# Anyone have the Barista express and smart grinder pro?



## Kettlewell (Dec 22, 2019)

Hi guys, new to the forum.

Does anybody have this setup? Im new to the espresso world and still learning but I figured if somebody had the same setup they would know roughly where I'm going wrong.

So my first mistake was shop bought beans. I've bought some from union coffee roasters. They were roasted on the 19th december, are they still too new?

I'm struggling with grind size and amount, so it would be good to see what you guys have the smart grinder settings on to give me an indication of where to start, so I dont waste loads kf beans.

Everything I try points to over extraction. I've tried 15-18g espresso in the puck, once tamped it's way below where the booklet says it should be after using the razor tool.

Coffee starts coming out of the machine after approx 9 seconds, the pressure gauge goes about as high as possible, so way out of the good zone, and extraction time ranges from 40 seconds to over a minute, sometimes I've even had ones where no coffee comes out...


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

You don't need someone with the same grinder to troubleshoot.

Are you drinking the shots neat?

18g will be fine, make sure your scales are 0.1g resolution as most 1g resolution scales can be +/-3g. Weigh what actually goes in the PF, not what goes in the grinder.

Tamp fairly gently, but most importantly, tamp flat, observe the steel band at the edge of the tamper to ensure this is happening.

Ignore the pressure guage.

If little to nothing comes out you are under-extracting.

It sounds like your grinder is set too fine. See if you can coarsen the grind to get 70g out (kill the shot early, say 60g in the cup). What does it taste like, how long did you need to run the pump for/


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## longhardgrind (Mar 17, 2017)

Are you using the Barista express grinder or the smart grinder pro, because in my experience they grind completely differently. But anyway, others will dissagree, I say grind a little coarser one step at a time until it tastes right, and remember, a good cup of coffee is what ypou are after, the science of coffee making is secondry.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

longhardgrind said:


> Are you using the Barista express grinder or the smart grinder pro, because in my experience they grind completely differently. But anyway, others will dissagree, I say grind a little coarser one step at a time until it tastes right, and remember, a good cup of coffee is what ypou are after, the science of coffee making is secondry.


 No one's talking about science, we're talking about a process. This is all that grinders & machines understand because they need to be set by a human and cannot taste themselves.


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## Dodds25 (Dec 19, 2019)

Kettlewell said:


> Does anybody have this setup? Im new to the espresso world and still learning but I figured if somebody had the same setup they would know roughly where I'm going wrong.
> 
> So my first mistake was shop bought beans. I've bought some from union coffee roasters. They were roasted on the 19th december, are they still too new?
> 
> ...


 I find the needle on that gauge is always a little past the solid grey zone. I don't know about the smart grinder but the steps on the built-in one are pretty big, so you have to adjust the dose to get the ratio you want in the time you want. I know from doing this that the exact amount of coffee you have in there makes a big difference to the pressure (and the extraction) so - as has been said already - you do need to be able to measure this reliably. From what you are describing to a reasonable shot is only 1 or at most 2 steps on the built-in grinder. The smart grinder has more steps but then they cover a much bigger range, so I would go 2 steps coarser and take it from there.


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## Kettlewell (Dec 22, 2019)

Thanks for the replies so far...

Is there a chance my beans are too fresh still? Roasted on thursday.

I will be using the smart grinder for all of it rather than the built in. I was wondering about somebody else having a smart grinder is to say what number they were grinding on to give me somewhere to start as there are alot of steps in the espresso range.

For testing purposes, would using the single dose be ok? Just so I dont waste as much coffee. If so, should I be aiming for about 8g coffee?


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## Agentb (Feb 11, 2017)

Fresh beans, I gave up using anything under 5 days rested as i couldn't get two shots the same - just ended up wasting coffee as the grind setting would change from day to day.

You don't say if the machine is new or second hand and you haven't given it a really good clean and descale - i would as it can make a huge difference to flow rates and flavours. Pull a shot of water through and taste it.

I don't know how big your PF basket is (and there is quite a range), so an easy check is put a 5p piece on the puck and close and reopen the PF and see no impression = that's fine. You need at least that amount of headspace as the coffee will expand.. prepare flat and tamp flat as mention by MWJB above. A naked PF really helps on seeing if you have that right.

I'm not quite sure i understand what you mean by a single dose - in a double basket - hmm no. Even in a single basket, singles are harder to get right (consistently). The tentative wisdom is to set the dose (to suit what you want to drink and the basket you have) then adjust grind settings and amount extracted. With your grinder you might find changing the grind setting will alter the weight (in the same time), so keep an eye on that.

If it tastes right then it is right.

A video posted will gather a lot of comments.?


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## Beanruined (Dec 21, 2019)

I use the same set up. The SGP spends most of its life between 11 and 9. I tend to change beans fairly often so usually just weigh out 18g and chuck that into the grinder and run until empty. Grind into the double shot, single wall basket, it's says on the bottom, not the double shot double wall.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Kettlewell said:


> For testing purposes, would using the single dose be ok? Just so I dont waste as much coffee. If so, should I be aiming for about 8g coffee?


 Use 10 or 11g


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## Kettlewell (Dec 22, 2019)

Agentb said:


> Fresh beans, I gave up using anything under 5 days rested as i couldn't get two shots the same - just ended up wasting coffee as the grind setting would change from day to day.
> 
> You don't say if the machine is new or second hand and you haven't given it a really good clean and descale - i would as it can make a huge difference to flow rates and flavours. Pull a shot of water through and taste it.
> 
> ...


 The machine is brand new as is the grinder.

As for letting the beans rest, this may sound a stupid question...but I dont need to open the bags do I? They have the roasting date on the back, so I'm just wanting to wait approx 5 days from that before trying to use.

The first bag I was using was roasted on the 19th, I tried a shot yesterday and it was definitely better than previous, and that was with a coarser grind setting like the guy above suggested, but now I've run out of that bag.

The other ones were all roasted on the 20th so I wont bother trying until tomorrow.

I have some 0.1g increment scales coming today and I will work on getting the tamp nice and flat.

Thanks so far for the help and I hope you all have a great Christmas


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## Agentb (Feb 11, 2017)

Kettlewell said:


> As for letting the beans rest, this may sound a stupid question...but I dont need to open the bags do I? They have the roasting date on the back, so I'm just wanting to wait approx 5 days from that before trying to use.


 I'd suggest always keep them in an airtight container (with as little head-space as possible so the resealable bags are good for that), and if it is a sealed bag you will notice the bag will inflate a little (some a lot) as it degasses. ?


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