Thanks Shaun. I¹ll give you and Barry your $50 later. :) Maybe we could call it ³art derived from science² or something fancy like that...
Barry, sorry I couldn¹t make it to your island last week, but the beach and coconut porter from Maui Brewing was great anyway! Next time... All the best everyone, bmc "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel....." From: Shaun Taylor <[email protected]> Reply-To: <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:45:40 -0600 To: <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Shot Parameters Well written Ben, you saved me from writing pretty much the exact same thing. And I agree with BarryŠ espresso is less about science and more about intuitive artŠ or something like that. ;-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Shaun Taylor http://shaundoreenevankeegan.blogspot.com/ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Barry Luterman Sent: 16 February 2009 14:07 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Shot Parameters I agree with Ben. I have followed the same course he has. I started with a very scientific approach. That is, measuring every variable and manipulating only one variable at a time. With time and experience I learned the art of espresso making. Yes it is an art not a science. If it were a science then the Auto Espresso Machines would consistantly out perform a good Barista with a non-automatic. However, we all know we out perform the Automatics. On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 9:54 AM, Ben McCafferty <[email protected]> wrote: Hi Joe, I respectfully disagree with shixx on this. While 60 seconds is a long time, 35 seconds is totally fine. Even the 60 second shot, if it tastes good, is fine--but you can probably get the same or better result in less time, if you continue to tweak things a bit. Shaun on this list has probably taught me more than anyone else about the whole process, from roasting to the cup, and if I'm not mistaken he shoots for 1 1/4 ounces in 38-40 seconds. Point being, excellent results do not follow a single, specific rule. The golden rule is a way to have a reasonable starting point. I have all of Schomer's materials, and love them and have learned a great deal from them--but, I've found that in some cases, changing things to my own setup has helped. Back to the question at hand. I no longer time shots--I pull the shot until the espresso starts to blond out, and then stop it (i.e. I pull the shot until the shot is finished; not until some arbitrary time passes). I do this because I am roasting a different blend almost every week, and none of them respond in exactly the same way. If you are using a single blend always, this next paragraph won't apply--you will find your sweet spot and then leave it alone. In my case, I let the coffee dictate where it's happiest, if that makes sense. In other words, I find that there is an "ideal" grind for each coffee that produces the best extraction (most even, sweet, not too fast, etc.) for a given volume of grind. For some coffees, this will drive the shot longer; for some coffees, shorter. When I grind a new blend for the first time, I pull a shot and watch the naked PF closely. If the shot loses surface tension and blonds out really fast, I might get 2 ounces of coffee, but it will be watery and bitter. If the grind is too fine, I'll see the opposite--the coffee is really slow to emerge, and very syrupy--and it will take a long time to pull the shot. As an aside, that slow shot usually tastes very good, but it's unnecessary wear on the pump--I can get the same result with a slightly coarser setting. Based on observing a shot or two, I can usually tweak the grinder and have it set for the rest of that batch of beans. As the beans age, if needed I will tweak the grind just slightly finer each day to keep it pulling a nice shot. This lets me "cheat" another day or two out of the beans as they reach the end of their useful life. I think you're on the right track--I also did all the weighing, etc. at first until I got to know the machine and my own tastes. But after that, I've found that I have a very good intuitive feel for things (based on lots of experience with my particular setup), and I can quickly correct problems without using scales, etc. any longer. At this point, I dose by volume, I steam milk by touch (instead of thermometer) and I pull espresso by sight (surface tension and color) instead of by time. I have done spot checks on myself and my fingers are almost as accurate as the scale/thermometer/shot glass anymore, and it's a lot more gratifying (to me, not necessarily to you) to be able to produce a consistently good result without relying on anything but my own senses. I mention surface tension above, and it's something I've been meaning to mention to the list for some time. Basically, when espresso starts to come out of either a naked PF or a normal spout PF, it is thick and everything flows in a nice curve. On the naked PF, a side view of the espresso will look like a tornado. On a spouted PF, it will look almost like an extension of the curve of the spout. As the shot thins out, the smooth curves go away. On the naked PF, instead of the sides curving in gracefully, they start to bulge out and look almost triangular and wavy. On the spout PF, the espresso starts to sag inwards. Watching for either of these things is very reliable, regardless of the color of the espresso (i.e. different roast levels, etc.). When you see the first signs of this, you can stop the shot and have pretty strong confidence that you haven't overextracted the grind. It's just another tool to have in your back pocket. I am always amazed at how different this can be, based solely on the smallest of changes in the grinder--it can mean the difference between a long, syrupy shot that seems to never end, or a short, watery one that tastes like total crap. Here again, if my beautiful shot is extending to 35 seconds, who cares? If I force the coffee to 25 seconds (to fit into the rule), I will lose some of the extraction unless I also increase dose. Since I dose by volume, my coffee volume never changes--one less variable. Therefore, when I change grind, I will change extraction quality as well as time. As you've undoubtedly already seen, we have many different opinions about things on this list, and excellent shots get produced in many different ways! So count this as just one more possibility and use what works for you. All the best, sorry for the lengthy post. bmc "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel....." > From: shixx <[email protected]> > Reply-To: <[email protected]> > Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 03:39:46 -0800 (PST) > To: Brewtus <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: Shot Parameters > > > > > On Feb 16, 1:56 am, arcangel6 <[email protected]> wrote: >> Hi, >> >> I just adjusted the grinder for a slightly less fine setting and >> turned out an equally impressive cup and maybe a little smoother >> flavor. >> >> New: >> Beans = 16gm >> Two 30 lb tamps with an Espro tamper >> Temp = 202F >> Volume measured be weight = 2 ounces >> Time = 35 seconds* >> *Measured from the time I lift the lever, first drops around the 5 >> second mark. >> >> The original was >> >> Beans = 16gm >> Two 30 lb tamps with an Espro tamper >> Temp = 202F >> Volume measured be weight = 2 ounces >> Time = 60 seconds* >> *Measured from the time I lift the lever, first drops around the 8 >> second mark. >> >> Joe > > > Here's the deal. > > 2 liquid ounces of espresso, in 20 to 25 seconds -- from the time the > pump turns on. That is the 'rule' -- from Dave Schomer, not me. > > 60 seconds ridiculous, ditto for 35 sec. > > and no, 60 sec. of pump "on" time won't burn it up. > > s > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
