andtheodor Senior Member Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 33 Location: Colorado Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: YES Grinder: YES Vac Pot: YES Drip: NO Roaster: NO
Posted Thu May 22, 2008, 6:49pm Subject: What's next?
I have owned a Silvia and Gaggia MDF for several months now and I'm pulling 4-10 shots a day, most of which are very drinkable but many just for practice. Fortunately, I have a friend in the industry who has helped get me started with pulling "killer" shots from the first week of ownership. I bought a naked PF to help improve my grinding, dosing, and tamping and most of my pulls are beautiful with very little irregularity in extraction. I've invested in a nice tamp, thick porcelain cups from Sweet Maria's, and I'm getting closer and closer to some nice art pours.
So my question is this: Where do I go from here? I am eager to continue exploring coffee, especially espresso and I can afford to make some further investment in equipment. I know a grinder upgrade is an obvious step but based on the Gaggia performance so far, I don't have any complaints. A PID seems another likely route but I don't think I have a good handle on temp surfing yet and it seems like it would be beneficial to learn the effects of temperature before I bother controlling it down to a tenth of a degree...maybe not? I'm also interested in home roasting, would an iRoast and a variety of green beans be a good choice? The coffee I am using now is from Allegro roastery in Whole Foods. I'm very happy with the variety and freshness but perhaps I should explore some of the popular commercial espresso roasts?
At this point I am leaning towards a new grinder but I don't want to be rash about my decision and I want to make sure that my technique and palate are caught up with my equipment first; I don't want to drop $600 on a grinder only to discover I didn't know how to make the most out of what I already had.
TagTeamJesus Senior Member Joined: 12 Sep 2007 Posts: 238 Location: San Francisco, CA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Silvia with Watlow PID Grinder: Macap MC4; QuickMill... Drip: French press, oui, oui!
Posted Fri May 23, 2008, 12:12am Subject: Re: What's next?
with regards to beans I have never really had good luck with grocery market beans. Here in San Francisco, I even have a market that sources from a local roaster, but the roast dates on the bags aren't usually as fresh as I like. Sometimes, these bags sit around way too long. So, how fresh are your Allegro beans? One of the best things you could do for your coffee is to find a local roaster near you. Or if you can't, consider mail-ordering from places like Blue Bottle (here in SF), the soon-to-be-opening Four Barrel (here in SF), Intelligentsia, Paradise, Stumptown, etc, etc. Or, if you get into home-roasting, probably all the better.
Another suggestion about beans: get some valve bags, or better yet some of the new valve tins from Sweet Maria's: Click Here (www.sweetmarias.com) I heard that certain beans, e.g. Yemens, need a week to sit after roasting to become complex. Well, I'd let my Yemen sit for a week and it would become complexly stale and disgusting. So, it turns out, these beans need to sit in a one-way valve device of your choosing. I highly recommend these valve tins in my week of using them. My Kenyan that was at first horrifically acidic sat for another 6 days and was really rather good today. Approved by two other people.
with regards to technique Open the steam valve for a second before pulling the shot. Silvia has a blast of high pressure that sits in the boiler and needs to be released before pulling the shot. This will greatly increase the likelihood that your shot won't channel or gush or do other funky things. Only open it up for a second just to release the pressure. Any longer would mess with the temperature you are so diligently trying to make perfect.
Do you weigh your grounds? Play around with dose and grind. And if you find local roasters, ask what they recommend. Here in SF, I have learned that Blue Bottle's Yemen likes 14 grams ground finer, but Blue Bottle's Chapada Diamantina likes 18 grams ground coarser. BB guys even recommended I take it to 20 grams. I can't even fit that much in my portafilter until I order a triple basket! So, updosing has really opened my eyes because before I tried it, my Chapada sucked.
One thing I am learning is that it helps to play around with one type of bean long enough to know what it wants to do. Granted, some beans aren't worth spending time with. But, once I find something pretty good, it helps to experiment and ask around. It helps to have the attitude that overextracted or underextracted shots aren't good enough. I learn to respond quicker. If it's too slow, I need to adjust my grinder on the next shot and really hone in on that ideal extraction....for me, usually 1.5 ounces in 30 seconds. But, again, some beans are different...some blends are recommended to be 1.5 ounces in 40 seconds. Play around and ask around!
with regards to equipment Ok, I put this last, because there is plenty you can do with beans and technique. But, equipment is important, right? Here we go: -If you have the funds, definitely upgrade the grinder. I went from a stepless QuickMill grinder (more than adequate) to a Macap MC4, and I never regretted it. Especially coming from a stepped grinder like the Gaggia, I think you'll appreciate the upgrade even more. Stepless grinders are going to allow you to really chase down a bean into it's sweet spot. Recs: Macap or Mazzer. Still, I think the Le'lit PL53 at a lower price point would be an upgrade from the Gaggia.
-On the topic of PIDs: You should PID. PID! Get a PID and PID your machine! Weeeeeee! It's great you have your friend who has given you your barings. If you say you don't have a good handle on temp surfing yet, it's not because your technique is lacking. Temp surfing isn't really a technique to be mastered. Well, come on, it's not! It's really an attempt at riding a rogue wave that could change directions at any moment. Silvia comes from the factory inadequate in the temperature department. The stock button thermostats allow a 40 degree swing of temperature in either direction. Uh....thanks, Rancilio. And surfing is really an attempt to take a ride on a machine that isn't doing it's job all that well. The PID allows you to finally control temperature within something reasonable so that you can then finally concentrate on the other 100 variables or so that need to be mastered to yield good shots. If you PID, you'll learn that some surfing is still required: the PID controls temp at the boiler, but this doesn't guarantee the perfect temperature at the puck. Silvia's group can overheat or underheat, so you'll need to develop a consistent flushing routine. I wouldn't even be able to begin this dance with the group head without controlling the boiler temp with a PID. I highly recommend Jim Gallt's company, MLG, for your PID kit. Wonderful product, installation guide, and Jim is a wonderful dude.
-Of course, you could upgrade your machine itself, but the more I work with PID Silvia, the more I like it. I am definitely making great coffee. I may upgrade to the VBM DoubleDomo once kinks are worked out. I may wait for Chris Coffee's dual boiler Alex to be developed. But, I would never knock Silvia once PIDed and pressure is adjusted. Which brings me to my last rec:
-Have you checked your pressure? I never did until today. I finally managed to get my front panel-mounted pressure gauge up and running. JeepinGeo and I will soon be posting our how-to on installing the pressure gauge. It rocks! All the development credit goes to JeepinGeo, but I am lucky enough to be his scribe. =-) After doing this mod, I can now see my machine came from the factory set at 10 bars. Uh....thanks, Rancilio. I will look forward to soon taking this down some. Higher pressure = more channeling, more acidic, finer grind, the need for a longer dwell time before the shot emerges from the machine, which in turn effects the kind of shots that are possible.
Ok, hope that gets you started towards the next stop along your journey. =-)
Posted Fri May 23, 2008, 8:29am Subject: Re: What's next?
I would suggest putting your list in 2 catagories: immediate needs, and long term goals.....
Temperature control is so important to shot quality and consistency that you need to do something about it soon. Either PID or put a temp probe on your boiler to check your temp surfing accuracy. (I think it helps to insulate the boiler as well, it slows the thermal cycle and gives you more time)
In the longer term: for me, home roasting has been the most rewarding part of my coffee adventure. Not only having fresh beans when you want them and how you like them roasted, but having a 'library' of bean selections to choose from. There is a longer learning curve here and a significant commitment of time and effort, so if you decide to go this way give yourself a year or 2 to get it sorted out and really hit a stride.
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
= No New Posts since last visit 