hello Guido, A great starting point. I think that you working off group with one member (Kitt) is a great idea, and will stop much confusion. Once you are comfortable with what has been taught to you, then perhaps you can explore further options including water mineral content, grinds, tamp pressures and baskets.
But a good basic starting point is clearly required. Good luck and most of all have fun and enjoy. John On Mar 30, 11:36 am, guido <[email protected]> wrote: > hello john, > > thank you very much for this post. > > i found to pressure for steaming milk to be insufficient at the factory > setting, difficult to get a proper vortex in the milk. i have adjusted > it to 1.2 bar, and that seem much better. my first frothing at least > resulted in perfect micro-foam. > > i will look into baskets at some point. it seems that many people prefer > something else over the standard brewtus baskets, no? > > about distilled water, i read somewhere that the minerals in water are > essential to brewtus' function. it was the brewtus manual from this > group/wll. i quote, 'note: do not use water that has had all the > minerals removed, e.g., distilled water. minerals are necessary for the > sensors in the boilers to work properly.' is this something you are > aware about, and do you still recommend trying it as a starting or > reference point? > > i was convinced that the tap water here in amsterdam was good for > espresso (more experienced people than myself have told me it is fine) > but i guess i should at least try different water. our tap water tastes > very nice, but maybe the composition could be less that ideal for my > espresso machine. > > i am talking off-group now with kitt, i am going to perform some > consistency tests and give him the results. i think it might prove that > i should start training on being more consistent before i proceed to > trouble shooting. me being inconsistent would definitely distort any > test results (and thus render these useless, if not deceptive). > > thanks again for your help. > > have a great weekend, > guido. > > > > > > > > > Hello Guido, > > > No harshness in cup, temperature can play a big part, as well as the > > cleanliness of the machine as was mentioned. Water hardness, so many > > things. I would start with distilled water for sure. Not because it is > > the best, just because you are starting from zero with no minerals. > > Everyone will give you different answers and to be honest most of them > > will be right to a point. Your problem could be an addition of > > problems. > > > I am only using the VST basket > > (http://store.vstapps.com/products/vst-precision-filter-baskets > > ) with 18 grams of coffee (it is designed for that. In that basket it > > is not updosing). I also go for the fruitier coffee's from the west > > coast I enjoy for > > examplehttp://www.49thparallelroasters.com/products/epic-espresso. > > Could it just be your dislike for a type of espresso? Maybe you could > > pick up some info > > here?http://www.home-barista.com/howtos.html?sid=f7ef7ce88c478255a2509aed9... > > > As for the pressure that is simple to adjust. > > >http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm259/judge34411/?action=view&curr... > > > Take off the back of the machine. Looking at it from the back, you > > will see a black plastic unit on the upper right side. This is the > > pressure-stat. You will notice it has a copper pipe coming out of the > > bottom going to the top of the boiler and wires connected to the top. > > In the middle their is a cog (wheel) you can adjust this clockwise > > (looking down). This will increase the pressure, Adjust it very > > little at a time and allow the pressure to adjust. Mine came set at . > > 95 bar I now have it set to about 1.1 bar. I imagine I would not try > > and take it over 1.2 even though others take it higher. I was told > > some stores will preset them to 1.2 others will leave them stock at . > > 95, same for the brew pressure, some stores will lower it down to 9-10 > > bars and some will leave it stock, as mine was (13 bar, now at 10). > > > Good luck > > > John -- 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.
