# Very strange brew this morning. Advice



## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

Today I had the strangest brew.

Beans = 17g of Samutra peaberry (roasted 2nd July)

Grind = No 2 on my Baratza Virtuoso (so pretty damn fine)

Tamp = Fairly hard but then again I'm still using the tamper that came with my Classic so it doesn't make a perfect seal.

I flicked the switch and the machine started to humm along nicely. about 4 seconds later I started to get the lovely dark black liquid trickling out and I thought, "This is going to be a good one". Then all of a sudden it was blonding and I'd got to 45g in the cup within seconds. I quickly turned it off. There was loads of crema but it disappeared quickly (not necessarily a bad thing). The shot was still very nice don't get me wrong.

The strangest thing was that it gave me the most solid, firm puck I've ever had.

Do you just think I was unlucky enough to have got a really bad channel in my puck? Or could it be because the beans are so fresh? I really can't wait til next week when I pick up my new 58mm tamper from my friend.


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## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

Sounds like serious channeling to me. I'd grind a fair bit coarser, maybe up dose and get a better tamper. Having said that if the beans are way too fresh you get what I call the 'new bottle of coke' effect where you get tons of crema very quickly filling your cup but it quickly subsides leaving you the true amount of espresso from your pour (usually not much). The reason I don't think it's that though is beacause you said 45g not ml so I'm assuming you're weighing you shot?


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

The whole point of the fine grind was to try and slow the extraction down a bit cos I was getting 15 secs for a double. Maybe I'm just going to have to wait til I get my new tamper.

Yes I weigh the beans and the coffee on the way out. This is partly because I don't have glasses with marks on then and partly because I'm experimenting with brew ratios.

I also want to get a blanking plate so I can backflush my solenoid properly becasue I suspect it's a bit blocked hence my usually soggy pucks.


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## Zouche (Jan 16, 2011)

chimpsinties said:


> I also want to get a blanking plate so I can backflush my solenoid properly becasue I suspect it's a bit blocked hence my usually soggy pucks.


Hmmm, is that a cause of a soggy puck on a Classic? If so I may have to try that myself... I often get a soggy puck (due to water sat on the top) and the solenoid doesn't ever really seem to discharge much into the drip tray...


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## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

Chimpsinties, one way of slowing the flow is grinding finer but too fine can cause channeling as pressure builds until the water punches it's way through. Best thing to do if you are always getting channeling with grind particles of this size is grind a bit coarser to let the water flow but up your dose a bit (which is also a good cure for soggy pucks). You can also try flicking the brew switch on for a second then off again to let a little water onto the puck. This helps settle everything down. Then brew as normal.

You're right though if you don't backflush your machine often enough the solenoid will quickly get mucky and stop working very well and eventually at all. With my old machine I didn't have a blanking plate so I just cut a round piece of plastic off of an old margarine tub and used that as a blanking plate. It worked suprisingly well. Best thing to use though would be a flat piece of rubber.


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

Cheers for the advice guys. Tomorrow I'll try a slightly courser grind and might give that "flick the switch for a second" trick a go. I'll let you know.

I only make one espresso before work a day so it's frustrating sometimes cos I want to experiment but I only have time at the weekends.


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

OK, today I upped the courseness from 2 to 4 and it came out almost perfectly. 17g in and ~46g out took about 15-20 secs. I know it's still a bit quick but I'm pretty sure that's the tampers fault.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

chimpsinties said:


> OK, today I upped the courseness from 2 to 4 and it came out almost perfectly. 17g in and ~46g out took about 15-20 secs. I know it's still a bit quick but I'm pretty sure that's the tampers fault.


Out of interest, is that 46g approximately 2oz too? Seems a little heavy for a 2oz drink, so I'm guessing it's perhaps 3oz?

Since you're into brew ratios (great, by the way!) that's 37%, which would potentially make it a Lungo.

Once you get the tamper and create a better bed of resistance in the puck, I reckon you'll soon find you're pulling shots that are 2oz and 20-35g, depending on whether you like ristrettos, normales or lungos. Personally I find all the sweetness in the ristretto range. Something fun to experiment with, anyway!

Keep us informed of your progress please


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

MikeHag said:


> Out of interest, is that 46g approximately 2oz too? Seems a little heavy for a 2oz drink, so I'm guessing it's perhaps 3oz?


It perhaps just over half fills an espresso cup. Maybe I had my brew ratios all wrong in my head then [heads off back to read the article again] I really should measure the volume too it's just that I don't have any marked glasses. It might be time to get the old permanent marker and measuring jug out.


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

Took your advice today and extracted 34g from 17g beans. The puck was really nice and solid afterwards









Lovely coffee too.


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