# VST baskets - my plan



## WobblyGoblin (Oct 18, 2011)

Hi All

I've been cruising along quite happily with my old Gaggia for a good few years and been happy with the espresso. Recently I upgraded my machine to the next level (Isomac Tea) and that has improved my shots.

I'm no expert at this and my outputs are a bit variable. I can tell from the portafilter spouts and puck that I'm getting poor extractions on occassion (gushing, uneven extraction, wormholes). Generally though I am happy with nearly every shot and ecstatic with some. They're nearly all better than any local cafes.

I'm looking to improve my technique and consitency though so a bottomless portafilter is on the way. However, given that I'm learning a new machine and practicing anyway, I wondered if it was worth introducing any changes now that would require adaptation of my techniques (i.e. VST baskets).

I generally drink doubles and make lattes and cappucinos with long-ish singles. I was contemplating getting two VST baskets:

- 15g for the bottomless to make my doubles

- 18g for the 2-spout to make 2 slightly long singles

My first question is, is it silly to introduce 2 sizes? Is consistency going to suffer?

My second question is whether I would need a new tamper for the VST baskets. I currently have a slightly convex 58mm tamper (an ergo-packer). I understand the thinking is that the VST baskets eliminate the need for a convex base but would it actually cause problems?

Cheers for reading and any help offerred

WG


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## Ian_G (Nov 10, 2011)

I have the 18g and the 22g vst baskets. At the moment I use the 18g for all my doubles - from 14 to 17g.

I still use the plastic tamper that came with my machine, and it works just fine on the VST's. I don't know about the curved tamper idea - this is the first time I've come across it.

My understanding is that the reason the VST baskets were developed was to provide baristas with a means of getting more shot to shot consistency. What you will find though is that you need to grind finer for any given dose to keep the flow rate the same. And also the VST's are very sensitive to changes is dose weight, so you really need scales to get consistent pours.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

As VSTs are intended to be used at specific doses I guess it will depend on what weight extraction (& thus volume) you want to end up with in the cup (granted using a standard ratio)

14 or 15g basket x 1.55 = 21.7-23.2g (could go up to 16g)

17 or 18 basket x 1.55 = 26.4-27.9g (could go up to 19g)

I currently am using 14-14.5g in the 14-15-16g basket and grinding very fine to obtain 22-23g, this is perfect for a double neat shot and ample for milk drinks up to 220ml with the coffee still being the star in the cup. The flavour profile suits my taste much more than using my standard expobar basket with 18-19g in. I feel I am getting properly extracted shots now, thus I really rate the VSTs!

I couldnt get the VST 18g basket to fit in my bottomless portafilter properly but on reflection im using coffee more efficiently ....


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## WobblyGoblin (Oct 18, 2011)

Ok - sounds like using more than one basket isn't so much of a problem. It may be that using any VST basket would be a problem for me though









Well, no guts, no glory etc etc. If I'm going to expose my poor technique then I may as well go all-in. Consistency is the aim, after all.

A 15g and and 18g basket are ordered. If they work out well I'll consider a single basket for my last portafilter as well, although I barely pull singles.

Thanks for all the help people.


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

Where did you order it from and how much were they?

Thinking about getting an 18g myself


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## WobblyGoblin (Oct 18, 2011)

I bought it from Square Mile - they were the only uk seller I could find. Interestingly they didn't have the 18g showing on the website, and when you link directly to it from google it said out of stock. However, a quick email to them and they said they did have it in stock and corrected that (although I still had to link directly from google).


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

If you have trouble sourcing the VST 18g basket you could look at LM Strada baskets as they are essentially the same (VST and LM worked together on the baskets). I believe CoffeeHit sell the Strada baskets.

One thing to bear in mind with the VST baskets is that you may need to alter your grind when moving between the different sized baskets. I have the 15g and 18g baskets and found that, even though it has larger filter holes on its bottom, a slightly coarser grind was required for the 18g basket.

I also find that the 15g basket yields my preferred shot of the two baskets. I usually use 14g of ground coffee producing 23g of espresso drink in around 30 seconds and find the resulting shot perfectly balanced with an amazing sweetness.


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## AlIam (Aug 30, 2011)

Am I right that a trad double espresso used 14g of coffee to make a 60g drink? So you're espressos (sp?) are over twice as strong? (@jimbow & garydike1) & if so, have you always brewed this concentrated or is it a VST basket thing?


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

Kind of. Traditionally, the guideline for espresso was to use 7g of ground coffee for a single and 14g for a double producing 30ml and 60ml respectively of liquid espresso drink. Note that the measurement of the resulting espresso drink was by volume and not weight. These volumes were supposed to incorporate the espresso crema which with fresh beans can be a significant component of this volume. The volume of crema is also very variable making it difficult to measure consistently.

To measure more consistently some people started using weight to measure the quantity of the liquid espresso drink and then began to express this as a ratio of the ground coffee used to produce the drink. Most people now tend to use a ratio of between 50 and 60% (i.e. at 50% ratio the liquid espresso drink would weigh exactly twice the amount of ground coffee used) but this depends upon personal taste. See the link below for more details:

http://www.home-barista.com/tips/brewing-ratios-for-espresso-beverages-t2402.html

This is nothing to do specifically with the VST baskets - I used a similar ratio before using them although I do tweak it slightly to suit the coffee I am using.


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## AlIam (Aug 30, 2011)

Ah gotcha. I knew it was 60ml not 60g but hadn't considered crema. So I figured 60 ml = 60g near as dammit. I'm getting about 40g from 14g in about 30 secs & my grinder is on its finest setting. What I though was a ristretto is apparently a lungo. Time to find my allen keys I guess. ty (I think) :/


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

AlIam said:


> Ah gotcha. I knew it was 60ml not 60g but hadn't considered crema. So I figured 60 ml = 60g near as dammit. I'm getting about 40g from 14g in about 30 secs & my grinder is on its finest setting. What I though was a ristretto is apparently a lungo. Time to find my allen keys I guess. ty (I think) :/


I couple of things the helped me when I thought I was on the finest setting of my grinder:


Make sure you break up the clumps with a bent paperclip before tamping

Give your PF a good knock on the counter top to settle the grinds before tamping

Mix the grinds up again with the bent paper clip a little bit just before tamping

Make sure when tamping to press vertically down, absolutely no twisting or side to side motion


These are the kind of things that you think might not really affect the shot time if you just give it a good enough tamp but I've found through experience that they all make quite a considerable difference.


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