# Filling the basket - 14g? 16g? 18g? 20g? Just go with the flow?



## drgekko

I love these forums so much! Addictive just like coffee!!

Now here's my next step in my quest for coffee nirvana. I've noticed that folk suggest using 18-20g of coffee in the basket when making the standard double shot, extracted over 25-30 seconds. I'm using a Ascaso I-1D grinder so I need specific advice for that machine please.

This is what I've been doing myself....

1. Weigh 20g of beans

2. Grind & fill the basket, sweeping my index finger across the mounts to try and get the grounds to fill the air spaces around the edges.

3. Tamper, lock in and extract

However, most of the expert videos I've watched don't seem to show any specific weight - the basket is filled and overflowed and then the finger sweeping is used to level off to make a flat surface in line with the basket edge - this is tampered and then extracted, producing that honey-like drizzle which I want.

I've also noted the difference between the amount of tamping pressure applied - too much pressure and you get a few drops of coal tar for a drink!


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## forzajuve

I would say most of the expert videos relate to practices in a cafe environment where you cant be pre-weighing out your coffee for every shot. Here lies a benefit to the home user in being able to do this with great levels of accuracy above that which is achieved at the commercial level with fancy and expensive electronic grinders.


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## Glenn

What size basket do you have?

There are differing basket sizes with optimum dose weights

These are guidelines only though


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## Mrboots2u

Firstly I would try weighing your basket after dosing to get a more accurate evaluation of how much you are dosing for your shots. How much you dose will to some degree depend on your tastes and the type of beans you are using . If it tastes good then then amount is working for you ! Most people on here will look at the input ( weight dosed ) versus output ( weight of shot produced ) . If you want to go down this route for espresso heaven then you will need scales that help type do this . Decent scales will have a tar function on them , so you can for example 0 out the basket to get the correct weight for the coffee dosed.

Again I am no expert at all , and on the same journey as you, and I am sure you will get more detailed and better advice than this , but these are good starting points .


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## urbanbumpkin

It depends on what basket you have.

If you have a standard gaggia non pressurised basket then I'd tend to dose 15g-16g. I generally weigh the beans before grinding as I grind directly into the basket. My PF won't fit on my scales (and I'd probably spanner the grind everywhere if I tried to click it in afterwards).

With my 17g LM basket I use the an 18g dose on average but this can vary on bean type. Hope this helps.


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## urbanbumpkin

This may be useful too in relation to what people dose

https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?10475-What-Do-Folk-Dose&highlight=folk+dose

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?10475-What-Do-Folk-Dose&highlight=folk+dose


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## urbanbumpkin

Hope this helpshttps://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?10475-What-Do-Folk-Dose&highlight=folk+dose

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?10475-What-Do-Folk-Dose&highlight=folk+dose


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## drgekko

forzajuve said:


> I would say most of the expert videos relate to practices in a cafe environment where you cant be pre-weighing out your coffee for every shot....


You're right - but they win international competitions. So I'm guessing their shots are spot on?



Glenn said:


> What size basket do you have?


Standard non-pressurised basket with double spout - I've tried playing with a naked portafilter which worked a treat once... since then spurts everywhere! So back to the standard spout drawing board.



Mrboots2u said:


> Firstly I would try weighing your basket after dosing to get a more accurate evaluation of how much you are dosing for your shots. How much you dose will to some degree depend on your tastes and the type of beans you are using . If it tastes good then then amount is working for you ! Most people on here will look at the input ( weight dosed ) versus output ( weight of shot produced ) . If you want to go down this route for espresso heaven then you will need scales that help type do this . Decent scales will have a tar function on them , so you can for example 0 out the basket to get the correct weight for the coffee dosed.
> 
> Again I am no expert at all , and on the same journey as you, and I am sure you will get more detailed and better advice than this , but these are good starting points .


I do have a set of scales and I've been measuring own beans before grinding... but I really want to get away from this and with practice enough to do away with the clinical measuring and weighing. Do you know what I mean? I wanna be like the cool folk on the videos! Lol.



urbanbumpkin said:


> It depends on what basket you have.
> 
> If you have a standard gaggia non pressurised basket then I'd tend to dose 15g-16g. I generally weigh the beans before grinding as I grind directly into the basket. My PF won't fit on my scales (and I'd probably spanner the grind everywhere if I tried to click it in afterwards).
> 
> With my 17g LM basket I use the an 18g dose on average but this can vary on bean type. Hope this helps.


Same reasons here... my missus is already going mad at me for all the grind mess! Lol.


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## Kyle548

drgekko said:


> You're right - but they win international competitions. So I'm guessing their shots are spot on?
> 
> Standard non-pressurised basket with double spout - I've tried playing with a naked portafilter which worked a treat once... since then spurts everywhere! So back to the standard spout drawing board.
> 
> I do have a set of scales and I've been measuring own beans before grinding... but I really want to get away from this and with practice enough to do away with the clinical measuring and weighing. Do you know what I mean? I wanna be like the cool folk on the videos! Lol.
> 
> Same reasons here... my missus is already going mad at me for all the grind mess! Lol.


If your bottomless is spurting everywhere, then dose is the least of your worries, you need to correctly distribute the coffee; if it's spurting, it sounds like your coffee is channeling and that means that your shots will taste awful no matter what you do because of an uneven extraction throughout the puck.

You can worry about doing the master classes once you can make coffee that tastes good consistently and you have a good technique to build on.

After you dose into the basket, try using a spoon handle and shifting the grinds so that they are evenly distributed throughout the basket and try pulling with the naked portafilter again, it should spray less and your extraction should be more balanced, presuming the shot timing and grind were correct.

I find that, while dose does make a difference, a consistent dose with the correct grind and shot timing are far more important.


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