# Make mine a triple



## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

I was having a look through yesterday, a cupboard full of coffee stuff and found a brand new triple basket, so, thinking about a chat I had with reiss, I loaded it with 21 gms, brought the handle down on the L1 to pre-infuse for about 15 seconds, released it, extracted a ristretto or so, raised the handle, the lowered it again, counted to 5 (no idea why!) then raised it again and killed the shot at between 1 1/2 and 1 3/4 fluid ounces. It certainly looked a good pour with no blonding and tasted just fine.

So, I will play around more with this technique. What I am trying to achieve is a larger extraction of the good part of the puck, so, thinking out loud the more the coffee providing the headroom is still good, then the larger the band to extract from.....or am I wrong again!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

All other factors being equal (brew ratio, time), your shots should be at a lower yield. So less extracted, but the volume bumped up by the larger dose.


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## RoloD (Oct 13, 2010)

I would have thought doing a double pull you are negating the key element of a lever machine - the inbuilt temperature/pressure proflle as the extraction progresses. However, if you are happy with the results you are gettting, who am I to argue.

One experiment you could make (and this is equally applicable to pump machines) is to put teaspoon under the portafilter and taste the coffee during the course of the extraction. You will find that the flavour changes all the time and there is a point at which it becomes a little unpleasant. My guess is that you would fine the second pull much inferior to the first.


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

I agree with Rolo here, the whole point of a lever is the tapered pressure profile it gives you, by engaging a pseudo second pull which it appears you are doing as you are not letting the initial extraction go beyond the half way point, what you are doing is reintroducing 9 bar of pressure to the puck when the profile has reduced to around 6 bar at the midway point. The whole principle of reverse sprung levers is the reduction in pressure throughout the extraction releases the " best " ( depending on preference) part of the extraction under less " smoother" pressure i.e. the lower bar rating. In negating this (by inducing the second pull) you are completely conflicting the profile that is essentially the reason why you have a lever over a pump driven machine.....

If you want a much more intense stronger flavoured drink, just pull two short (ristretto) shots using the 16 gram principle for the L1 and make your drink from these. Give it a try I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the outcome!


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Interesting. When I made the switch from E61, I really thought I had a good grasp on the coffee scene. I now realise just how wrong I was. I do think I enjoy the lever experience because it makes you think (and experiment) more and makes sure your technique is up to scratch. I have this morning followed Daves suggestion, and pulled 2 ristretto shots from 16 gms to mix with 6 fluid ounces of milk and for my taste, the result was delicious although I suspect bean variety will play a big part in this.


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