# Hello from Cambridge



## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

Hi all,

Greetings from Cambridge! I've been lurking around on the forum for a couple of weeks and thought I'd introduce myself.

It seems there are a few of us here in Cambridge which is good to know!

I recently took my first trip to Hot Numbers and enjoyed a fantastic macchiato with a friend who has also just embarked on this epic journey with me.

I am a total n00b and will probably ask a tonne of stupid questions, but we all have to be n00bs at some point or other!

The community here seems very friendly and helpful and I look forward to all the help I'm sure I will receive during my time here :]

I have a Gaggia Classic (obviously) and an Ascaso I-2 grinder (although I really want a Baratza Preciso and kind of wish I'd waited 'til I had a bit more money) :[ Bloody impatience!

Best Regards


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Welcome to the forum - we like questions - ask away.


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## jakeapeters (May 20, 2013)

Welcome! I'm from Cambridge too - coffee scene there seems to be developing a little more now which is refreshing. I much prefer the brewed options at Hot Numbers to their Espresso offerings (which seem a little hot or miss at times), and it's nice to see a cafe offering a Siphon!

I had a Preciso a while back and found it a little annoying for Espresso - I upgraded two days later to the Vario, definitely worth considering that if it's in your budget.


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

Well my first would probably be what am I doing wrong?







but I believe that actually equates to about 1,000 questions/answers and is probably more at home in a different thread!


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

jakeapeters said:


> Welcome! I'm from Cambridge too - coffee scene there seems to be developing a little more now which is refreshing. I much prefer the brewed options at Hot Numbers to their Espresso offerings (which seem a little hot or miss at times), and it's nice to see a cafe offering a Siphon!
> 
> I had a Preciso a while back and found it a little annoying for Espresso - I upgraded two days later to the Vario, definitely worth considering that if it's in your budget.


I don't think they're much more are they? Lots of programmability too right? What annoyed you about the preciso? I like the idea of the macro and micro adjustments.

And yeah that's the light up hario thing on the counter isn't it? My friend got a shot of their really fruity stuff and I loved it. Then they gave us a free shot of a new blend they've got in and I didn't like it lol so guess that fits in with your experience

I hear 'The Table' café is good? Renamed from Massaro's?


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## jakeapeters (May 20, 2013)

I think it was about £40 more when I bought mine from Coffeehit a few years back. And there's an electric timer which is great if you're not single dosing (means you can dose consistent amounts straight into the portafilter). The whole adjustment mechanism on the Vario just feels a little more sturdy to me - there's two levers, one for macro and one for micro, compared to the collar and lever adjustment on the Preciso. Also, I think the burrs on the Vario are more consistent at Espresso settings (from personal experience).

Yeah the siphon's the thing with the halogen at the bottom. It's pretty cool! I think in a few years they'll have gotten a little more consistently good on the Espresso side. I love the fact they stock Fentimans soft drinks though, and their cakes are pretty tasty.

The Table is indeed a rebranded Massaros. I haven't been since they switched over, but I wasn't too overwhelmed by the service last time I visited. The coffee is very good, served on a lovely lever machine, I just didn't get on very well with the staff! They serve HasBean coffee which for me is a massive plus.

I generally meet friends etc at either Hot Numbers or Savinos. The former because the coffee's pretty good and it's a little out of the centre, and the latter because whilst the coffee's not great, the atmosphere and staff are very pleasant!


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

Great...now that's another £40 I've got to find out of somewhere...thanks mate!









Not that I will have the money for a long while! I'm only 24 and I'm saving up for mortgage with the missus - great timing to get into espresso huh?!

Will continue to try and dial in my Ascaso in the mean time. I have absolutely no experience dialling in and with a stepless its very hard to know how much each turn is changing the grind :/ Also as a total n00b who's only ever ground 750g in my entire life and only got about 2 half-decent shots out of it, it's hard to know if it's the variables in my technique that keep changing the shot or the change I'm making to the grind setting.

I am therefore waiting on a WDT funnel and some Joe Glo as I'm pretty sure my machine needs a serious clean and my distribution needs serious attention!

The only other variable I haven't done anything to try and sort is tamp but after measuring my double (I think) basket using vernier callipers at work, turns out I could do with a 58.3/35mm tamper! My basket is ~58.66mm and my tamper exactly 58mm.

...told you guys I'd ask a lot of questions


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## jakeapeters (May 20, 2013)

Ahh I feel your pain! I'm 21 and coffee's taking up far too much of my money...

You need to adjust the grind so that you're getting around 1.6 times as much weight out as you put in (so, say, a 30.5g Espresso out from a 19g dose) in 25-35 seconds, and then adjust to taste. Although that being said, as long as you like the taste of what you're making that's all that really matters!

WDT's a bit of a tricky one. If your grinder throws out really really clumpy grinds then it may be worth it, but if you can get fairly even extractions without it then it's just easier - WDT gets annoying when you have to do it every time!

You should be OK with the 58mm tamper for now, but you'll definitely see an improvement from a 58.3-58.4mm tamper - creates a better seal around the edges of the puck.

Where in Cambridge are you based? I'd be happy to come give you a few pointers when I'm back (I spend a lot of my time at Uni in Loughborough).


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

I'm in Histon. But tbh I'd be pretty embarressed to show you my set up! Me and my gf are living with her mum atm as we have a little man that requires nursary fees haha my grinders not even in the kitchen







my gf hates coffee and my mother in law hates both coffee and me taking up any room in her kitchen...so I do both ;]

My ascaso isn't too clumpy (although I'm not dialed fine enough yet!) but I just wanted to try an sort my distribution out with a 'cheat' just so I could get a shot without spritzes!

One thing I really want clearing up is: when can you and can't you 'tap' the basket/portafilter to settle grinds? I hear so much about not tappin the basket or you'll fracture the puck, but then I see videos of expert baristas doing it and pulling excellent shots!

Another problem I've faced is how do I get a good distribution/level on an under filled basket?

I tried to start at 14g as it's the technical 'standard' double dose, and also because when I tried to dose and level flat I get a big imprint from the shower screen and I think I choke the machine.

And lastly how do I identify if I'm using a double or triple basket? I ask as the guy I bought the gaggia off doesn't know what it is and with 14/15g dose it seems way low in the basket. I believe it's a double just wanted to be sure!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

One question answered - don't tap after you have tamped .


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

Can I shake and tap as much as I like during dose to settle the grounds to make up for not being able to level the grounds very easily in an under dosed basket??


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

What beans are you actually using, a lighter roast bean will take up less space weight for weight than a darker roast as each bean will have more mass. Also if you grind very fine the grounds will take up much less room as well. To me it sounds like you may actually be grinding too fine.

The trick with espresso when learning is to fix as many variables as you can and only change one at once, this is where weighing input (weight of beans in the pf) and output (the weight of the shot) is a massive help as you can fix your dose and your brew ratio, an ideal place to start is to aim for 1.6 times the weight of grounds as the weight of the shot in 25-30 seconds. Also the whole 30lbs tamping pressure for every shot isn't necessarily true, as a rule of thumb the finer the grind the lighter the tamp needed and the coarser the grind the harder the tamp needed. Adding additional steps in to your prep like WDT and tapping the portafilter whilst dancing round the corpse of a sacrificed virgin guinea pig, can just introduce more opportunity for error to be introduced and be counter productive.

If you want to get your grinder into a ballpark area for espresso quickly, remove the hopper (take the beans out 1st) and then remove the top of the grinder, underneath this you will see the upper burr carrier and the worm drive that adjusts the grind level. Unscrew the 2 screws holding the worm drive on and then rotate the burrs by hand until they touch and then slacken them off by a quarter turn. When you have done this make a mark on the upper and lower burr carriers in the same spot, this way you can easily reset your grind level quickly. Then re-assemble the grinder.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Seraph69 said:


> Can I shake and tap as much as I like during dose to settle the grounds to make up for not being able to level the grounds very easily in an under dosed basket??


To answer your question.Yes you can tamp to level out, don't over do it, don't do it after tamp


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

Thank you all very much for your helpful advice so far. I have tried some of these techniques and tips already but I think just bringing it all together and putting my new scales to use will drfinately help. I need more beans first tho as I'm all out!!

Only really get to mess about a lot on weekends but I'll try my best to get some dialing in...in (







) throughout the week.

Hopefully I can return with some good news. Oh and I used some Tesco beans to dial in roughly then some has bean...beans (







) of Ethiopian origin to try and actually dial in properly (not sure about roast etc but they were drfinately lighter in colour than the crappy Tesco ones!

Thanks again for all your help so far!


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

Okay, next question: I'm gna buy some more beans tonight as I feel more confident that I can get my grinder properly dialled in this time. But I have heard as a n00b I should go for 'popular blends' as they generally don't have such a small 'margin for error'? Can I get some suggestions on what to buy? I bought my last 250g from has bean and I know they do great stuff, however it doesn't HAVE to be from there. I just want a blend which is considered a good place to start.

I take it light or dark roast is just a prefference thing?? I love the taste of 'fruity' tasting espressos but I believe these are generally the harder blends to get right? Or have I got that completely wrong??


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Buy something you want to drink , not something someone tells you is easy .....

Are you drinking as espresso ? Or as a base for latte etc?

Fruity a good Ethiopian Yiragcheffe ( I believe rave have a good one currently )

For milk based the perhaps a blend , depending on whether you want to hit chocolate notes , or sweet , to again fruity .


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

To be honest I want to be able to drink both as espresso and in lattes, cappucchinos, macchiatos. Do you suggest one blend for shorter drinks and another stronger one for lattes etc?

And when you say 'perhaps a blend' do you mean a mix of different beans? What's the advantage of this?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

No real advantage to a blend specifically. Alot of coffee shops will use them for their espresso base for milk drinks, some will say a medium roast blend is more forgiving or easier to work with .......

My personal taste ( and this is me only ) is that i currently prefer to drink single origin for espresso , but each person is different.

Good People of the forum. Whats a good all rounder , possibly on the fruity side that sits well with milk?

Suggestions people?

Gary - something from Hasbean ?

Expo - something from Rave?

Anyone else ?


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## jakeapeters (May 20, 2013)

You could give Jabberwocky (HasBean) or Sweetshop Espresso (Square Mile) a go. I'm completely biased because they're two of my favourite blends, but Jabberwocky in particular works great as Espresso or in milk. I find the Sweetshop better as Espresso, but it's nice enough in milk too. Both are nice and fruity.

Else with single origin, I wouldn't even know where to start - there's so many awesome coffees that would fit the bill!


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## jakeapeters (May 20, 2013)

Actually, with regards to SO, I'd definitely give the Has Bean Nicaragua Finca Limoncillo Natural Pacamara a go. Either the Funky or the Elegant (I prefer the Funky) - there's crazy amounts of fruit in there, and it's like a fruity milkshake with milk.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

jakeapeters said:


> You could give Jabberwocky (HasBean) or Sweetshop Espresso (Square Mile) a go. I'm completely biased because they're two of my favourite blends, but Jabberwocky in particular works great as Espresso or in milk. I find the Sweetshop better as Espresso, but it's nice enough in milk too. Both are nice and fruity.
> 
> Else with single origin, I wouldn't even know where to start - there's so many awesome coffees that would fit the bill!


Whats the current iteration of Jabberwocky taste like?


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## jakeapeters (May 20, 2013)

I had a bag a couple of weeks back, and it was super tasty. There's a huge citrus acidity up front that turns into a lingering chocolate sweetness. It's a little creamier and smooth in body than some of the previous iterations though, a bit less in your face!


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

I have ended going with this:

https://www.pactcoffee.com/coffees/espresso-blend

Simply because it was on the deals page as the first 250g is only £1 with delivery. I really wanna try to keep the cost down until I'm confident I can exactly get a decent shot and actually extract those promised flavours!

Not going to go as far as buying supermarket crap again tho!


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

Maybe a Mocha Java blend might do the job? Try and find one with a good Ethiopian coffee in rather than just a generic Sidamo.


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

Sidamo? Huh??


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Seraph69 said:


> Sidamo? Huh??


Double Huh, lets keep it simple, charlie for me and Seraph


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## Daren (Jan 16, 2012)

That's 3 "huh"s including me.


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

ha, thought i might be different


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

It's an Ethiopian catch all name for some coffees like Santos is for Brazilian coffee.


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

Okay thanks for the explanation Charlie! I've obviously opened another can of worms again







when the 250g I've ordered runs low I will take a look back at the thread and see what I can find.

Hopefully this weekend I can get some good results.


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## Seraph69 (Jan 7, 2014)

So I got my beans through today and tried my best to dial in my grinder.

I wanted to share a video of the extraction on the 'Videos' forum...but for some reason in the attachment window it wont upload.

Only pics appear to be working. I transferred the video to dropbox and tried grabbing it from there, also tried '.zip'ing it and also creating a link to it (uploads as a .mov i believe).

The list of usable file types seems to all be picture or pdf file extensions too? What am I missing?


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