# Complete Newbie!



## kidkuani (Mar 9, 2015)

Hi Guys. I'm Excited to learn about coffee!

But i am a complete newbie. Only ever made instant coffees or trips to Costa.

Seeing as my trips to Costa were getting more frequent i thought i would invest some time and money into becoming a home barista.

I just purchased a Gaggia Classic and the De'Longhi KG79 (as of convenience).

The Gaggia came with two pressurised baskets so im on the look out for the non-pressurised commercial basket as ive heard its pulls better shot.

At the moment im struggling to pull a single shot.

I'm using the single shot pressurised basket the coffee is level'ed off (about 13g) and tampered too (i recently learned that you don't need to tamper?).

But the extraction to 30ml takes around 11secs, which i understand is way too fast.

I've just done some modifications to the KG79 Grinder so i am able to grind finer, but haven't tried it yet!

I just would like to know why a single shot is considered 7g and the single basket holds upto 14g.

Wouldn't that make it a double shot? or a Double dose single shot? because a double shot is 60ml.

And when i use the double shot basket will i be able to make 60ml from 14g of coffee in the 20-30 sec extraction time?

Just some things i want to clear up as im still trying to understand everything.

Ive tried researching but cannot find the exact answers.

Thanks

Chi


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

First thing to do is dump the pressurised basket and get a stock one - cheap to buy. Wouldn't bother doing single shots - stick with the stock double which should be good for 16-18grms. Get yourself a set of cheap weighing scales from Ebay so you can measure your dose weight and shot output accurately. Don't go by volume. 60ml from 14grm is way out. Use ratio of 1:2 to begin with which would give you 28grms shot weight from a dose of 14grms. Time for extraction is around 25-30secs from moment you hit the brew switch.


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## kidkuani (Mar 9, 2015)

Ok so then what your saying is to use the double basket to put 14g of coffee into extract 28g/1 fluid oz/30ml/1 shot of espresso?

If so, then how do I go about extracting a double shot ie. 60ml/ 2 fluid oz


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## kidkuani (Mar 9, 2015)

Also I think what your trying to say is that shot weight and volume will not always be the same depending on the extraction. But it can't be that much out could it? So when you say 28grams of espresso shot. It's going to be close to 30ml


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## kidkuani (Mar 9, 2015)

Or could it be completly out depending on the extraction?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

kidkuani said:


> Ok so then what your saying is to use the double basket to put 14g of coffee into extract 28g/1 fluid oz/30ml/1 shot of espresso?
> 
> If so, then how do I go about extracting a double shot ie. 60ml/ 2 fluid oz


Read the three articles on brewing and weighing espresso here . they are not long.

You are aiming for a tasty drink not a certain size of one...

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/content.php

should help answer your questions

But in suspect Your grinder and baskets are holding you back currently


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

A double refers to the basket and therefore nominal dose you are using..,same with a single basket.... Try not get get hung up on a size of drink, focus on the taste


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## samjfranklin (Jan 1, 2015)

How much volume you get out in x amount of seconds can vary hugely depending on tamping and how fine you are grinding. Assuming that you'll keep the dose and grind size the same, if you get your tamping (and yes you do need to tamp) spot on each time, you should (in theory) get a similar output.

I only do espresso at work on a much larger system, so I won't be very helpful but there's a lot of knowledge on this forum, and I'm sure somebody more helpful will e along in a min.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

kidkuani said:


> Ok so then what your saying is to use the double basket to put 14g of coffee into extract 28g/1 fluid oz/30ml/1 shot of espresso?
> 
> If so, then how do I go about extracting a double shot ie. 60ml/ 2 fluid oz


Converting 60 fluid oz to grams would give 60grms approx. If you extracted that from, say, 15 grms of beans would give a ration of 1:4 which is well beyond an espresso lungo. Try shots yielding a ratio of 1:2 and see how that tastes. If you prefer it longer, try 1:2.5 - 1:3 ratio.


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## kidkuani (Mar 9, 2015)

Thanks for the info guys!

So today i went to my local roasters in Bristol, Brian Wogan LTD.

I explained i was looking for a 58mm Double Basket for my machine. The guy there was very helpful, he went off to the warehouse to look for one, brought one back and give it to me for free!!!

I then purchased some coffee beans that where roasted just yesterday, blend was Fairtrade Organic Sumatra. Rated a Medium-Dark Roast.

As soon as i got home i cracked on straight away with some new accurate scales ready to dial in the grinder.

I figured the easiest way to do this is fill the basket / level / tamp. that way i can do this every time without need to get the scales out.

After weighing my first few attempts i recorded an average 20.3g in the basket level'd with my finger.

So then i proceeded to pull some shots. I took your guys advice and did not pay any attention to the shot volume. but more about the time of extraction and trying to hit a 1:2 ratio within the desired extraction time.

Here where my results!

Beans / Espresso / Sec / Ratio

1st shot: 20.3g / 60g / 18sec / 1:3 / SOUR

Used finer grind...

2nd shot: 20.3g / 50.7g / 24sec / 1:2.5 / Good Taste

Tried a finer grind again to hit that 1:2 ratio...

3rd shot: 20.3g / 30g / 40sec / 1:1.5 / Bitter

Too fine so i dialled it in between...

4th shot: 20.3 / 40g / 28sec / 1:2 / Great taste but strong

I hit target but i think i preferred the taste of the 1:2.5 Ratio.

Maybe the roast is too dark for me.

but it makes a great latte.

After a few hours i tried to dial the grinder back to get that 1:2.5 ratio shot i had before, the first attempt failed and the shot took over 40sec to extract 20g worth of espresso.

At this point i was very confused and just put it down to over-tampening.

I tried again straight after with the same grind and it worked!! i managed to pull a 20g / 60g / 27sec / 1:3.

I just hope i can pull this type of shot consistently as the taste is good.

I guess i could of made the experiment more even by using the same extraction time in all tests.

But this way i think i still managed to collect the data i needed to setup the grinder and learn the basics in making an espresso.

Thanks for taking the time to read if you got this far.

If you guys have any more tips or think i'm doing something wrong, please let me know.


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## scoops (Nov 20, 2012)

Nice post kidkuani, your methodical approach will act as a starting reference for others such as myself learning the art of espresso shots.


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