# Swings and Roundabouts



## AliC (Jan 9, 2014)

Or I was about to call this thread "cup half full".

I have had half an hour free time this morning to dial in a new batch of beans - Rave's Jagong Village, from the variety pack I bought from them so that I could try a range of flavours.

I have now discovered the double-edged sword that is buying 250g pack of beans, that it takes about half the pack to get the grind somewhere about right then you only get a couple of days worth of coffee before going through the whole process with something completely different. This prompted me to fire out a quick order for 2kg of Signature Blend ahead of Glenn's masterclass this coming weekend.

I am also finding that my palette is getting pretty knackered after the fourth off-shot, not to mention the headache...!

On the plus side, I'm getting to know my grinder much better (esp as the Mignon is stepless, so appreciating how little I need to move the dial to change grind/extraction time). But best of all it makes the house smell fantastic!


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

Yeah 250g is not a lot especially if you are using a 20g VST basket! Even if I haven't tried something before I quite often now buy a 1kg bag if available as works out cheaper and gives more scope for playing with pulls, temp etc. if I don't like it as espresso will give to the Mrs in a latte!!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Ali as you get more experience , you will dial in quicker don't worry. I tend to buy at least 500g of something to give it a fair run tho.


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## AliC (Jan 9, 2014)

Very good point. That's pretty much the conclusion I have come to.

What I may well end up doing is get a hand grinder and brew the other smaller packs of coffee through the filter machine or French press.

At least with 2kg of Signature Blend I'll have plenty of scope to get the grind right and then work on my consistency. I can then tinker with how much milk I need for the wife's latte so she doesn't reach for the sugar....


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

No worries , what else did you get as some may not work for brewed etc ...


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

No worries , what else did you get , as some stuff might not be best filter or brew .


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## c_squared (Jun 26, 2013)

I had the same frustrations when I started out. One particular bag of 250g nearly tipped me over the edge as I maybe only had a handful of good shots and a seriously dented sense of motivation. I was however using a porlex hand grinder at the time and it was very difficult to get both consistency and small adjustments. I did the same as you, ordered in a kg at a time and was able to develop a consistent routine as well as getting to know my grinder (not the porlex by now). Now I have a certain level of confidence I am going for a variety of 250g bags as I know I'll be able to get them individually dialled in without too much wastage.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

See Ali we were and in my case still noobs , there will be beans that get the better of most of us from time to time. Just stick to a consistent process .


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

I think with experience you'll be able to know how much of an adjustment to make on the grinder after the first shot. It's all part of the learning curve but does get easier


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## Pompeyexile (Dec 2, 2013)

Thank goodness it's not just me!

At long last by last Saturday I had everything in place; coffee from Rave and my new Brasilia grinder ready and raring to go. Never ground coffee before never used an espresso machine before but hey, just how difficult can it be....Right?

Chuffin difficult!

Over half of my Rave signature has gone and i'm no closer to getting it right. Is it the grind, my tamping, my extraction pressure on the Gaggia or simply that never having tasted espresso my taste buds wouldn't know a good shot of it smacked me in the face?

What I do know is that as my Caroline liked to put it, whenever I tasted the resulting black liquid I had a face like a camel sucking a lemon!

I've got a 1kg bag of fudge coming to practice on but i'm thinking I might need a sack full. I've had wet pucks, too fast extraction, no extraction, extraction of 30ml in 25 seconds; at last perfect yes? Forget caramel, or chocolate or fruity tasting, it still tasted like burnt sewer water.

I've tried single shots and double shots to no avail. But!......i'm not going to give up. Who'd have thought there would be so many variables affecting the taste.

Next i'm waiting to borrow a pressure guage to make sure my Gaggia is set to 9 bar and then start again. Goodness knows what would happen if I tried using my bottomless portafilter, but I refuse to use the little plastic widget and single holed basket that comes with the Gaggia to make pulling a shot easy.

Onwards and upwards!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Il be honest Pompey , I never really liked fudge as espresso , they used to have on the website " as espresso don't go there " . It shines as a flat white , latte for me . To get the moreish fudgey taste you need to put it in steamed whole milk.


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

Pompeyexile said:


> Thank goodness it's not just me!
> 
> At long last by last Saturday I had everything in place; coffee from Rave and my new Brasilia grinder ready and raring to go. Never ground coffee before never used an espresso machine before but hey, just how difficult can it be....Right?
> 
> ...


Sound exactly like me when I first started!! (which was about 3 months ago) The best thing you can do is practice! Actually the best thing you can do is get some training!!







The next best thing is post up a video of your prep and shots being pulled, also pictures of the puck after can be useful or at least keep an eye to see if any signs of channelling etc.

I am still a novice and most of the things are still not natural to me it still involves a lot of thinking!! But I think this will gradually improve the issue I have is getting enough 'practice' time


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Training is definitely recommended


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## AliC (Jan 9, 2014)

Pompeyexile said:


> Thank goodness it's not just me!
> 
> I've got a 1kg bag of fudge coming to practice on
> 
> Onwards and upwards!


Two major lessons I learned on Fudge. First is to TASTE the coffee. Don't just swallow the vile black liquid as quickly as possible, but hold it in your mouth for a few seconds as if you were tasting a wine. Spend a second examining the flavour for sour, bitter sweet and any fruit aspects too, before wincing and swallowing. Don't be afraid to spit either - if Oz Clark can do it on TV you can do it at home.

Secondly, don't expect a shot of Fudge ever to taste great. Get in the right ball park in terms of weight in, weight out and extraction time for your shot then whack in the steamed milk and prepare to be pleasantly surprised. It took me around 200g of a 250g pouch to work this out.

My personal threshold is would I be happy paying good money in a cafe for the drink I had just produced for myself.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Splitting the shot into thirds ( using different cups ) and tasting each one is an eye opener too .


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## AliC (Jan 9, 2014)

garydyke1 said:


> Training is definitely recommended


Too bl##dy right!









I've got Glenn coming this weekend to save me from myself.


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## AliC (Jan 9, 2014)

Mrboots2u said:


> No worries , what else did you get , as some stuff might not be best filter or brew .


Along with the Fudge, SIG Blend and Jagong Village I've got packs of Brazilian Fazenda Pantano Estate, Guatemalan Hueuhuetenango and Rwanda Gisuma Red Bourbon.

I will probably get a Porlex tall as I don't think I can wait until the next batch of Comandante C40 hand grinders come out, but I'll probably grab one when they do.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

AliC said:


> Along with the Fudge, SIG Blend and Jagong Village I've got packs of Brazilian Fazenda Pantano Estate, Guatemalan Hueuhuetenango and Rwanda Gisuma Red Bourbon.
> 
> I will probably get a Porlex tall as I font think I can wait until the next batch of Comandante C40 hand grinders come out, but I'll probably grab one when they do.


Really stay away from the Comndante , it had hideous reviews......... Try Lido 2 or Madebyknock ( Hausgrind )


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## MarkyP (Jan 10, 2013)

Don't worry, we have all been there!

Consistency is the key to it all... Beans, grind, dose, tamp technique and pressure, output weight, shot time.

It's a lot to take in but it does get easier. And the results are worth it!!!


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## AliC (Jan 9, 2014)

Mrboots2u said:


> Really stay away from the Comndante , it had hideous reviews......... Try Lido 2 or Madebyknock ( Hausgrind )


Really??? Thanks. Had obviously missed the duff write-ups on the Comandante. Pity as it does look the part.

Lido 2 looks a bit of a beast and not planning on joining the queue for a MBK.

Looks like a boring old Porlex then. Ho hum.


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