Posted Wed Dec 21, 2005, 4:50am Subject: Re: New Sunbeam machine with Paul Bassett
Lukey, I get what you're saying, and I think it's a great attitude for a professional barista to have ... I guess I was getting at the progress rate thing. I've had the expobar for nearly 6 months now, and still feel like a beginner at times, whereas if you were pulling shots for a living, you obviously progress much quicker.
Not that you should ever feel like you've learnt all there is to learn ... I've got 2-3 shots a day to work with, I don't buy or roast enough coffee to throw away 5-6 shots in the morning dialling in the grind, dose, etc.
Maybe one day I'll convince my wife to let me convert our brand-spanking-new beef eater bbq into a coffee roaster, then I can plough through a kilo of coffee in a week ... plently of coffee to dial in with!
No probs. I'm not sure if you guys can delete your own posts or not ...
As for dialling in, I tend to agree with Matty. In a cafe, you might throw away two or three shots dialling it in in the morning, and one or two more during the day if you're staying on top of things, but even if you throw away twenty shots a day, it's more or less a drop in the ocean. At home, you're only making a handful of shots. So if you throw away two to dial in one, it's like 2/3 of your usage!
Also, there's no doubt in my mind that working in a commercial environment allows you to get your dosing technique down pat. You might screw up the first five shots dialling everything in in the morning, but because the memory of the last dose is still fresh in your mind, it's easy to remember/work out how much you need to dose next time.
But it was always really irritating doing decaf at Malt. It's exactly like using a home machine!
Lukey Senior Member Joined: 25 May 2005 Posts: 283 Location: sunshine coast/brisbane, qld Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Synesso Saber 2 group Grinder: Mazzer Robur
Posted Thu Dec 22, 2005, 3:52am Subject: Re: New Sunbeam machine with Paul Bassett
mattyj Said:
... I guess I was getting at the progress rate thing. I've had the expobar for nearly 6 months now, and still feel like a beginner at times, whereas if you were pulling shots for a living, you obviously progress much quicker.
ah yes, repitition can be a beautifal thing sometimes. i remember when i first started to learn how to texture the milk. my boss would be looking over my shoulder and if it wasn't any good i had to toss it and start again. keep in mind there's a line up of about 20 people waiting for coffee and there's my boss going "come on luke are u going to let these customers stand here all day or are u going to make them their drink."
ahh decaf, we found out how to get a good extraction on ours. use the deli grinder and put the dial onto "Turkish" then pack as much as u can into the basket and wedge it into the group head. i think the best time i got was just 25sec.
Posted Thu Dec 22, 2005, 3:38pm Subject: Re: New Sunbeam machine with Paul Bassett
wow - this morning I actually pulled a (hopefully) respectable shot: it was probably too short volume-wise, but the streams hung nice and straight, the extraction went for about 26-7 seconds, as opposed to my sunbeam shots that ran for about 55-60 seconds...
I've read enough of Malachi's posts to know that tamping isn't as important as we thought it was (in relation to distribution), but it happened when I lightened up on my tamp.
EDIT: oh yeah, the taste! I'd roasted a blend that was mostly Ethiopian Harrar, kept it fairly light (trying for the blueberry thing). I got a bit of berries in the espresso, but it didn't quite cut through the milk in a single latte ... still, compared to all the other coffee's I've made lately, it was pleasant and sweet!
Lukey Senior Member Joined: 25 May 2005 Posts: 283 Location: sunshine coast/brisbane, qld Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Synesso Saber 2 group Grinder: Mazzer Robur
Posted Fri Dec 23, 2005, 1:04am Subject: Re: New Sunbeam machine with Paul Bassett
mattyj Said:
EDIT: oh yeah, the taste! I'd roasted a blend that was mostly Ethiopian Harrar, kept it fairly light (trying for the blueberry thing). I got a bit of berries in the espresso, but it didn't quite cut through the milk in a single latte ... still, compared to all the other coffee's I've made lately, it was pleasant and sweet!
the harrar can be different from crop to crop. i know the stuff we got at the moment definitly has a bluberry aroma to it, however the last crop alsmot had a distinct licorice aniseed taste and aroma.
this is probably why i find the beans from africa the most fascinating, also depending on how it's roasted can bring out different characteristics.
try playing around around with the grind and the extraction times, you'll be amazed at how different the taste can be just from slight adjustments. i know what your about to say and yes working around the stuff all day gives u a lot of coffee to work with so it might be harder at home.
so to fix this, get that bbq out the back converted to a drum roaster pronto. lol
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