Ozbargains favourite coffee machine
TGG have finally sorted out their stock allocation (was unobtainable yesterday)
Update 1: Confirmed out of stock in NSW
Update 2: Website shows no stock everywhere for C&C or delivery
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New stock of this machine they improved the design getting rid of the O-ring's which caused leaks
Thanks for the advice!
I was using about 21g in the double basket when I owned a BDB. Worth trying if you're not getting good extraction at 18g.
With 21g, are you now aiming for 42g extraction over 30s (including preinfusion)?
Don't stress too much about exact times and grams in the cup, as long as it's around 35 - 40g of coffee over around 30 - 35 seconds extraction (including pre-infusion). If you're around that mark then start focusing on taste.
At this point it's an art more than a science.
Bought this scale but its max weight is 500grams. The BDB basket and portafilter is too heavy to be weighed. Any recommendations on what i can use to grind into with my smart grinder pro that can be weighed then easily transferred into basket?
You could get a dosing cup for 58mm portafilter, but TBH I would delay buying any more tools, just fill your basket and use the levelling tool to get the right amount, probably more accurate dosing.
For now use a plastic cup or something to weigh your ground coffee before transferring to your portafilter. Someone made an unfortunate suggestion in recommending these scales, but you will definitely need some scales, so I'd return these and buy something else.
The hassle of dialing in coffee without weighing your grind far outweighs that of returning the scales.
Thanks any recommendation on scales? The scale is great but yeah that 500grams limit sucks.
I guess a dosing cup would solve my problem though
Why would you need to weigh beans every time you grind? Why not calculate the time required to grind whatever dose you want (say 20gm) then set grinder timer. That is much easier workflow..
The idea isn't to weigh every time you grind, but you certainly need to weigh every time you adjust grind. 10 seconds at one grind setting may get you 20g in the basket, but as soon as you change the grind you won't get the same amount in that time.
As someone dialing in coffee they are constantly changing grind size, and therefor need to keep measuring to make sure at least one thing is consistent.
Once you're making great espresso you can leave the scales out of your routine until the beans get a bit older or you change brand/type.
My point couple of days ago.
Never weighted my grind (until this weekend) always eye balled after doing a full day barista course in 2016.
If I grind finer, I'll increase the time by 1 increment. My dual boiler extract at 9 bars, 30s.
Weighted input (15g) and output (32g) this weekend out of curiosity, so wasn't too far of 2:1. I've increased time by 1 increment since.
@ShouldIBuyIt: No, your point was that weighing is unnecessary for a newbie who uses Aldi beans (in fact you strangely suggested a WDT as more essential).
As was explained to you by multiple people, weighing takes the guesswork out of dialling in your grind. You don't need to do it every single time you grind.
Read Yahms post below for another person who recommends weighing grind while dialling in.
Tl;dr get scales, make your weight in/out constant and make shot time ur variable. Adjust grind based on that variable.
Well dang, I wanted to try share my experience to show that it’s all simple. I’ve failed you all. This post be long.
Tl;dr get scales, make your weight in/out constant and make shot time ur variable. Adjust grind based on that variable.
It’s easier once you have a flow that gives you a feedback loop. There’s no guesswork for me with my BDB
Step 1 Press button on grinder, dosing cup there
(New beans, or every few coffees I’ll weigh the grinds to keep the dose right. Plus/minus 1g)
Step 2 scales and shot glass, set up for shot
Step 3 Run shot using Manual button until about 4 grams off the desired yield, then stop shot
Step 4 Based on how long it took, adjust grind setting for the next coffee, and maybe check grams of grinds
*If it reached yield fast, adjust grinder slightly finer
*If it was too slow by a big margin, adjust coarser
*If it was slow by a freckle, then leave grinder as is. chances are tomorrow the beans will have aged enough that it’s bang on
*If it was bang on, wait till ur last coffee for the day then adjust grinder ever so slightly finer in prep for tomorrow
As well as weighing grinds from grinder every few days, also weigh them when you get a really fast/slow shot , incase issue is dose not grind
As a starting point, pick a dose maybe 18-19g in the 58mm double shot cup. Pick a yield, 2, 2.5, 3x. So 2:1 18g grinds is 36g shot, or 54g for 3:1. You’ll prob find some coffees taste better with diff ratios. Im pretty sure either side of those ratios is no longer espresso. Ie smaller than 2:1 is ristretto, bigger than 3:1 is lungo. Because coffee has oils, crema, you cannot trust shot volume. Needs to be by weight
IMO Dual boiler > Oracle coz grinders create coffee dust and machines create humidity. Those two things together is gross. Separate grinder is cleaner . Plus I’d rather learn to tamp. (spoiler: grind adjustment and dosing makes way way way more of a difference, don’t start your day stressing about tamp)
Accessories that I think are worth the spend:
Scale. 0.1g precision. Mandatory, be pulling bad coffee or wasting coffee chasing ur tail otherwise
Bottomless portafilter. Aliexpress $60 or so. Likely needed due to space when using scale. Handy to inspect ur tamp evenness too, also way easier to clean and dry between shots coz water isn’t retained in spout.
Dosing cup. Cleaner/faster/simpler. I had doubts, thought it was a snob gimmick, but boy I’m sold now. Helps keep mess down coz the grinds don’t pile up and avalanche off the side of the portafilter. Also means u can grind next shot before portafilter is dry/ready from the last. And cup just gets stored under grinder ready to go, which is nice when ur still half asleep in the morning
Kmart anko shot glasses. Limited space when using scales, Bargain.
Lots more you can do/add/buy, but that’s where you make it your own, and I’ve ruined enough of the learning / discovery process as it is.
Do you aim for the standard 7s preinfusion, 23s extraction (30s total) for the shot?
How do you find the flavours differ from 2:1, 2.5:1 and 3:1?
Ah good Qs. Would love to hear your answers to the same questions, if that’s cool?
I’ll just don’t take what I say here as me positing that I’m right. Let’s face it, I’m just a guy who writes long posts. Maybe I drink tea. Point is that I’ve discovered how to use numbers to turn a knob to change numbers. That has created a foundation of consistency (and ease!) which is great but I’m still very much learning.
Anyhoo
I started with 26-27s target, and 25-30s window of acceptance, and no preinfusion. Plain old espresso style. Is that way out of date now tho?
I’m rubbish when it comes to taste, don’t notice huge diff tbh coz for me milk masks most of that, im either not looking hard enough or I’m an unrefined barbarian! (Probably both) I sometimes use ratio as a tool to reliably remove bad notes , like if it still has the big ones, sour or bitterness, or feels like I have to micromanage to keep it in a good spot. I’ll shift ratio to see if that helps. Wifey drinks black and I’m proud she experiments. Taste is subjective so I don’t really trust my taste. I’m more trying to find the other markers for an objectively good shot, without running each through a refractometer, yknow? (You watched James hoffman much?)
I like the idea of a traditional 2:1, for no reason other than I just like the idea. Oh and if I have the grind too course coz I was sloppy or lazy and it runs really fast then yes I totally meant to do a 3:1 that time, honest.
I’ve heard some beans like 30s + , that’s something I haven’t played with tbh. Anyone else got experience to share?
I do like a good clean puck exit so that’s a signal to me of good extraction? Is it tho? And I many be wrong but if I see oils and colour on the bottom of the basket (coz bottomless), that means there’s good stuff left behind so prob need to change…. Something?
What do you go for? What have you found? Do you have a process or set of rules or principles you apply? Like ‘ if x then y ‘.
Saw ur post about 500g scales. Ali express bottomless porta, with the basket is a fry weight of 333.7g, handy for when I want to weigh after tamp.
Couldn’t post link coz was affiliate, and to avoid stale links, just search ‘58mm breville bottomless’
Haha yes i actually received the NEOUZA 58mm Bottomless Portafilter from Amazon today. Cost $55 but weighs around 370grams feels high quality as well
Plus I’d rather learn to tamp
100%, super important
Thanks for all the advice. The scale has been a welcome addition. I'm now able to pull a 1:2 shot ratio using Aldi beans with a 30s extraction from my bottomless portafilter without any noticeable channeling. Now I'm hoping to learn latte art.
Once i get through the aldi beans i might give some more premium beans a go perhaps from one of the deals posted on Ozb
Good to hear, so which grinder and coffee machine you have and how many gm of coffee you used? If you can find Brazilian coffee beans at Aldi then its outstanding value, much better than their medium roast beans. You can check roast date on their bags, so pick a fresh one.
Dual Boiler Pro with Smart Grinder Pro. I do 19grams of coffee and aim for 36-40s of extraction. I'll keep an eye out on the Brazil beans. I assume anything roasted within a 2 week period is best?
Great to hear!
Yes its recommended to use double basket, the single basket is hard to extract. The machine calculate the time from pressing the start button including pre-infusion. You should aim to have ~9bar pressure and might need more than 18gm of coffee, might be good idea to use the tool that comes with machine to check tamped coffee level from the top of the basket lip.