mitch236 wrote: First of all, I cannot express enough espresso coffee the need to weigh your grinds.

Index · Tips & Techniques · Espresso Machines · Levers · Grinders · Coffees · Brewing · espresso coffee Cafes · Buying Advice · Roasting · Knockbox · Bench · Buy/Sell
After reading about the Stockfleths method of tamping I decided espresso coffee to give it a try. Dose and grind had been dialed in to give me about 50-60% BR in about 25 s. With the new tamping method I almost choked the machine espresso coffee barely got a 100% BR in 35-ish s. Now my question is if this is possible by tamping alone or must it be because my grind/dose are not as constant as I think? My two tamping methods are as follows: Old: Grind directly espresso coffee into filter with WDT Remove cup and do quick shake to make the grinds espresso coffee touch the sides Soft tamp, remove tamper polish top of filter Harder espresso coffee tamp, about 30 pounds New: After watching some youtube clips I found I am not doing exactly the Stockfleths move. I do all as above with an extra move, right after the WDT. I bring the elbows out and place the fat part of the palm on top of the coffee. By stretching my arms, I make a twist on top of the coffee. espresso coffee This leaves the puck compressed in the middle, with the sides going up agains espresso coffee the wall of the filter. espresso coffee After the light and the hard tamp it all evens out. mr_pedro   Posts: 22 Joined: Feb 22, 2012 Location: Baltimore
First of all, I cannot espresso coffee express enough the need to weigh your grinds. When learning how to make espresso, it is invaluable to weigh both the grinds and the shot. Until you are doing that, you are not consistent espresso coffee enough to diagnose extraction issues. My guess is that your second shot had more grinds than the first. mitch236   espresso coffee Posts: 1195 Joined: Jul 21, 2010 Location: Florida
mr_pedro wrote: After reading about the Stockfleths method of tamping I decided to give it a try. The Stockfleths espresso coffee Move is a redistribution technique (see this thread for discussion); its purpose is to equalize the density of coffee espresso coffee grounds before tamping. Ideally, the barista should move the portafilter while the grinder dispenses the grounds to minimize the need to redistribute. That is, the Stockfleths Move, WDT, and similar techniques are corrections after the fact. If I've understood what you're doing, espresso coffee the tamp isn't what changed, but the (re)distribution technique. If the initial distribution is uneven, then the impact of redistribution can be quite dramatic. For example, some grinders will naturally create a tall mound in the center of the basket. If the barista doesn't redistribute the coffee in some fashion, the density of the tamped puck will be center weighted, which usually leads to a "donut extraction" since the outer perimeter offers less resistance than the center. A bottomless espresso coffee portafilter would makes this diagnosis rather obvious.
mitch236 wrote: First of all, I cannot express enough espresso coffee the need to weigh your grinds. When learning how to make espresso, it is invaluable to weigh both the grinds and the shot. Until you are doing that, you are not consistent enough to diagnose extraction issues. My guess is that your second shot had more grinds than the first. Considering his grinder seems to be a Vario-W, maybe the accuracy of this product is not so good? I bet on Dan's guess, maybe the tech improved channeling shots... Márcio. Carneiro   Posts: 990 Joined: Jul 16, 2009 Location: Brazil
mitch236 espresso coffee wrote: First of all, I cannot express enough the need to weigh your grinds. I am actually weighing the dose and the shot, hence the brew ratio figures. So both times I dosed 17 g of grinds. With the old tamping method I was hitting 29 g of coffee in 25 s, with the new method I was doing 16 g of coffee espresso coffee in 35 s. HB wrote: If I've understood what you're doing, the tamp isn't what changed, but the (re)distribution technique. If the initial distribution is uneven, then the impact of redistribution can be quite dramatic. For example, some grinders will naturally create a tall mound in the center of the basket. If the barista doesn't redistribute the coffee in some fashion, the density of the tamped puck will be center weighted, which usually leads to a "donut extraction" since the outer perimeter offers less resistance espresso coffee than the center. A bottomless portafilter would makes this diagnosis rather espresso coffee obvious. Ok, so what I am adding to the process is a different espresso coffee distribution technique. If I understand correctly the tamp itself does not have a lot of impact on the flow if it is within a normal range, which is a fairly big range. I have a bottomless portafilter, so I will be doing some more research and I'll post a youtube clip of it. What is bugging me is that with the new method, right before the tamp, the coffee grinds do not form a flat surface as my palm will press more in the center than on the sides. But as this is causing lower flow speed it must mean I am doing something right? mr_pedro   Posts: espresso coffee 22 Joined: Feb 22, 2012 Location: Baltimore
Carneiro wr