My first month with my R

Adrian Palmer

Well I am very much still getting used to it, have yet to find the time to roast some beans so it's Whittards Monsoon Malabar at the moment.

My early observations (have had a few machines, but no super Barista)

1. Seems more sensitive to differences with grind, tamping pressure, overfilling, under filling basket than my memory of machines. Less room for error
2. Getting the God shot won't be a breeze
3. It does take a while for the temperature to stabilise, perhaps nearer the hour ?
4. I am finding a lot of shots where the puck doesn't look great, with evidence of holes being drilled through, usually in the same place, I'll upload some pictures shortly. I am being very careful knowing this and I still get caught
5. I find I am grinding quite fine to manage the flow and this means nearer 10 seconds on a Compak E5
6. I wish there was a way of releasing pressure at the end of the shot, mess free I'm prone to forgetting and not cleaning...
7. Not sure why many don't pull on the lever a little to stop the flow momentarily when finishing a shot, save the mess moving the cup away ?
8. I have noticed some tones and flavours that hint of magic, I have had great cream and that beautiful tiger mixture, but can't repeat often enough yet.
9. Not fallen in love with the small tamper, find it very difficult to tamp level with a 'stubby'

Things I'd like help with :

1. Recently the machine has started to pump from the turn on from cold and stay pumping or sounding like it is on for up to 20s, turning on and off makes no difference, it also appears to do the same when pre infusing for a few seconds
2. I have yet to find my pressure gauge, but wondered why I am prone to drilling in one particular area
3. Any other advice !!??

Frans Goddijn

Have you tried different fresh beans from different sources?

Malabar beans have their own peculiarities. In my view they can be excellent in a blend.

Studying the puck after a shot is completely useless in my experience. The little holes you observe are created a number of seconds after you have pulled the cup. The gas formed under pressure in the puck gets out as crema during the shot and good Malabar has a lot of that.

After the pressure from above (spring) is gone, the remaining gas can escape, compressed bubbles in the top of the puck expand and escapes upwards, leaving those tiny holes.

It has nothing to do with what is in your cup.

Adrian Palmer

Frans, thanks for your response I'll try some other beans and post a few puck shots to see if they look normal !

Frans Goddijn

About the warming up time: while warming up, the machine is not unstable but rather it's gradually heating up. If measured and logged into a graph it's somewhat steep at first and then ever more gradually the brew group temp rises towards its 'cruising temp' if I may call it that.

I have a switching clock that turns on the L-R way before I wake up so when I do wake up, if it's 07:30 or 9:00 am, the machine is ready for my espresso.

Users like me and others have years ago experimented with faster heating-up strategies but the only one simple and brilliant strategy is "switch it on in time" ;-)

With a WEMO switch you can even switch if off when you're not at home, and switch it on when you're about to go home.

Frans Goddijn

Adrian Palmer post=13919 wrote: 6. I wish there was a way of releasing pressure at the end of the shot, mess free I'm prone to forgetting and not cleaning...

Not sure what you mean here. Do you want to take of the portfilter right away after the last drop has fallen from the filter basket?

There is a ay for that.

First teach yourself how far you can pull the lever towards you without water coming out into the brew chamber / shower screen.

Then at the end of the shot after the last droplet has fallen, pull the lever towards you but not so far that water would flow on the puck again.

Then grab the handle of the portfilter and unlock.

Then calmly bring the lever back to its resting position.

Nick Roulstone

As Frans has said above Monsooned Malibar is a pretty non standard bean. Its very difficult to roast well, requiring far less heat the most other beans. Whitards is not the best regarded roaster in the UK - Your Machine and Grinder really deserve much, much better beans, you really are wasting your time with those.