# Please can you critique my shot...



## Emily (Dec 27, 2020)

Hello, only me, more questions (sorry) 😂

I had a go at grinding beans today for the first time. Pretty pleased with the results but would just like some tips to improve things! 
I'm using a Sage smart grinder pro and I think I made a few rookie errors.

Ok, so the instruction book isn't exactly comprehensive, so I just decided to guess the settings. Went for 14 grind size, 2 shots and grind time of 18 seconds (I don't really understand the relationship between grind time and the weight you end up with but I was looking for about 18g so seemed a good place to start).

I was grinding directly into the portafilter and you can pause it halfway to settle the grinds, so that is what I did but I made the mistake of taking the portafilter out and the timer reset itself. So I just put the portafilter back in the cradle and guessed the rest of the dose and stopped it when it looked about right. The grind was a fair bit finer than the pre-ground I have been using and when I tamped it, it was quite a small dose, definitely not 18g but I didn't know how to weigh it at that point so just decided go with it.

Forgot to flush the water through to warm things 😩 but never mind. Forgot to set up the scales to weigh the shot as well, but I did actually time it for once and it did a 10 second infusion and I finished the shot at 28 seconds. It was a bit diddy, I would have liked a bit more coffee in my cup than that. I have been doing about 60ml shots, but I think this was more like 40ml or less.

Also, my puck stuck to the grouphead/shower screen? Was that because it was too fine?

The coffee tasted nice actually. There was a very small sour hint so maybe I underextracted a little but I could taste the chocolate flavour and it is the best one I have made so far. Any helpful comments welcome ☺


----------



## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Advice ...

If it tastes good that's all that matters.

if you want a bigger drink , bit same strength then get a bigger basket and dose more .

don't focus on pucks , it's not a sign of any kind of real malfuncion


----------



## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Weight the dose out. I don't get your comment about "I didn't know how to weigh it at that point"? To weigh the dose if you're grinding direct to the portafilter you put the portafilter on scales, tare the scales, grind into the basket, and then weigh the portafilter again....the weight increase is the weight of coffee in the basket. The instructions probably give you a g/s the grinder will produce to give you a fairly good idea of how long to run the grinder for to get the weight but you'll always need to weigh unless the grinder is very consistent in output.

Sounds like you got it almost right but not really possible to say if you should grind finer or increase dose. Increasing dose seems likely to work, people say Sages work well with higher doses so it could be the way to go even if you did get 18g in the basket. The puck stuck to the shower screen because of the three way valve.


----------



## EmmaC (Jan 17, 2021)

There are so many variants to change in making a shot! Try to only change one thing at a time.

I have to say the main thing that helped me progress my shotmaking was getting a proper set of scales.

Good luck!


----------



## Emily (Dec 27, 2020)

Rob1 said:


> I don't get your comment about "I didn't know how to weigh it at that point"?


 I had already tamped it in the puck in the portafilter so if I weighed it I wouldn't know what the weight of the dose was. I guess if I need to weigh it, which I will do because the grinder doesn't tell me how much it is grinding, then I am better grinding into a pot, then transferring to portafilter? In which case, there isn't much point to the cradles....



Rob1 said:


> The instructions probably give you a g/s


 Couldn't find a reference to this in the instructions.



Rob1 said:


> not really possible to say if you should grind finer or increase dose.


 Yep, just wondering what will happen if I stay at this fineness and increase the dose or go less fine....



Rob1 said:


> The puck stuck to the shower screen because of the three way valve.


 No idea what this is 😂

Thank you ☺


----------



## Emily (Dec 27, 2020)

EmmaC said:


> main thing that helped me progress my shotmaking was getting a proper set of scales.


 Thanks Emma, I have some scales but was so focused on using the grinder for the first time I forgot to use them at every stage 😂


----------



## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Weight portafiler. Zero scales. Grind into portafilter. Weight portafilter. If over weight remove coffee a pinch at a time, if under weight grind more. You could grind into a pot but you'd be doing exactly the same thing and then transferring to the portafilter...


----------



## EmmaC (Jan 17, 2021)

Emily said:


> Thanks Emma, I have some scales but was so focused on using the grinder for the first time I forgot to use them at every stage 😂


 As long as you don't forget the coffee


----------



## Emily (Dec 27, 2020)

Rob1 said:


> Weight portafiler. Zero scales. Grind into portafilter. Weight portafilter. If over weight remove coffee a pinch at a time, if under weight grind more. You could grind into a pot but you'd be doing exactly the same thing and then transferring to the portafilter...


 Brilliant, thank you!

This reminds me of school chemistry labs 😩😂


----------



## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Emily said:


> Brilliant, thank you!
> 
> This reminds me of school chemistry labs 😩😂


 Just check that your scales will accept the weight of your portafilter, some accurate scales do not have the range.


----------

