Single espresso shots & baskets

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Single espresso shots & baskets

Postby Zimpker » Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:54 pm

I am having a few issues with single shots, I have always struggled to get a single shot as good as a double, so end up making mostly doubles. i think I over tamp and often ending up choking the machine. I notice with my new machine I have a good selection of baskets of different sizes. There seems to be different configurations of single basket, some look deeper than others, same with the double shot baskets.
I thought all single shot baskets were around 15g is this not the case?

Any advise on achieving improved single shogratefullylly recieved...

thanks,
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RE: Single espresso shots & baskets

Postby bruceb » Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:47 am

I'm afraid a lot of the members here will just say, "don't bother." There seems to be an attitude that wasting coffee is preferable to making the effort...or at least that is what I heard from the pros here when this topic arose in the past.

I make singles often and they are just as good as doubles, but it does take some fiddling. I readjust the grinder one or two notches, but I tamp the same for both. I do not tamp very firmly. I tip and rotate the tamper and press down lightly as I go around, then press again one time to flatten the top of the puck. I use a somewhat deeper single basket.

Good luck and let us know how you get along. :D
Three Francesconi (CMA) espresso machines - Rossi, San Marco, LaCimbali, Faema and 2 Mazzer Major grinders- CoffeeTech Maggionlino, Hottop, Alpenröst and HW Precision roasters.
I decided I needed a bit of a change so I roasted some Monsooned Malabar. That was a change!
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Re: Single espresso shots & baskets

Postby mnemonix » Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:22 pm

Zimpker wrote:I thought all single shot baskets were around 15g is this not the case?


15g is a double basket.
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RE: Re: Single espresso shots & baskets

Postby bruceb » Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:49 pm

Sorry, I forgot to mention that. Yes, 15-18 g is the amount of coffee for a double (2 oz. or 60 ml of water), 7-9 for is a single (1 oz. or 30 ml). I have a single basket that holds up to 10 g, but most will only hold about 8 g at the most.
Three Francesconi (CMA) espresso machines - Rossi, San Marco, LaCimbali, Faema and 2 Mazzer Major grinders- CoffeeTech Maggionlino, Hottop, Alpenröst and HW Precision roasters.
I decided I needed a bit of a change so I roasted some Monsooned Malabar. That was a change!
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Re: Single espresso shots & baskets

Postby Zimpker » Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:29 am

mnemonix wrote:
Zimpker wrote:I thought all single shot baskets were around 15g is this not the case?


15g is a double basket.


yep, it was me not thinking straight.. I should have remembered from my days trying to fine tune my Silvia years ago, back then I used scales to get the coffee just perfect!

It was just that the single baskets that came with the Bezzera were deeper in appearance (more cupped) than my previous baskets. That said I still choked the machine when using the same tamp pressure as for a perfect double. Interesting that Bruce mentioned knocking the grind back slightly for single, had not thought about that.....frustrating when you end up waisting a single shot, I can see why most opt for the double.....


The bezzera double baskets also look a lot deeper and take more coffe, I think maybe they are all over sized... Time to get those scales out I think!

thanks,....
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Postby dwalsh1 » Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:24 pm

I'll go with Bruce. Stick to doubles it's less stressful :)
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Postby Zimpker » Sun Apr 15, 2012 2:40 pm

I have had a play and a measure, my single baskets although deep do take about 7g, so are standard. The double however takes 21g of coffee, so is over sized.

I managed to extract a couple of nice single shots today, but this was with only enough tamp pressure to even out and smooth the top of the puck.......

On another subject, the water I am getting out of the tea tap is very steamy, almost half steam to water and spatters a lot. This is fed from a pipe that enters the boiler at the bottom, but has a copper pipe that takes it up towards the middle top. I am wondering if the fill level of the boiler is correct as if it is too low the pipe maybe close to the surface of the water, hence the steam and water mixture. Anyone any experience with this?
I would normally set the water level about 1.5-2" below the top of the boiler, but I have not played with the levels at all on this machine.

thanks,
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Postby fluffykiwi » Mon Apr 30, 2012 12:50 pm

Re: single shots I've never perfected them, but am only a beginner, there is some tips by Home-Barista here:
http://www.home-barista.com/tips/ways-t ... t3859.html

Re: your hot water tap, mine is the same, I always assumed that it was because the boiler is set for steaming it is roughly 140degrees C (?approximates 1.2bar of gauge) and it can't cool down that quickly on the short journey from the boiler......but Im happy to be very wrong here as if it can be fixed I might use it a bit more!
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Postby espressomattic » Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:07 am

Single shots are well worth the effort to get right. I don't adjust my grind for mine. Previous machines/grinders combos have resulted in frustration, but my current set up sits well. I find mine tend to be a bit shorter than usual, however I oull shorts shorter anyways.

Above all, keep practising and have fun. Don;t get stressed about it. After all it is only coffee :)
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