What’s on your coffee bench?

[Matt92037]

The only real things the machine can influence are driven by pressure and brew temp. For tempurature, too hot=bitter, too cool=sour.

If you are pulling 10 second shots the grind needs to be tightened up a lot.

Originally Posted by d_douglas

Well, I blew half a bag of espresso yesterday pulling undrinkable shots .

I was expecting this as I’ve only used an espresso machine a dozen times, so there’s a learning curve, what I think learned was that the grinder is no good, as the extraction was quick (immediate?) and watery, so the coffee wasn’t ground fine enough.

My neighbour came over and we played around using his grinder and it started looking like espresso, though still extracting too fast (10sec) and it was bitter.

My tamping skills need to come up, but I also need a finer grind for sure.

Are there other things that make this happen? Is there anything with the machine itself that would result in terrible coffee?

[herb5998]

If you have an instant read thermometer, test what your water is coming out at, and how long after you've started the machine. I found on my older machine, 45min to 1 hr really gave the system a proper warm up, and ensure that your portafilter is in there to get warm as well, otherwise it's a huge heat sink.


As others have said, if you're extracting that fast, you need to get grind much finer. general guideline I used from my newer machine was first drops between 5-7 seconds, and finishing a double shot between 25-30sec. then fine tune from there.

[Matt92037]

Also research Silvia “temp surfing”. This is undoubtedly the reason you are getting bitter shots with only a 10 second extraction.

https://www.home-barista.com/espress...ng-t45807.html

[fmradio516]

can anyone recommend a stick on temperature sticker for the grouphead?

[kingpin75s]

For consistent temperature that should be close to ideal, I have found the following works well in general or as a good start to dial further:

- Heat machine for approx 45min. and temp light should be off
- Run w/o coffee thru the portafiler to heat cup and get temp light turn on
- Watch for temp light to turn off again and pull shot starting 45 sec after

Never felt the need for a PID with the above technique.

The obvious has been recognized with respect to grind. I would only add that while the Rocky grinder is very nice, if you are looking used, something stepless is even better to dial in a Sylvia. Bonus if you can find and justify a good deal on a Mazzer Mini, which has gone up a chunk in the 14 years since I bought mine.

[9tubes]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

Well, I blew half a bag of espresso yesterday pulling undrinkable shots

I'm proud of ya. The quest begins...





.

[d_douglas]

So, looks like the free grinder can’t grind finely enough. Fortunately for me, I live a block away from a great coffee shop, so I went back and bought more beans but had them grind them there. This was my control, though I know the flavour will die after a few days.

I made on this morning that actually tasted like espresso - extracted for 25sec and had crema. It wasn’t very good I would say, but it wasn’t bad - a start. I have it to my daughter with steamed milk and she thought it was gross 🤮

[tctyres]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

I gave it to my daughter with steamed milk and she thought it was gross 🤮

Ha! In a week's time, she'll be pulling shots like a pro, and you'll be wondering how she does it.

[Neil]

I recently expanded my making coffee kit list - partially because I bought a camper late last year.

9Barista espresso machine:



And a Kinu M47 grinder:



So far I've been using the espresso machine on the stove, where it makes great tasting coffee. I'm looking forward to using it in the camper now I've got my settings dialled in.

[herb5998]

Very cool Neil! I looked at the 47 last year as a hand grinder for travel, but ended up with a 1ZPresso, which works well mocha pot and espresso when I’m on a road trip.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[froze]

Originally Posted by Neil

I recently expanded my making coffee kit list - partially because I bought a camper late last year.

9Barista espresso machine:



And a Kinu M47 grinder:



So far I've been using the espresso machine on the stove, where it makes great tasting coffee. I'm looking forward to using it in the camper now I've got my settings dialled in.

I watched the Hoffman video on this 9Barista espresso machine, and he didn't seem too enthusiastic about it, all he said was that it was coffee. I did comment about this to Hoffman since I'm a subscriber. But if he refused to say it tasted like espresso then what did it taste closer to? I asked him if he thought it tasted closer to a Bialetti Barika Moka pot coffee, I'm waiting his answer.

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by froze

I watched the Hoffman video on this 9Barista espresso machine, and he didn't seem too enthusiastic about it, all he said was that it was coffee. I did comment about this to Hoffman since I'm a subscriber. But if he refused to say it tasted like espresso then what did it taste closer to? I asked him if he thought it tasted closer to a Bialetti Barika Moka pot coffee, I'm waiting his answer.

My dad owned a 9Barista for a little while. He rated it but said it was just too hard to dial in compared to an espresso machine and that it simply wasn't as predictable.

In other news, my dad visited me last week and said he reckons my 1ZPresso JX-Pro was a superior grinder to his Baratza Sette 270w so even though I've been enjoying this grinder for well over a year and recommend it to everyone, my purchase finally feels validated.

[Neil]

I have a Gaggia (Pavoni) lever machine, which makes what I think is very nice espresso. I actually prefer the espresso from the 9Barista - its more complex, with more flavour notes apparent, from exactly the same coffee that I use in the 105. But, it's much more of a performance to use, so whilst at home I use the lever.

I bought the camper to be able to race my mountain bike this year (I'll be the 45 year old on a bike thats performance outstrips his ability by around 1,000%), and the idea of being able to make myself an excellent espresso, in a field, having just got up ahead of a days racing, is one that I am looking forward to realising.

Living in the UK there might be some (or, frankly, lots) of rain to interfere with this vision - but we'll see.

I will admit I love how clever the design of the 9Barista is.

[crankles]

Originally Posted by Neil

I will admit I love how clever the design of the 9Barista is.

This is EXACTLY why I want one. Looks like a pain to dial in, but I will forgive some function for it's form.

[d_douglas]

manual grinders. So, I would have no problem with using one of these if they are durable and produce a good grind. In fact, I hate the sound of the motorized ones and would be happy to do without the noise! It is low production at our house - *(one per day, maybe?) so its not like I am working in a coffee shop.

Can anyone tell me if these hand grinders are good enough for the Silvia?