Help with flow rate/recipe please

Al James

So I've had my L1 for a couple of months now and after initially fitting new piston seals I had fabulous tasting coffee with relative ease. I'm using the following;

Bean: Finca Argentina Estate washed bourbon
Roast date: 2nd October
Basket: 15g VST
water: Volvic
grinder: Mythos 1
tamper: Torr

Ok so I'm dosing at 15g in and pulling the cup @ 24g which I'm getting in 25-30 secs. My problem is, all the lovely sweet nutty flavour has disappeared and it's very slightly bitter. I've been making the grind finer in a bid to 'fix it' but the pour is very patchy which suggests to me the grind is too fine. When I loosen off to the point where I get a nice even controlled-looking pour it very quickly gets to a weight of 30+ g in the cup in way less than 20 secs. Suggestions please.


Al

Frans Goddijn

If the beans are the same bags you used months ago successfully, they're old now and when the beans are different, it's the beans / roast and you may want to try other beans / roasts / roast dates to find what works best.

Al James

Roast date is the 2nd October so shouldn't that be be well within the window?

Frans Goddijn

Sure, but you wrote "I had fabulous tasting coffee with relative ease" and it would seem that was with different beans. So it seems to me the machines and the seals are fine but your current choice of beans is not delivering as hoped. If you try different origins / roasts you will see what you like best.

Al James

I don't think I have explained this very well - sorry. I am using the same beans from the same roaster but a more recent batch. Does that make sense? In other words I haven't switched to a completely different variety, just a repeat order.

Frans Goddijn

You can expect a similar result, but the green beans have been stored longer and if the same roast program was done but yours was the first roast of the day on a roaster that had just warmed up, or it was the second or third roast of the day on a fully heated machine, the effect would be different. Or the roaster was tweaking / trying to bring out a certain aspect of the roast that is not coming out well for you. Lots of variables, which makes it all so interesting. So if you compare it with different beans / roasts you will learn from that. It's all a fun ride.

Reiss Gunson

hi Al

thank you for posting here as you will get the views of the group, rather than just mine

are you single dosing? if you are i suggest you pour at least 250g of beans in the hopper and see if that has any effect

as you report it, it sounds as though it is a distribution/grind issue, and on a motorised grinder single dosing is an excellent way to induce this

kind regards

reiss.

Al James

That's better...... the hopper was down to around 100g so added another 500g and it's back in the ball park. I'll need to go a bit finer now I think but immediate improvement in the quality of pour and no bitterness.

Many thanks

Reiss Gunson

Be aware. The single dosing mantra is responsible for more espresso misery than anything else

Take care that direct sunlight does not strike the hopper though as this will stuff the beans very quickly

I suspect there is merit in wrapping the hopper in tin foil to reflect light and heat away from the beans, or lining it in tinfoil, but it will look a bit odd

I accept that if you are the only coffee drinker in the house and only have one or two cups a day that single dosing might be forced upon you, but no one else should be going down that route

I also appreciate that you weren't single dosing, the hopper just got down a bit, but a lot of people do and it is the source of much trouble

Reiss Gunson

Obviously there is the odd grinder about that single doses well, but they are the exception to the rule.

Matt Whyard

I am in a similar situation as you described Reiss - the only coffee drinker in the house with a motorized flat burr grinder. I try to counter the single dosing issue with a small tube hopper and weight (see photo).

Al James

Thanks for posting that, I like your solution - there's balance to be struck between having beans lying in the hopper for too long and providing downward pressure. Even the smaller hopper on the Mythos (which I have) will take 750g so I'll need to find something weighty to add once I start getting low.....