orange lead is a lawnmover, always use a circuit breaker.


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## Django

Hahahaha. Cheers mate!

Actually, it's better to keep eggs out of the fridge. They last longer. Shells are porous and the cooling action of the fridge will decrease internal pressure and 'suck in' bad stuff, leading to a faster degradation. You learn something new everyday. Anyways, I'm intolerant of eggs - food intolerance, not emotional intolerance - they're me flatmate's.

Lawnmower? Chilli lights!


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## Django

Can someone buy me a Mazzer please?









Fed up of trying to work out when the Porlex's burrs are just touching and then click once away from that. Too close and I'll fuck the burrs, too far and I'll get a shit espresso.

Anyone feeling generous?


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## Django

I had a bit of a revelation last night. The porlex had been driving me a little mad because of the lack of reference points available when setting the grind level. Initially, I had been making an espresso at a grind setting close to 'burrs touching' and then afterwards taking the grinder apart to inspect it for burr rub, figure out ways of getting the burrs as close as possible etc etc. Then I realised - it doesn't take a genius, I concede - that I could grind beans with the collecting section of the grinder off, and change the grind setting every few handle turns to produce what I thought looked like a decent fineness of grounds. Duh! I then went as tight as I could go before I could hear the burrs rubbing, and then made a coffee. Too fine, overextracted, yuck. But...joy! I was glad to be able to choke my machine as previously I though the grinder just wasn't up to the job.

This morning, I've made two espressos. The first was dreadful, and so I unwound the clicker and tried again, with a coarser grind. Much better but still a tad slow, think I'll have to down one more click to get the right setting. My tamp is now a lot softer than before, and I have been concentrating on getting good distribution, using a needle etc.

I've also stopped taking the grinder apart to clean it, play with it etc and so now know exactly which setting I'll be getting when I begin a grind.

Espresso 1:






I don't think the second one is that bad, and it didn't taste that bad either, maybe a tad bitter. Does it blond early though? I'm not too sure about this phenomena yet. Advice?


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## Earlepap

Both videos look like pretty good flow speeds. Perhaps in the first the distribution is a little off. In the second clip I'd stop the pour at 26secs into the video. That's just going by the colour and the fact that I generally prefer a shorter shot. Difficult to say without tasting of course!


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## Django

The first one tasted awful. I had to spit it out. Very bitter, obviously massively overextracted.

Here's another shot. Clearly a bit quick but the question now is...tamp harder or grind finer? One click finer takes me back to the 2nd shot today (in terms of grind setting).

Is there a way of figuring out whether one must tamp harder or grind finer? I'm only going by timing and taste right now but am keen to learn about blonding, and other signs.

So, I can now either grind finer or tamp harder. I think I'll try tamping harder first but am open to advice


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## Django

By the way, I am temperature surfing in all of these vidoes, trying to keep another variable constant. And the mugs are 2oz to the brim, so I'm trying to get a standard sized double espresso in 25-30 seconds that tastes good! Once I've got that down, I'd like to learn about ristrettos and the like.


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## MikeHag

You should...should... always tamp the same. Always. Adjust your grind. If your grinder doesn't allow proper fine tuning then you can arguably compensate by tamping a little harder/softer, but only a little, and it's not the best solution. The best solution is a better grinder, allowing a consistent tamp.


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## Django

Sorry guys, here is that third video of today. This is the shot that is making me question whether to grind finer or tamp harder.


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## Django

Hi Mike. I appreciate what you're saying but I think I'm still in the stages of calibrating my tamp. I don't have any scales to check what 30lbs is so I'm still experimenting. I think I've got to the point where I can grind fine enough, even too fine, and am now not sure whether I should be grinding finer and tamping harder to produce that perfect, standard shot.

I can choke my machine with a fine grind and a gentle tamp, and I can obviously go the other side of perfect with a fast shot. But when I'm approaching perfection, how can one figure out whether a finer grind or a harder tamp is needed. Does it matter?

Any advice?


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## Earlepap

Well I'm quite the newbie when it comes to espresso but my advice would be to follow your taste buds. The numbers regarding weight, time, grind etc. should be taken as a guideline and not gospel - just a tool to get the best taste. You can practice getting a 30lb tamp on some bathroom scales - I've not tried this as I don't have any - that's supposed to be the ideal pressure. An alternative is to invest in an Espro tamper that physically clicks when you've hit 30lb. Between grinding finer and tamping harder I'd be pulled towards grinding finer since it's easily repeated/consistent where as tamping pressure can be a bit arbitrary while you're learning.

As for blonding I'd just try stopping at different times/colour and seeing what it tastes like. I stop the shot when the flow gets a bit foamy and light yellow. Sipping some under/over extracted shots and relating the flavour to other variables will help with Jedi espresso power.

Having said all that, I've pulled about ten shots today and only a couple have been drinkable so you might want to ignore everything I say! If you don't want to be wasteful, you can get away with some pretty dire shots if you chuck them in some milk - I think this is how Starbucks et al get by.

Read this guide if you've not, it's got some very helpful tips - http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-guide.html

[Edit]

What I thought was the last page of this thread in fact wasn't, so some of this is obsolete after Mike's advice, but I'll leave it up anyway.


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## Django

Cheers mate. I guess I do need to find some way of measuring my tamping pressure. I don't think I'm too far off though. Thanks for the guide, too. I've not read it yet but will have a look soon.

**********************

What I really want to know, and perhaps it's a question with no answer, is.....is there a difference between two 25second, 2oz shots if shot 1 is 'finer grind, lighter tamp' and shot 2 is 'coarser grind, heavier tamp'? Will there any sign that will distinguish the two? Maybe early blonding, for example.

Another way of putting this is, would someone be able to tell the difference, in a taste test perhaps, between these two shots if they did not know which was which?

*****************************

(The stars are here in attempt to draw everyone's attention to this question!)


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## Django

Interesting...

"The classic tamp is a straight down press at 30lbs pressure, followed by a light twist to settle any stray grinds. In Italy, it has become the custom of most cafés to grind slightly finer and use a very light tamp (about 10 pounds) using the tamper mounted on the coffee grinder."


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## Earlepap

I think the risk with a heavier tamp is puck fracture or channeling causing some grinds to be extracted more than others. If you fancy spending a bit more money, a bottomless portafilter is a great way to see any problems there might be with the tamp.

Incidentally, what beans are you using?


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## Django

Ah I see. I hope I've started to regulate my tamp a bit, after watching lots of videos. And as soon as I can afford it, I'll grab a naked portafilter. They look so cool!

Beans are House Blend from Small Batch Coffee in Brighton (Hove, actually). http://smallbatchcoffee.co.uk/

A great roastery, only a couple of minutes walk from my front door - awesome.


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## Django

Todays shot:






A finer grind than the last, same tamp.

What should I do to get a better shot?

My pucks have been really wet recently. And don't come nicely out of the portafilter into the bin. They leave chunks of grounds around the rim. Why is this?


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## Earlepap

What size dose are you using?

I've ordered a bag of their house blend, been wanting to give them a go. Hopefully can offer some advice once it arrives.


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## Django

Awesome! Will be nice to get some more specific feedback. I hope you enjoy them







I've nearly finished my kilo so will be ordering a different bean next time. I know it doesn't mention on the website but you can apparently order the non-house beans by the kilo too, saves a good amount of money. £7 for 335g house blend, vs £15 for a kilo. Obviously a kilo is a lot to buy if you've not tasted the coffee before.

Oh, 14g dose, by the way.


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## Earlepap

Hey, so my bag of the Small Batch house blend arrived today so I tried a few shots.

First was a bit of a gusher - 15g in, 20g out in 11sec stopping at blonding. Surprisingly it didn't actually taste too bad.

Second shot I made the grind finer and got 24g in 27sec - it tasted good but there wasn't much mouth feel to it, quite heavy on the dark chocolate notes.

Third shot (the one pictured) I kept the grind the same but increased the dose to 15.5g and got 27g out in 29 seconds. Again it tasted pretty good, a nice balance of choc and caramel sweetness with a touch of citrus - reminded me of JD & coke with a slice of lemon. I feel it would benefit from a shorter shot to try and make it a bit more syrupy. Going to try the same dose with a slightly finer grind next. The beans were only roasted yesterday so I'll give it a day or two to rest. All in all I'm pleased.


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## Django

Hey, awesome that we can now compare. I've probably dosed at maximum of 15g, so will try going a bit higher. Am weighing before I grind though, rather than after, but I think very little is lost in the porlex. I'm getting close to the correct grind setting and tamp pressure now, I think. Am at my parents' house at the moment with the Classic set up in my bedroom!

This is my first lot of beans with which I'm making 'proper espresso' - decent grinder, non-pressurised filter etc - and so I can't compare but I do like them. I know what you mean about the lack of much mouth feel, so am keen to try another bean. I'll be buying from Small Batch again as I live so close. Let me know if you have any recommendations.

So you're happy with Small Batch? Will you be using them again?

My Mum has just ordered a batch of Brazilian Santos from Pumphrey's coffee, will be playing with those beans soon!


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## Earlepap

Yeah I'm happy with them. The roast isn't so light that it's nigh on impossible to get a decent shot with entry level home gear, but not so dark that they smell like charcoal and look like lacquered rabbit shit. A nice medium.


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## Earlepap

Had a beautiful shot from these beans this morning Django. As ever, my best shots seem to come when I'm half asleep and not being pedantic about dose etc. I can't tell you how much beans went in or the brew weight out, I didn't temperature surf or spend that long levelling, but it was the balls. Now I'm going to try and repeat what I did being all scientific, and expect to get some bilge.


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## Django

Hiya, sorry for the brief coffee forums holiday. I'm back at my parents at the moment and not on the computer so much. Really glad that you're enjoying the beans. I've upped my dose as per your recommendations and am now getting much better coffee. I'm using a bag of Pumphrey's Brazilian Santos beans now. The first shot was awful but by the next day they were fine - I guess they were just a bit fresh to begin with.

I've also been guessing my weights recently. There are some tell-tale marks in the Porlex that allow me to do so. Have been getting good shots so will stick with that method until I can get a better pair of digis. And I found a little glass vessel in my kitchen. Not sure what it was once used for, probably a candle holder, but it's been great fun to watch the crema!

Here are some videos of the last of my last Small Batch shots:


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## Django

P.S. The Brazilian Santos beans are really nice now they've had a couple of days to rest. A good mouthfeel compared to the Small Batch. Perhaps less chocolate though. Not sure which I prefer yet. Have just ordered some Sumatran beans from Pumphrey, and will go back to Small Batch when I'm back in Hove. Likely the Tuki beans I keep hearing about.


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## Earlepap

Those shots look pretty tasty. I might make a video of my next one. I just had an espresso from the remainder of last weeks IMM beans, an Ethiopian Sidamo - blooming lush it was!


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## Django

Ooh, what's IMM?


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## cjbailey1

IMM is In My Mug - http://www.inmymug.com/

...and if you want to be scared by prices then...

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/In-My-Mug-Subscription-Pack--%252d-3-Months-%2812-Weeks%29.html

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/In-My-Mug-Subscription-Pack-%252d-12-Months-%2852-Weeks%29.html

It's really worth it though for fantastic coffees!


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## Earlepap

I think the price is reasonable. With postage the 12 week subscription works out at just under £6 a bag, and although some coffees received are cheaper than that, some are more expensive too so it balances out - especially if you factor in postage costs for seperate deliveries. What makes it most worthwhile though is the variety and the fact that you know you've got a freshly roasted bag landing on your doorstep each week.


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## cjbailey1

Yes, I do agree - I have just renewed for the 3rd year in a row, it just hurts the wallet a bit at the time of ordering!!


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## Django

Looks like an awesome scheme. I might just get involved soon. Mind you, I have a roastery on my doorstep so would feel a bit silly to be importing.

I've just got myself a bag of the Small Batch Peruvian Tunki that a few of you have recommended. Will report back soon.

Oh, and sorry for the diary gap. I was at my parents for a while and making good use of their superautomatic. Back in business now, and can confirm that manual machines easily win over superautos (gaggia classic vs gaggia brera).

Peace


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