New Owner trying to get dialed in-questions

Steve Egge

So I put together my Londinium 1 last night ...
Funny thing is there was NO red tab to take off on the pressure relief valve ... so I assume all is ok .. seems to work ok ... maybe they don't put them on anymore ... but it was still in the setup instructions.

Now trying to dial it in .. have a new HG-One 2014 83 mm TiN aftermarket burr grinder.

is the best approach to keep dialing down the grind till it takes the "27' seconds Reiss posted for a 16 gram dose of ground beans and the crema comes out well?

So far it is what I'm doing and getting close.

How do I know when it is too fine? Should the puck be dry or slightly damp?

New to espresso in that all I ever used was a super automatic ... Roast my own beans .. they are fresh .. but new to the change grind and preinfusion and lever setup.

Have seen the videos and will try to duplicate but any help/feedback is appreciated .

In terms of cleaning ... what do people in the states use other than "Liquid Quartz"?

Thanks ... it will be a journey ...

Steve Egge,
Puyallup, WA

George Van Wagner

As far as cleaning, though I haven't had my L1 long enough yet to have to do a thorough cleaning, for other espresso (and general coffee gear) I use one of the TSP based cleaners like Cafiza, Joe Glo, etc … to do the job. They're the only thing I've found that will cut through coffee oils and remove old coffee odors.

Yes, tighten up the grind until you get that 27 grams in 27 seconds of yield and you should be in the ballpark.

I've had pucks from slightly damp to perfectly dry so far. I think that 'dry' is normal, if the rest of your routine is right.

Frans Goddijn

Hi Steve,

George is right, I think. Grind away and enjoy! The burrs will get better over time and you will as well, with experience.

Dryness/wetness of the puck is not really critical, though when it's soaking wet you have maybe ground too fine and the water cannot make it out of the puck.

Puyallup, WA

Fun! I visited the Puyallup Fair in 1976 ;-)

Reiss Gunson

hi steve

yes, sometimes the red tags don't seem to get fitted

no harm, but you might have found a bit a water had escaped through the anti-vac in transit
(the purpose of the red tag is to hold the anti-vac up (in the closed position)

the times etc are guidelines only for people who are struggling - once you gain confidence it is entirely possible that you will go off piste and discover some marvellous, unconventional approach that works exceptionally well with your roasts, and thats all part of the fun

my advice deliberately avoids any extreme measures, with the key objective being to help people even in a remote corner of the globe to get great espresso flowing on day one

and on dry pucks - if you rip the PF off at 27s, apart from getting sprayed with an amalgam of hot water and coffee grounds, when the dust has settled you will find a swimming pool on top of the puck

however if you wait 30s after the extraction and take off the PF the puck should be dry. if it is not you are probably grinding too fine for the dose - the more you updose the harder this will be to get right

thank you for posting here rather than sending me an email

kind regards

reiss.

Unknown

Steve Egge post=2895 wrote: So I put together my Londinium 1 last night ...
Funny thing is there was NO red tab to take off on the pressure relief valve ... so I assume all is ok .. seems to work ok ... maybe they don't put them on anymore ... but it was still in the setup instructions.

Now trying to dial it in .. have a new HG-One 2014 83 mm TiN aftermarket burr grinder.

is the best approach to keep dialing down the grind till it takes the "27' seconds Reiss posted for a 16 gram dose of ground beans and the crema comes out well?

So far it is what I'm doing and getting close.

How do I know when it is too fine? Should the puck be dry or slightly damp?

New to espresso in that all I ever used was a super automatic ... Roast my own beans .. they are fresh .. but new to the change grind and preinfusion and lever setup.

Have seen the videos and will try to duplicate but any help/feedback is appreciated .

In terms of cleaning ... what do people in the states use other than "Liquid Quartz"?

Thanks ... it will be a journey ...

Steve Egge,
Puyallup, WA

Steve: I bet I am one of the few people on this Forum that knows how to pronounce the name of your home town :-) Email me and I will be happy to show you how I do it with my HG-! and L-I. I live in Port Orchard.

The TiN burrs will take a lot of seasoning IMHO. I tried a set in mine and the number of turns was much more than the regular burrs but easier to crank. Different grind settings too.

JoeGlo or something like Dezcal for cleaning the baskets and screen (when removed).

Good luck,
Stephen

Steve Egge

Had my first good shots this am. Sooo Nice ... Thanks all for your encouragement and advice ... had to go a bit finer than I thought I did ... also noticing a difference between needing to grind softer beans (grown at lower altitudes) a bit finer than SHB type beans.

Had a problem with the bottomless portafilter spraying coffee everywhere yesterday ... maybe it will be better on a try tomorrow when I'll try it again. must have been too course a grind which didn't dampen the lever pressure enough. Still working on it.

Steve

Unknown

Distribute the grounds in the basket before tamping. I use a blunted long needle or a skinny shishkabob skewer.

Reiss Gunson

Yes, exactly what Sweeney says

Watch Frans' video more than once for one routine that works, and most importantly, is clean and simple

I have no time for convoluted routines

Unknown

I just made this video and it shows the routine. It need a bit tighter/finer grind but you get the idea.

Stephen

Steve Egge

Thanks Stephen

... I grind into the HG-One receiver, place it over the portafilter, then swirl or stir it ... and then pick up the parabolic insert to allow the grounds to fall into the portafilter ... even things out with my hand and tamp with the Londinium tamper.

So I don't stir the grind INSIDE the portafilter but before .... am I missing a terminal redistribute or are things ok that way.

Picked up some Sweet Maria's Espresso Workshop #30 Tremor ... did two different 250 gm roasts tonight with different profiles .. will try them tomorrow.

Thanks for your post and everyone's help ... I'm getting closer with 25 second shots now. Great mouth feel but not yet getting the sweetness ... hopefully the new beans will do that. May need to adjust further.

Stephen ... A Versalab grinder ... (correct?)

Thanks ...

James Springfield

yep, take out the stopper, then stir, with the tumbler still in place
or even better, buy stephens acrylic mod, grind straight into the PF and stir there

David Kidd

Steve, I also have the same HG as you and these are my findings so fay. I tried to season the burrs with stale coffee but it really is an arduous[video width=425 height=344 type=] task. The HG boys recommend running this rice through. I did that, 3 boxes and immediately the revolutions for a 15 gm dark roast were cut from 140 down to 80 and are now abvout 70
http://hg-one.com/the-hg-one-grinder/hg-101/breaking-in/
I had a bet with a friend, that when I received my bottomless from Reiss, I had to make a video and it would spray all over the place. I ground into the barrel, chucked it in the pf, smoothed with my finger and pulled the shot. Ok, I hear you all say, the extraction is not good etc etc..but the point is this was just to demonstrate a bet. No stirring, no wdt etc etc. If you have a reasonable grinder which you have. and your distribution is acceptable then forget all the rest. if you are using a single spout as opposed to a bottomless it matters not a jot as visually, you will be none the wiser! There is a drop of water coming through the puck, that I have never had before or since....I hear advice being given to distribute better..LOL

Martin Fortin

David,
You must have TiN burr with your HGone. Without the TiN coated burr it takes roughly 30 revolution for 16 grams.
Regards

David Kidd

Yep, I have the Tin burrs. When you actually turn the handle, thee is virtually no resistance

Frans Goddijn

David Kidd post=3144 wrote: I had to make a video and it would spray all over the place. I ground into the barrel, chucked it in the pf, smoothed with my finger and pulled the shot.

Good shot I'd say!!

Unknown

David, the Bottomless was in the workshop and I did not think it was worth the walk. I thought this was about procedure and not how well I could pull a spritz free shot. Funny thing, I pulled a perfect naked shot a week or so ago on a PF/Basket that I made! I do have a video of it but I am waiting to Post it because of the rest of the project.

Steve, yes it is a Versalab modified by Terranova with TiN burrs. You can stir in the PF if you wish but I just find that handling the Basket in the Holder is easier and it also settles the grounds a bit more when I put the Basket into the PF. I was pulling a shot with some Sweet Marias Guatemalan Decaf that was old, roasted to FC. BTW, nice avatar!

Martin, I get about the same number of turns with my 83mm regular burrs in the HG-1 and less number of turns with the 71mm burrs and the 71's are much easier to crank. The 83mm TiN are about as easy to crank as the 71mm regular.

James, I have 2 acrylic items that Steve might be interested in. The Basket Holder, OR the Blind Tumbler Holder.

James Springfield

Soooo, what do the magic symbols decode into on the new hg1?

Unknown

Magic symbols?

James Springfield

http://hg-one.com/laser-marking/

Unknown

Larger dots the larger grind direction.

General reference marks and then who knows about the dots(circles) above the hash marks! I found a soft pencil worked fine.