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Hello from Sydney, Australia
Having transferred from a "Pre Sales" participant to an owner, I have been prompted to introduce myself and share from journey so far.
My previous machine was a Zacconi Riviera Expresso sold under the name of "Savinelli Roma Deluxe Coffee Machine" by coffeeitalia.com.au
My grinder is a HG1 purchased in Nov 1013 and with that I hoped I have a great coffee making setup. With the Zacconi (50mm PF), I was able to obtain good tasting coffee when making milk drinks from the machine but could never get much creme. Espresso shoots seemed under extracted.
I had played with all the usual parameters but failed to achieve any further improvement so I resolved to sell some unused equipment around my place to purchase an L1.
The L1 machine arrived on Thursday 18th September 2014 after making the normal detour through Australian customs.
Unpacking and setting up was easy but I sought re-assurance on a couple of matters. Reiss being just 2 hours ahead "across the ditch" (Tasman Sea for those not familiar with the local language), it was an easy call and very useful. Thanks Reiss.
Once operational, I set aside my old machine however my son's wedding and then a nephew's wedding in Brisbane over the last couple of week delayed my tuning of the process to make the best coffee I have ever tasted.
The pictures of the shoot and my setup are below. Since those pictures taken today, Reiss made a suggestion to further slow the extraction by changing the grind a little. The next shoot looked so good, I drank it before I could take a photo. Reiss, it was very stripped and dark streaks so thanks for your tip. I'll have to post a photo, when next I pull a shoot.
One of the interesting comments made by Paul Marshall in the "gushing" thread was to do with cleaning and maintenance of the HG One grinder. When I installed the grinder, as recommended, I conditioned the burrs using parboiled rice and then "flushed" the machine with real coffee beans. I adjusted the grind and have continued to try to extract the perfect grind without doing any further cleaning or maintenance.
As an experiment yesterday, I disassembled the HG One and throughly cleaned the all parts with warm soapy water and an old tooth brush (I have the coated 83mm burr set and I did not want to use a brass brush on them). After reassembly and grinding a shoot, the grinder was "cleaner" to use (when it completed the last bean, there was silence except for the gear meshing sound) and the grind appeared to be more consistent. The comment that Reiss made was that perhaps over time the oil from beans builds up on the burrs. This may not happen on electric grinders as they operate at higher speeds but I believe it does happen on the HG One causing an undesirable effect on your grind. For those with HG One, it may help solve an extraction problem.
For milk drinks, I use a 1.0mm steam tip into a Espro Toroid - 355ml steaming jug as I'm the main coffee drinker round here! Easy job with great result from the L1 steam wand.
My process is
[ol]
[li] 15.8gm of beans into the HG One[/li]
[li]Ground beans into the PF[/li]
[li]Redistribute using a needle down through the HG One funnel[/li]
[li]Tamp using the Londinium Tamper and thumb pressure only ensuring its level and then twisting to "polish" the puck[/li]
[li]Warm the cup/shoot glass with hot water[/li]
[li]Bring the level down reasonably quickly[/li]
[li]Prefusion for a count of 6-8[/li]
[li]Slowly release the level to gain pressure at about 10:30 - 11:00[/li]
[li]Watch the flow and currently I guess the right amount and time before removing the cup from the flow.[/li]
[li]After the flow ceases, remove the PF and flush the group using a small amount of water with no PF attached.[/li]
[li]Wash the PF and dry all parts.[/li]
[/ol]
Many thanks to Reiss and his support. Just wonderful to have the man in charge take an interest in the installation and use of this marvellous product.
Thanks to many others on this forum who constantly share their knowledge. You may not know those who are helped by your suggestions and experience. I have been one.
My previous machine was a Zacconi Riviera Expresso sold under the name of "Savinelli Roma Deluxe Coffee Machine" by coffeeitalia.com.au
My grinder is a HG1 purchased in Nov 1013 and with that I hoped I have a great coffee making setup. With the Zacconi (50mm PF), I was able to obtain good tasting coffee when making milk drinks from the machine but could never get much creme. Espresso shoots seemed under extracted.
I had played with all the usual parameters but failed to achieve any further improvement so I resolved to sell some unused equipment around my place to purchase an L1.
The L1 machine arrived on Thursday 18th September 2014 after making the normal detour through Australian customs.
Unpacking and setting up was easy but I sought re-assurance on a couple of matters. Reiss being just 2 hours ahead "across the ditch" (Tasman Sea for those not familiar with the local language), it was an easy call and very useful. Thanks Reiss.
Once operational, I set aside my old machine however my son's wedding and then a nephew's wedding in Brisbane over the last couple of week delayed my tuning of the process to make the best coffee I have ever tasted.
The pictures of the shoot and my setup are below. Since those pictures taken today, Reiss made a suggestion to further slow the extraction by changing the grind a little. The next shoot looked so good, I drank it before I could take a photo. Reiss, it was very stripped and dark streaks so thanks for your tip. I'll have to post a photo, when next I pull a shoot.
One of the interesting comments made by Paul Marshall in the "gushing" thread was to do with cleaning and maintenance of the HG One grinder. When I installed the grinder, as recommended, I conditioned the burrs using parboiled rice and then "flushed" the machine with real coffee beans. I adjusted the grind and have continued to try to extract the perfect grind without doing any further cleaning or maintenance.
As an experiment yesterday, I disassembled the HG One and throughly cleaned the all parts with warm soapy water and an old tooth brush (I have the coated 83mm burr set and I did not want to use a brass brush on them). After reassembly and grinding a shoot, the grinder was "cleaner" to use (when it completed the last bean, there was silence except for the gear meshing sound) and the grind appeared to be more consistent. The comment that Reiss made was that perhaps over time the oil from beans builds up on the burrs. This may not happen on electric grinders as they operate at higher speeds but I believe it does happen on the HG One causing an undesirable effect on your grind. For those with HG One, it may help solve an extraction problem.
For milk drinks, I use a 1.0mm steam tip into a Espro Toroid - 355ml steaming jug as I'm the main coffee drinker round here! Easy job with great result from the L1 steam wand.
My process is
[ol]
[li] 15.8gm of beans into the HG One[/li]
[li]Ground beans into the PF[/li]
[li]Redistribute using a needle down through the HG One funnel[/li]
[li]Tamp using the Londinium Tamper and thumb pressure only ensuring its level and then twisting to "polish" the puck[/li]
[li]Warm the cup/shoot glass with hot water[/li]
[li]Bring the level down reasonably quickly[/li]
[li]Prefusion for a count of 6-8[/li]
[li]Slowly release the level to gain pressure at about 10:30 - 11:00[/li]
[li]Watch the flow and currently I guess the right amount and time before removing the cup from the flow.[/li]
[li]After the flow ceases, remove the PF and flush the group using a small amount of water with no PF attached.[/li]
[li]Wash the PF and dry all parts.[/li]
[/ol]
Many thanks to Reiss and his support. Just wonderful to have the man in charge take an interest in the installation and use of this marvellous product.
Thanks to many others on this forum who constantly share their knowledge. You may not know those who are helped by your suggestions and experience. I have been one.
Comments
lets see an image of how your espresso looks now you've put the brakes on a bit, when you have the time
kind regards
reiss
A little more. The shot was stopped at 27sec but yielded about 30ml. I really liked this shoot.
I think just a little more. Thoughts are always welcome.
try shortening it up a bit more - say 25mL in 27 seconds
measure the volume to the top of the liquid (bottom of the crema)
kind regards
reiss.
Yes that's how I measured it, bottom of the creme.
More photos coming!
no, you are pulling the cup from the stream early, certainly before blonding arrives, as the tail end of an extraction is not the best bit (which is why lever machines are better than pumps - the pressure of the extraction falls away as the shot progresses, and so does the temperature - both of these factors ensure less solubles are taken from the bean as the extraction progresses.
simple, yet clever. you can taste the difference in the cup, and enjoy the difference in the low maintenance. seal replacement now & then is all that is needed (and don't let hard water into it, just like any other espresso machine)
But the flavor profile in the cup slowly started to come around and now to the point of being quite tasty, unveiled and consistent.
Welcome to the insanity! :D
Once broken in the taste in the cup is hard to beat! So keep on cranking :-)
I know there have been others who have put a drill motor (turning slowly) to the shaft of the HG-One to grind a lot of beans through it. I myself keep thinking about motorizing it....
Since then I just kept grinding without any maintenance, probably pushing 3-4 lbs of beans a month through. I'll have the count the turns now but since the clean, it's a different feel and better coffee!
Yes, joining the insanity is fun!
I counted the turns for 15.8 gms - 40 with a further 8-10 to really clear all grounds. That's about the target for any type of burr so I'm pleased I purchased the TiN coated set.
Reiss, this morning I opted for a milk drink using older beans and that's the reason for the 250 ml cup and the less pronounced colour. Timed and weighed the extraction - 27 gms in 27 secs. I always remove the cup based on time, not at the end of the pull.
Here is the result.
I'm in Sydney now too, for a few weeks, visiting my daughter & family(not going anyplace that's not walking distance and even skipping most places that I could stroll to)
(sunrise video made a few hours ago:
also on Vimeo:
)
The beans I'd roasted myself prove too hard for the little Mahlkonig Vario to grind fine enough so the extraction just gushes out. Too bad. The commercial roasts that I brought along (one from Amsterdam, one from Hungary) do very well, luckily.
I never understood what the special thing is about the TiN coating on the burrs, can anyone tell me? I have just the standard Mazzer burrs on my HG One at home.
About the difference in the burr sets, here is a link on HG One's site that provides details.
Click here
Looking forward to more contact.
if you did have time to say hello to trevor frans that would be super - I've done a few FaceTime videos with Trevor and you'll both get on OK - roughly similar age, etc & you both have interesting hobbies & stories to tell
hopefully next time you are in Sydney i'll be a bit better set up here & i'll jump on a plane and we can go and visit some sydney cafes
reiss.
That would be fun! You live where Bobby, my son-in-law works and his parents live up the road there too. So it's within the boundaries of "local" where I'd like to hang out ;-)
Tomorrow my daughter is taking their cat to the vet in the morning and I will babysit their baby but when she's back she could probably swing me by in their car. Let's mail indeed. My mail address is [email protected] -- could not find yours yet.
I see that the TiN burr set grinds easier and takes longer. The life span of the burrs is extremely long in my environment anyway as it's just me using it and the Mazzer Mini is also doing part of the grinding. So a longer life for the TiN burrs is not relevant for me.
[
The only real benefit of TiN is the less effort needed to turn the crank, but that in and of itself just adds to the number of cranks it takes.
With my 71mm regular Mazzer burrs it takes 22 turns to grind 154.8g of beans roasted to FC-FC+ with another 8 one hand cranks to clear the burrs. My 83mm regular Mazzer burrs require about 26 turns for the same dose.
Frans, there will be a lot to talk about when we meet. The caffeine load is likely to be extensive!