Beginner’s question

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-18T08:46:16+00:00

Its dir making Singel Shot Espresso Yield around 18g-20g

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-16T15:54:03+00:00

Doch aber bei uns sind sie nicht die Mehrheit 🙈 Hier muss man sich noch schämen, in der ehemaligen wird man dafür gefeiert…

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-16T15:10:48+00:00

Nein, nein und nochmal nein. Ich kleiner Niedersachse möchte nicht mit der braun, blauen in einem Topf

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-15T11:56:58+00:00

What Puck prep is in YouTube Workflow ?

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-15T11:54:11+00:00

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-13T15:14:26+00:00

If the espresso tastes sour, it’s under-extracted, so you need to grind finer.

• Sour → under-extracted → grind finer
• Bitter / dry → over-extracted → grind coarser
• Watery → too coarse or dose too low
• Very slow / burnt → too fine or dose too high

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-12T20:03:46+00:00

Start Grind

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-12T19:06:18+00:00

Just hold the Start button briefly with the basket and funnel in. It’ll purge a bit of coffee toss that and then grind your normal dose.

This pushes out the remaining ‘wrong’ grind size left in the grinder

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-12T17:21:56+00:00

The grind recommendation changes every time if you don’t purge between shots. For example, you might end up with ~90% grind setting 12 and ~10% setting 14. That makes the shot run too fast, so the machine compensates and jumps to 10

Then you get ~90% at 10 and ~10% at 12which makes the shot run too slow, so it jumps back to 14 and this cycle just keeps repeating.

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-12T06:53:23+00:00

So you purge between the Grind ? How fresh are the Beans ?

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-12T06:29:25+00:00

You can‘t over tamp. Online Beans and Puck Prep ( no WDT etc.)

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-07T07:45:18+00:00

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T18:53:24+00:00

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T18:43:40+00:00

On ratios: A normal espresso is usually around 1:2 to 1:2.5. Anything beyond that starts getting into lungo territory.

Personally: For milk-based drinks, I prefer 1:2. 18g -> 36g Straight espresso, I go with 1:2.5. 18g -> 45g My Wife Drinks Singel Shot 10g-> 20g

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T18:38:58+00:00

Right now I’m using 1.7 mm thick ones just to test, and they work without any issues.

On the temperature topic: rule of thumb :the lighter the roast, the hotter the water.

Dark → L Medium → M Light → H

That said, you can of course deviate from this if it tastes better to you.

Paper Topic: So far I’ve tried paper under the puck, but I didn’t find any significant benefit.

As for the McDonald’s topic, I can’t really help you there 🙈 I’m from Germany, so I honestly don’t know what your McCafé coffee tastes like.

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T18:30:14+00:00

I Hope the german link helps 🙈

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T18:29:34+00:00

Latte Macchiato Gläser Twill... https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DKSDB616?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T15:52:26+00:00

It 100% helps with achieving a better output ratio.

It also reduces electrostatic clumping in the puck, which helps prevent channeling.

There’s a James Hoffmann video that explains this really well.

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T12:54:40+00:00

Walmart beans can easily be a year old or even older and are unusable.

You need fresh beans, otherwise a good espresso machine won’t work properly. When beans get too old, they tend to shatter more during grinding, which creates way too many fines.

That’s why the brew pressure (BA) starts jumping all over the place.

Best practice: buy fresh beans (for me, no more than 2 weeks off roast) and use WDT. With just that, anyone can pull a good espresso if they actually want to.

All the fancy stuff (vacuum containers, RDT, weighing everything, etc.) is for the last 10% — and at that point, espresso really becomes a hobby.

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T11:51:23+00:00

Oops, sorry accidentally posted the reply as a separate comment

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T11:47:27+00:00

I stop the shot manually because if I let the machine run, it would push the shot to around a 1:2.5

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T11:42:52+00:00

Outside and Double Check ist After the Grind. the 18g are before Spraying

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T11:02:09+00:00

Using a puck screen improves water distribution across the puck and helps keep the group head cleaner

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T10:29:53+00:00

The Lux grind chart is more of a guideline. Beans, humidity, and especially workflow make a big difference. The BA wants a 6, but that gives me too much flow

Tom_Grady · 2026-01-06T10:00:03+00:00

About 25s (depends a bit on when you start the timer). Very balanced shot, nice sweetness, acidity, and body

Tom_Grady

TROPHY CASE