# New member intro



## Gobo (May 18, 2020)

Hello folks,

I'm on the verge of selling up my kit. I have a decent setup which I believe is more than capable of pulling consistently good shots but my ability is letting me down. It doesn't help either after spending hours of dialling in with no reward only to be left absolutely jittery and tuned to the moon on caffeine. It puts me off coffee for weeks😂

So, in a last ditch effort before I make any rash decisions i'm going to dust off my machine and hopefully enlist the help of all your knowledge to get me pulling some decent shots.

I'm pretty specific with everything so hopefully I can provide enough information for you to assist.

My process is:

1. Always fresh coffee (usually order from (Hasbean or local roaster)
2. Tare empty portafilter on scales.
3. Grind shot into PF. Weigh. Adjust where required to 18g. Tamp.
4. Cooling flush on HX machine. Gently insert PF.
5. Move scales to machine and tare glass/cup.
6. Start timer and begin pulling shot.
7. Stop at 25-30s when 36g is reached in glass/cup.

This is where I get a bit lost. More often than not my shots taste very very bitter, almost ash like. So, i adjust the grind a little coarser without much success until i'm eventually way out of the time range. There's obviously more to it than just adjusting the grind in this case?

Anyway, coffee on order which will hopefully be here before the week is out and I can start pulling some shots again and post my results where hopefully you can all steer me in the right direction; otherwise there's going to be a Rocket Appartamento and Eureka Atom on the for sale board😄

Cheers


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

Hi if you look through threads you'll see loads of people been in your position. Don't give up just yet. Maybe someone local to you could give you a bit of help (post SD). You've got good equipment and beans so just probably needing slight tweeks. The 25/30 sec rule not set in stone, maybe try and grind finer for a longer pour.

Sent from my Lenovo TB-X605F using Tapatalk


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

Hi @Gobo

+1 on the above, don't give up, you'll get there.

Starting from basics, no mention of cleaning regime of the machine or grinder, if not recently then the cleanliness is next to godliness thread on here may provide some pointers. This also applies to the water tank as well as the group head, portafilter, gaskets etc

Glasgow water normally softer than fairy's breath but just in case you got some local supply issues may wish to replace the water for something of known standard such as volvic and see what if any difference this makes.

Machine on time till first shot: if not leaving on for at least 30 minutes to warm up, irrespective of any sales blurb, you can run into issues of not being hot enough either in the group or water temp through puck which could lead to similar harsh flavours as not extracting properly. You have mentioned a pre flush at point 3 could this be too much or not enough?

Resting beans: you mention fresh from HasBean but if piling into too early you could have some really roasty harsh flavours that will dissipate when given 7-10 days plus to calm down. where you rest them can have a difference as well, dark / cool best but not in fridge, another member from the Glasgow area a while back had issues of beans being very meh, turned out the afternoon sun was falling on the bags in the kitchen, moved all returned to normal. If left in bags they come in, when opened try and squeeze as much air out as possible when resealing (oxygen is not a bean friend)

Dialling in: if not already doing so, try and purge a few grams from the grinder when making changes to grind settings otherwise you are not only dealing with a small amount left in the grinder that is older / potentially stale than what you now grinding but also at a different grind level to what you now expecting leading to you chasing your own tail a bit. Take notes of both grind level and taste so you have something to work from next time noting beans change as they go further from roast date necessitating adjustments to grind level to keep ideal. EDIT: your picture shows an awful lot of fine grinds in the grinder catch bin, is this just extra which is getting ready for being binned rather than this is where you get your grinds from ?

If you can get the cleaning, temperature, grinder and water standardised you are dealing with far less variables and as such stand a much better chance of getting something you more than happy with in the cup ( or at least rule out the easy stuff  )

Don't despair, we've all been there at some point or other

John


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## Gobo (May 18, 2020)

johnealey said:


> Hi @Gobo
> 
> +1 on the above, don't give up, you'll get there.
> 
> ...


 Thanks for taking the time to respond folks. I definitely should look into a better cleaning regime so i'll do that now, but from further reading I think i'm getting too fixated on 25-30s and a 1:2 ratio when I should be largely driven by taste.

Would a sensible approach be two pick three brew ratios on a bag of new beans, pick the "best" tasting one and adjust further from there? Previously I would just be aiming for 1:2 in 25-30s then get a bit lost when it tasted crap.

Cheers


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## HDAV (Dec 28, 2012)

I'm in a similar boat (I just think i dont like coffee anymore, but SWMBO does and likes what i make so will keep making it while she WFH otherwise it would be back in the shed) , you might need to get some puly cafe or similar through the machine (back flush) to remove anything ont he shower plate and collecting in porta-filter, basket etc. There are specific grinder (puly grind etc) products you can use i take the top burr off and hoover the chamber every few weeks and there is an amount of hard dried coffee inside. May need to get a big bag of well known house beans and a house brew ratio (local shops are great for this chat to the barista and ask their timings etc (maybe tricky right now).

Also get a second opinion on the shots you are pulling, tastes can and do change and are affected by other things (COVID-19 is a big factor on taste)


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

@Gobo

Sounds like you covered off the vast majority and yes ditch the idea of time as being the primary measure, have had some very tasty espresso as 16s and 1min10 second pours.

1:2 is just a starting point and you may find that coming down to say 18 in and 30g out or conversely 18in 54g out produce something you like.

You may also want to give your grinds a bit of a swizzle in the portafilter pre tamp, cocktail stick at most basic, just to rule out channelling and give your espresso both a stir before tasting (crema is not nice on its own) and a chance to cool down a bit. Could be as simple as finding a ratio you not offended by as you mention above and start from there but do a couple either side of your standard and let them both cool down a bit before tasting side by side to work out where to go from there.

You haven't mentioned cleaning the Apartamento which may also have an impact on taste, if reading up on cleaning grinders then the machine part may be of interest also.

Keep at it

John


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## Gobo (May 18, 2020)

Thanks for the input @johnealey. Everything has been cleaned to within an inch of its life this week. The portafilter under the basket was pretty shameful to be honest, so that wouldn't have been helping matters.

Fresh beans arrived today. They were roasted on the 19th so it'll probably be into the middle of next week before I can start pulling some shots.

Should I leave them in the sealed bag to continue gassing off or decant them into my airtight containers?

Thanks

ETA: Are there beans that are more suited to the novice? I ordered these beans as it says they "are more forgiving". What specifically about this blend makes it "more forgiving"?

I appreciate it's personal taste when it comes to blends but at this stage I probably need all the help I can get. Would i be right in assuming it's more to do with the roast, maybe medium vs dark, where dark is more bitter?


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