# New DB in the house



## AndyJH (Apr 25, 2017)

The DB is now settling to replace my DTP







Thanks to iulianato for selling it on and then I guess to DavecUK for making the Vesuvius offers available which started this trickle down 









Got home with it late last night so caffeine intake was not high on my priorities so all I did was drain out the boilers and replace the water filter, oh and read the manual!

Had a play this morning and I have to say it's a great step up from the DTP in feel of the machine. The startup is just as quick but a lot quieter so I may even setup the auto start feature. Really like the active heating of the group head and the stainless portafilter.

First shot pored this morning was a big improvement on anything I have managed from the DTP, very enjoyable. Sadly I had to go to work but as soon as I got in I tried an Americano and used the hot water dispenser on the DB rather than the kettle. Again, much improved cup 

I haven't investigated the settings yet for preinfusion time, pressure and temp but I know the OPV has been slightly reduced and my shots were at about 7.5-8 bar.

Fingers crossed this machine provides a good service as I believe it was a bit of a bargain really (don't tell me otherwise  ). Lots of experiments and caffeine hits coming my way.


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## Greydad (Feb 25, 2018)

Yay! Happy DBday, the auto start in the morning is a doddle to set up and dead useful. Hot water is a bit slow but so useful we hardly use the kettle anymore. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do ours.


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

Whooo! Happy New DB-Day from me too







Enjoy using your new machine and more importantly, your coffee!


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

All I do is press the on off button when I get up. Some min later, not many and it's ready. Might even be less than 3min. I haven't tried leaving the portafilter in as suspect it would take for ever to heat up. I get round that via a 15 sec flush through a pressurised basket. When it's used again later in the day the heat up time is quicker as some heat will be left in the boiler.

There is a lot to play with due to the ability to change infusion settings. I've decided to leave those alone for a while. They can really distort the taste of a bean.

John

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## AndyJH (Apr 25, 2017)

Thanks Peeps







So far so good. Only had a few poor through as I've been busy at work







but results so far have been good. I think the settings have been adjusted a bit as the pre infusion seems very long, for a double shot it doesn't start to poor until almost 20 seconds and then finished at 30 seconds. Still gets about 36g into the cup depending on my tamp pressure. I know I can check the settings but I haven't yet







Also mine is set to 95 degrees and I think factory is 93, anyone experimented with this?

Will have a proper play over the weekend.


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## Greydad (Feb 25, 2018)

Nudged mine up to 94deg just to try it and put steam temp up 5deg to 140 per dfk41's info - does the milk a bit faster but not noticed any other difference yet. I feel (subjectively) I've had slightly better results using a manual pour, pressing and holding the Manual to keep the pre-infusion going for 15secs or so and then running to 30 or sometimes 35 secs. Might just be psychological, the illusion of being in control. Generally getting 8-9 bar, dfk41 reckons turn it down to 6bar but haven't tried that yet - still grappling with the basics


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## iulianato (May 5, 2015)

Hi Andy, I'm so happy that you're enjoying it.

I always had it at 93degC but with a filter roast from L&S (very light roast) I felt it needs 95degC - it made a difference.

My pours were at 8.5-9bar with current OPV setting so I do not understand how are you brewing at 7-8.5. Might this be due to too coarse grind? For me a 30s pour was too quick so I was aiming for 35-40s with that pi setting which (if I remember well it is set for 10s).


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mine is generally 93c. I've set mine to low pressure (setting the pre infusion to 70 secs, then you can adjust the pump pressure)

On a 18g shot using spouted the first drops appear after 15 sec.


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## AndyJH (Apr 25, 2017)

Had time to have a bit of a play today. Tried a shot at 93 degrees and some bitterness was there, went back to 95 and it was much nicer so I'll stay on that temp for the beans I use.

Had a look at the preinfuse time and pressure and these were 15 and 55. I've lowered the pi time to 10 and just tried a shot. I was at 38g out in about 28 seconds so might need to increase tamp pressure?? Shot was nice, stronger taste but not bitter.

Not quite got my head around the pros and cons of a long preinfuse time. Anyone else done any testing with this and how have they found it effects the shot?

Also I noted the pressure was indeed about 8.5bar with a slight drop over the extraction time.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

AndyJH said:


> Had time to have a bit of a play today. Tried a shot at 93 degrees and some bitterness was there, went back to 95 and it was much nicer so I'll stay on that temp for the beans I use.
> 
> Had a look at the preinfuse time and pressure and these were 15 and 55. I've lowered the pi time to 10 and just tried a shot. I was at 38g out in about 28 seconds so might need to increase tamp pressure?? Shot was nice, stronger taste but not bitter.
> 
> ...


You don't want to worry too much about ratio's. The aim is a drink you like the taste of and then maintain what ever that needed. The main thing about tamping is consistency and compressing the grounds. If you want to reduce the output then you should grind finer or maybe reduce the time. Sometimes the taste a bean gives smooths out if the output is increased. Sometimes it does if the time is shortened.

Changing anything is likely to change taste especially using infusion settings to brew at low pressure. I have played with that but found that it's very likely to produce a taste that bears no relationship at all to the tasting notes for the bean. If some one likes that tastes fine but from the 2 beans I am currently using it tends to do similar "things" to both of them that seriously reduce the taste difference they should have. It results in a stronger drink as well so there would be scope for coarsening the grind







but for me so far there is no way the technique will give the taste the beans should have. My general impression is the results are similar to over stewing coffee in an old fashioned percolator but the result is a lot stronger.

I set the infusion up to give similar pressure behaviour to my Barista Express. What I am likely to do next though is set it to Sage's defaults.

People may read about X in and X out in X seconds but the way machines brew vary. Some may have infusion, some may not, some machines may be HX types, some might be dual boilers that use a tapered water temperature profile as the shot is pulled. All are likely to need different X's. One drinker might prefer one set of X's and another totally different ones even if both are using the same machine.

My OPV seems to be set at 9 to 10 bar. It's easy to see what it's set at on any machine - just grind finer until the gauge always goes to the same high reading maybe dropping a touch as the valve opens.

John

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## AndyJH (Apr 25, 2017)

Thanks John for your feedback, much appreciated.

I think my results seem to backup what you say about pre-infusion and I have also started to play with making the grind finer. The last shot I poured was a lot stronger but I think I will continue and see what happens.

I have a new toy to play with today as my naked portafilter turned up







Looks great watching the extraction process directly from the bottom of the basket


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