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grind and tamping
imaroaster
I have a stepped grinder for my espresso machine and have a simple question, am I better off using a coarser grind with a gorilla tamp or a finer grind with a light tamp. I know this seems extreme but I feel like I'm stuck between steps. So which is better?

John
 
John Despres
Burner has the answer. I think I'd try the finer grind setting and experiment with your tamp pressures. Bring a bathroom scale to the kitchen and keep track of the pressure and find out which tastes best.

Or buy a stepless grinder.

John
Respect the bean.
John Despres
Fresh Roast 8, Gene Cafe, JYTT 1k, Quest M3, Mazzer Mini, Technivorm, various size presses and many more brewers.
 
ginny
John:


Quote

using a coarser grind


will no give you espresso at all but some funky water.

fine grind is best but not to the point of a Turkish grind.

let us know.

ginny
rockon
Edited by ginny on 07/18/2012 5:20 PM
 
imaroaster

Quote

ginny wrote:
will not give you espresso at all but some funky water.

fine grind is best but not to the point of a Turkish grind.

let us know.

ginny
rockon


I'm actually talking about on my Gaggia MDF and right now if I'm on "4" I have to tamp hard, if I'm on three I fell like I'm barely tamping.

John- I have a digital scale that won't work for this. I may have to pick up a cheap scale :)


John
Edited by ginny on 07/18/2012 5:20 PM
 
ciel-007
You can start by grinding coarse and going finer, or vice versa... either direction is OK.

However, as you gradually move along this grinding/tamping continuum, you will eventually find a point where the coffee you pull is exceptionally SWEET. That, in my experience, is the key grind/tamp setting to search for. That can sometimes be a long discovery process, with lots of mediocre shots... but it's well worth the effort.
Ciel... seeking Heaven in my cup with ................................................................................................................. EXPOBAR Brewtus II - MAZZER Mini E - MAHLK?NIG Vario - GeneCafe - RAF-1 Extreme (Modified B-2 HOTTOP) - BellaTaiwan XJ-101
 
tamarian
Don't forget that you can manipulate the dose as well. You can go coarse and increase the dose, or go fine and reduce the dose, until you find the sweet spot. Tamping is better kept constant for consistency.
Wa'il. 1 Kg PID'ed gas-fired fluid bed roaster, GS/3MPS, K10F
 
yamhill
I recently hit a slump where I was getting inconsistent results in my espresso extraction. It seemed like 30% of the time my wife was saying that it was bitter. It ended up being the decaf roast I used, but I went through everything I could.

I cleaned and descaled the espresso machine (Rancilio Silvia w/ PID)
I cleaned the grinder - mazzer major
I retested the brew temperature and reset the PID
I tweaked the grinder settings
I brought out the digital scale to weight the dose
I messed with the tamp

Pressure or the timed contact of water and grinds also adds more variability, but it's harder to change the over-pressure setting on my machine.

I made too many things variable at once, but I settled back to a good spot. The roasting lesson was that the current batch of decaf greens liked a very different roast profile than the prior batch.

I'm with the crowd here. I find that I get the best flavor with a fine grind and a less than herculean tamp. I like the grind fine enough that I get a little clumping. Another way I can tell if the grind is fine enough is that tamping pressure much beyond about 30 pounds will slow the extraction for a double to 40 seconds - or maybe even - clog - not even a drop.

I used a friend's espresso machine and grinder this weekend. It's the same espresso machine as mine but no PID, and his grinder is different. I brought a batch of beans and ground enough for a double shot. I tamped like I normally do, and the resulting "shot" gushed out getting 2 ounces in about 10 seconds. I asked him a couple of questions, turned the grind down to the finest setting and tried again with decent results. He told me that he normally ran 25 seconds to a 2 ounce extraction. Given his grinder setting, he must tamp really hard.

John
 
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