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Dosing funnel
I was happy to receive my order of Londinium tamper, dosing funnel and distribution tool today.
Everything looks and feels (and fits) great!
I was a bit surprised that there is no logo engraved in/on the funnel. Wasn't there a news post about the engraving
some time ago?
Everything looks and feels (and fits) great!
I was a bit surprised that there is no logo engraved in/on the funnel. Wasn't there a news post about the engraving
some time ago?
Comments
agreed. the trouble is we made at least two attempts to get the engraving 'right', perhaps three
given that we are coming into the european go to the beach season i was keen to get them to market; i also think they are a ground breaking tool for anyone who is making espresso, pump or lever machine so there was real pressure to get them to market
the engraving needed to match the engraving on the machines, and for a GBP7 premium per unit i felt it was better to get them into production
hopefully you will agree that it is preferable that we have chosen to omit the logo rather than go with any of these attempts:
but I'm interested to know; has it transformed the consistency of your shots?
best
reiss.
I managed to fit the portafilter with funnel in the grinder (Compak E8 OD), so that the coffee does no longer spill/spray from the portafilter when grinding. Neat!
As for consistency I am still getting used to using the funnel, distribution tool and new tamper, so
not much to say about that yet, but at least the new routine feels more controlled.
My biggest concern currently is the preinfusion: There is no 'sweating' or drips out of the filter (18g in the stock basket), no matter how long
I wait. When I coarsen the grind, i cannot dose enough into the basket to make a decent shot time (>20s for 35g)
Shots are quite nice however, but I would like to get a bit more 'velvety' mouthfeel...
You mean the basket that came with the machine? I believe that's designed for 16g max
You mean the flow is too fast if you lower the dose and use a coarser grind?
Can you also specify what beans / roast type / roast date you use?
This can also be related to the beans / roast type / roast date.
thanks for posting. given that you have the distribution tool i am certain we can get you pulling the shots you are seeking
my first comment would be; be aware that on the E8 a tiny amount of adjustment can make a big difference
for example, if i was in that situation where the grind was too tight i would be moving the burr collar on the E8 by about 2-3mm only. observe the effect of the change and then move it another 2-3mm. repeat as necessary until you get the movement in the pour that you desire.
at the risk of telling you things you already know, but in the interests of trying to address every possible cause, remember that after you have made an adjustment to the E8 you should probably grind a minimum of 20g of coffee and throw it away because this represents the coffee lying in the grinder from the exit point on the burrs to the exit point in the body of the grinder
from the little information provided it seems that you may simply be moving the burr collar too far and jumping from too fine to too coarse in the process
if you can provide any video or photos it would greatly assist
i am very keen to spend time working through this with you as you have all the tools needed to resolve it
with the distribution tool i suggest 10 turns of the tool in a clockwise direction in the basket, and then 10 turns in a counter--clockwise direction. as you make these turns in the basket with the tool pay particular attention to sweeping the grounds that lie against the edge of the basket, both high and low, using the loops on the bottom of each wire to dislodge them
dont fuss with the tamping - i have come to the view that as long as you tamp lever and the tamper has a flat face and it makes a very close fit with the basket your tamping is fine - all the hand wringing about light tamps and heavy tamps and patting and twisting this way and that does not matter as you have an LR and the distribution tool; the distribution tool is everything, far more important than the tamper in my view
if you are using the stock basket 18g is fine if you are grinding fine enough - when tamped the level of the puck should not be so high that the press line in the side of the basket disappears - if it has there is too much coffee for the size of the basket, assuming it can not be ground finer
im also assuming that you still have the pre infusion in that 3-3.5 bar range, such that when you release the lever it is grabbing only just above the horizontal (i.e. very low)
looking forward to your next post on this
reiss.
@Frans: yes, the flow becomes to fast when I reduce either the dose or coarsen the grind in order to have a visible preinfusion.
I use a monsooned malabar roasted by a local coffee roaster (sprso.nl) between 1 and 3 weeks after roasting.
@Reiss: When adjusting, I try not to shift the collar by more than half a marking (now around 5, but I guess that number is only useful for my own reference), then throwing out about 3 seconds of grinding, and then leaving the setting for at least 4 or 5 shots.
I will try to make some photos/movie of the process, but I have only two hands :silly:
Currently the lever catches much higher than you describe, about 45 degrees, sometimes maybe even a bit higher. I did not change any setting inside the L-R.
First thing tonight will be to look at the filling level of the basket and the press line, what is the best weight-range for the baskets that came with the machine?
Malabar especially that fresh can create lots of foamy crema. It might be good to compare the results with another bean, from another roaster maybe. Just to see if that makes any difference for you.
but interestingly on a light roast, like say our bolivian that needs to be ground very fine, you can fit 18g in and it comes to the same height on the basket
as you are dosing up around the 18g weight you will find life so much easier if you increase the pre-infusion (it was set slightly too low on the very first batch of machines we made in my opinion, of which yours is one)
For completeness, I made some pictures to check all step of my routine. For now I am content, but any feedback or questions are
First grinding:
[img alt=Grinding into basket]https://goo.gl/photos/5L7fFq6c3r8Nahab9[/img]
No mess, thanks to the funnel!
Then stirring with the distribution tool, a careful settling knock, and weighing:
[img alt=Weighing]https://goo.gl/photos/3NKWHTb7UdfNEB218[/img]
Tamping and checking the level to to be on or under the basket ridge:
[img alt=Tamping]https://goo.gl/photos/8D7MeHgdBkWzYXmF9[/img]
And the pull:
Nice <10s preinfusion, and I have my full Malabar taste
https://goo.gl/photos/bxBnDMYHVmz8QV9X9
The video I uploaded on youtube, and edited my post.
thank you for going to the effort of taking video & images and posting it; i do appreciate it
i think you can tighten the grind a little, perhaps try another 2-3mm of movement and you will get a more dense espresso
kind regards
reiss.