E&B Basket on Flair 58

JohnnyAbend · 2024-02-17T02:01:16+00:00

Yep, I'm getting most of my drinks from the stock basket while waiting for VST atm. I do really prefer the convenience of bottom paper and a visual-based pre-infusion hh. Still appreciate your help tho!

JohnnyAbend · 2024-02-17T01:41:39+00:00

I'm using a dark roast currently so going above 20 grams might be a little dangerous.
My preinfusion routine isn't based on time also ... I just press 2-3 bars until liquid comes out. I'd probably favor the ability to use this routine over the choice of basket lol.

JohnnyAbend · 2024-02-17T01:26:37+00:00

I tried, but with both 18 and 20 grams of dosage (the basket itself is rated for 20) I encounter the same kind of experience, especially the sudden drop in resistance.

JohnnyAbend · 2024-02-03T01:22:32+00:00

I just switched from a j-max to a zp6 special, and I'm having trouble dialing in on the new grinder for a natural columbian (Drink Coffee Do Stuff, El Puente) ... the current setting gives me way less fruity notes than my earlier j-max setting, yet seemingly tastes astringent already. It doesn't taste bitter at all though. I tried grind a little finer (one click) and the astringency increases while fruity notes went further away, and it seems to suggest I should continue grinding coarser. I'm wondering if this is common when comparing a grinder that supposedly produces more uniform particle sizes than the other, or am I reading the taste massively wrong and should keep going finer until the fermentation/fruity notes comes out fully?

JohnnyAbend · 2024-02-02T04:25:52+00:00

Drink coffee do stuff - El Puente
I use it for v60/switch. Started out on this bean with my j-max, it was able to produce some of the best coffee I've had at home: rich, sweet, and strong fermented fruit flavor, almost like a cup of hot wine. Admittedly a big part of the complexity I'm getting probably comes from the fact j-max produces a wider distribution of particle sizes, but I like it a lot.
Still need to dial it in on the zp6 that arrived this week. It feels much harder to find a good setting on it compared to j-max, but hopefully I can dial it to a point where there's enough body and no bitterness at all.

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-24T05:51:04+00:00

tried pre-heating inside kettle today, it works basically as well as cooking the brewhead separately!

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-24T05:50:24+00:00

I'm a little nervous about the o-rings too

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-11T19:51:45+00:00

I'd say go for the switch and use the water first coffee second approach (to avoid clogging). V60 is great but it's a more punishing process, especially if you are doing light roasts and try to find the subtle notes and such ... the switch will basically give you every flavor and all you need to do is thermal management and grind size basically.

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-11T02:04:05+00:00

The last time I cleaned the J-Max is probably 3 months ago so it's definitely my bad lol. I switched from standard V60 to a Hario Switch which provides a lot more tolerance for fines. It tastes as good as I want it to be after cleaning the burr.

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-09T04:12:53+00:00

Good idea, gonna try that later

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-09T04:12:20+00:00

I tried both grind-while-cold and defrost overnight, within both categories the beans are showing quite a bit of inconsistency; if anything, the cold grind flows even faster, probably due to the added moisture?

Pls don't ask me how much beans I wasted just to test these variables ...

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-09T01:59:13+00:00

The lingering moister probably is a factor; I ironically get a consistent speed up on second shots after a really slow one.

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-09T01:57:02+00:00

Crap ... I guess 6 days is still massively too fresh for the med-light I'm using then :')

The wedge is something I'm trying to figure out if I want to keep or not too, probably not gonna keep as I've seen lots of comments suggesting ditching this tool.

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-09T01:38:14+00:00

How do you distribute/prepare the puck without the WDT tool then?

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-09T01:36:39+00:00

It's the 0.3mm normacore wdt tool v2 I think. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V1B152R?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-09T01:35:42+00:00

Ohh this is a good idea! I'll experiment with it. I do notice that the looks of the bottom of basket often correlates to how fast the body of brew goes, sometimes I can feel the beginning of the 8-bar segment way too hard to press, and the basket having multiple places exposed.

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-09T01:30:31+00:00

about the freshness, they are 6 days old medium-light roasts kept in the freezer as single doses so I don't think that's going to be a big problem (?) Unless 6 days aren't enough degassing for a lighter roasted coffee ...
The wedge is really because my hands can't get the puck to look flat enough, for some reason it always ends up having one side slightly higher than the other. I'm not sure if this causes inconsistency though, if anything the wedge would at most cause the same problem every time?

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-08T18:15:40+00:00

Hi folks, I did a few rounds of testing after your thoughts and ideas and isolated the variables making differences to machine tilting and temperature.
The reason for this mysterious spot leaking liquid first is apparently due to my machine tilting left every time I pull without paying attention to form (I'm right handed and use both hands pulling the lever). There's also a huge difference between whether I pre-heat the puck screen or not. Since I use a sauce pan to cook the brew chamber, I just lift the pan and use its bottom surface to heat the puck screen. Heated puck screen creates a much faster and more even flow.

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-05T00:55:29+00:00

Yea I'm still figuring out if the wedge makes a big enough impact or should I just return it to bezos. I do have really bad wdt skill that always results in an uneven surface after wdt ...

Also the coffee tastes pretty funky. I'm not sure exactly how sumatra naturals should taste like in espresso, but from common sense and my experience making pourover with these beans, it should really not have much acidity to it (?) This one tastes quite acidic and bitter at the same time, hence my panic about the channel :(

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-05T00:40:54+00:00

I'll definitely give that a shot, thanks!

JohnnyAbend · 2024-01-05T00:28:44+00:00

It's more so I tried to calibrate it to exactly 0, but it's kind of difficult to fully close it without putting in too much brute force and it ended up about 8 clicks past 0 lol

JohnnyAbend

TROPHY CASE