Ponte Vecchio Lusso - advice please?

Moon

Thanks for that Grumps I should tune back into that Spiritual Guru on Ch31 again for his 'Words of Wisdom' He's big on the 'breath' I think I'm still a little rattled after seeing the Doc today who said my cholesterol had shot up .. and that I may need to use one of those skim milks in my lattes rather than full-cream. All these coffees are taking a toll by the looks.. Skim milk .. yeah right. ;D You can imagine how that went down .. and the need for a decent coffee when I got home .. which didn't happen. He did say he wants me to be happy.. and at least didn't apply the killer blow --> 'Moony .. you gotta give up the coffee mate' - Geez Doc .. you're killing me .. I might as well give up the cigarettes as well .. in that case. Yep .. the successes and failures are all a part of the journey ..... exhale.

Brett_H

mycuppa wrote:

OMG Moony - really ? I'm a bit shocked actually. :o That Guat is the best I've had on deck in many years, it was head and shoulders above all other Guats inbound this year and as a result I snapped up the last 4 tons. Such is my opinion of it I rate it as the best bean in 2013 for me personally. It's a cracker. Like all Guats and hard dense beans, it can be tricky to dial-in and extraction has a very narrow tolerance. If you venture just outside the ideal zone, it bites you with gusto !

Which Guat is that Jeff?? I may have to place another order to ship with my other order 😉

mycuppa

Hi BH, It's a Guat I will not mention publicly. Too many lazy roasters (companies) only very happy to let others do the hard work buying coffee, roasting, sampling, evaluating in specialty cafes, gathering feedback, etc. It's 8 hrs a week of valuable time. Happy to tell you privately though. Cheers, Jeff

Moon

Just made a coffee from that other Brand of coffee I purchased. Ran too quickly, no crema and way too strong .. took a couple of sips ... ahhh --> sinker 😢 Got straight back online to order 1kg of Espresso & 500g Barista from 'mycuppa' Crikey - save me Jeff :head: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Better go give the Guatemala another crack :-| Things are looking up :thumb: Must admit the Guat certainly gives off an exotic and intoxicating aroma when ground. 1. Slightly coarser grind Pour: 30 secs Rating: - 8.8/10 .. vast improvement on the last effort .. needs to make it into the 9s though. 2. Again, coarser grind adjustment. Pour: 30 secs Rating: 9.2/10 .. hmm? .. this bean is playing hard to get .. but finally coming around. Hopefully .. a slightly more coarse grind adjustment might do it? Yep - this hard bean definitely requires the silk glove treatment. *Just missed out on making it onto todays coffee bean order. Maybe next time .. we'll see?

Moon

1 last coffee before I head off for the stay over at the 'Void' .. the Black hole that doesn't have a decent working coffee machine. Backed off the grind Pour: 30 secs Rating:- 8.2/10 A full-on potent brew that satisfies the caffeine fix .. but falls well short of 'impressive' (9s).. hence the 8s rating. Thank the Lord there's a decent Cafe where I'm going. :🙂

C-man

The Guat you sent me is coming along nicely, I gave up on it for a while then opened the bag and was hit by a great fruity aroma. still a tricky one but very different in a good way. C-

mycuppa wrote:

Hi BH, It's a Guat I will not mention publicly. Too many lazy roasters (companies) only very happy to let others do the hard work buying coffee, roasting, sampling, evaluating in specialty cafes, gathering feedback, etc. It's 8 hrs a week of valuable time. Happy to tell you privately though. Cheers, Jeff

conikal

Moon wrote:

1. Slightly coarser grind Pour: 30 secs Rating: - 8.8/10 .. vast improvement on the last effort .. needs to make it into the 9s though. 2. Again, coarser grind adjustment. Pour: 30 secs Rating: 9.2/10 .. hmm? .. this bean is playing hard to get .. but finally coming around. Hopefully .. a slightly more coarse grind adjustment might do it?

It would have been fun to watch you going through this using that Spong grinder ! :o 😃

Moon

^ Yes conikal .. I'm sure I would have ended up totally Spong'd out .. and my walls would be full of scratch marks by now. Thanks for the heads-up :thumb: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dose - 17g First 2 coffees were in the larger 6oz cup --> :coffee2: Both 25 sec pours and rated around the 8.5/10 3. Grind adjustment - slightly finer Pour - 20 sec .. 20ml - 6oz cup. Rating: 8.9/10 .. not a bad coffee, only lacked a bit of gusto this time, probably due to the quicker pour? Seeing this one was tasting promising .. had to go again. 4. No change to grind The pre-infusion drops have been appearing sooner @ approx 7 secs. First lever pull produced 20ml after 20 sec .. so I did another pull which took 10 secs Total pour - 30 secs .. 40ml Rating: 9.1/10 This was a nice coffee .. being different to the single lever ones, and coming straight after the last coffee it was difficult to rate just how good it was. Looking promising .. these little units are definitely a challenge. :tearhair: Will try again a little later when my palate is refreshed .. and hanging out for another instalment. :coffee: It's good to be back .. although those coffees they make at Rhumbas over at Taylors Lakes using Lavazza beans were pretty tasty, especially seeing they were jumbo sized. Have to check next time whether they only use a double shot or put in a 3rd due to the size? Either way, they are up there with the best take-away lattes I've had. (no kickbacks are being received for ^ this plug) :angel:

Moon

17g full dose .. no clearance from screen. Pour was fast .. 10 secs .. 2nd lever pull 15 secs - Total 25 secs Rating: 8.2/10 Tasted strong enough .. yet seems like the grind needs to be finer, that would make it stronger? My new shipment of beans (Espresso & Barista) are onboard for delivery today. Can't wait to ditch this feral lot.. and get back to enjoying a decent cup of coffee rating in the 9s. These beans are too much like a teenager going through an 'I hate my parents' phase. :tearhair:

hiphipharar

Moon wrote:

These beans are too much like a teenager going through an 'I hate my parents' phase. :tearhair:

I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to blame the beans. You have a new machine which you are still learning. Although you may have achieved early success on some beans your failure on single origin beans does not mean the beans are no good. I had a similar experience when I bought a new machine. Couldn't get a decent tasting brew from a certain bean although I had great results from other beans. I took the remainder of the bag along to a friend's cafe and he made an excellent espresso from them. Patience, grasshoper.

Moon

^ Yeah .. new machine, a lever, and a n00b <--- that combo is destined for a rough ride. I agree .. like Jeff from mycuppa said .. you need to dial it in right. I just made a nice coffee from it .. after setting the grind a little finer. Fast pour .. 1st pull 15 secs .. 2nd - took the cup away before the lever had risen completely. This bean seems to take a different method to get it right. Suppose that's how it goes eh? Looks like I'm short on patience with these more challenging beans. Think I might stick to the more user friendly types when I discover them. Ok .. I'll admit it .. I'm wimping out here Cheers Grasshopper ;D

hiphipharar

Moon wrote:

Looks like I'm short on patience with these more challenging beans. Think I might stick to the more user friendly types when I discover them.

That's the thing. You don't know it until you encounter it. Even beans that have behaved before may play up (humidity, depth of roast, worn grinder burrs, different bean used in a blend, aging of the bean post-roast, etc) Yeah I know it can be frustrating when you want the best results now but I've been using the same machine now for 4 years and I'm still learning. I still don't always get great shots; just a lot more than 4 years ago.

Moon

Yeah .. it's still very early days .. and I hear you regarding it always being a challenge, even after many years. * As they say - 'Nothing worth having comes easily' <--- :tearhair: The Apprenticeship continues.... 8)

Ol_Grumpy

Aaah Yes, I am reminded of the Sage's wise words... It only takes on average 10 years grind to become an 'overnight success'....

Moon

If every pour was a Godshot - we'd soon get bored. ^ There's one from Moon Some believe pleasure is a lack of pain.. and you hear that you can't fully appreciate success until you have failed a few times. I guess that filters down from the likes of Donald Trump to us Coffee n00bs thinking .. great, I've got the gear .. now I expect great coffee every time... yeah right. 😢 My new lot of beans from mycuppa have arrived. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Was taking coffee with the Gal who makes the nice Lavazzas .. they use the premium blend .. and I asked what that monster of a grinder they use was? Mazzer Robur. They had 2 other Mazzers. One for decaf and the other as a backup. The Robur apparently needed dismantling for a clean out quite often. She ran off some to show me and have a feel of the grinds. They were quite grainy and much coarser than what I had been doing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ahhhh .. nice to be back in the 9s again .. with Espresso blend. Tamped light/med at half way then again when dosed up. Grind - coarser. Pour: 30 secs Cup: 4oz Rating 9.2/10 Felt some pain .. enjoying the pleasure :thumb:

Moon

Dialing the new beans back in is taking a while after going coarser for the Guatemalan. The first 2 coffees were fast pours (10-15 secs) and pretty ordinary .. and the last, whilst getting closer (35 secs) is still falling short of past glory. Would've helped if I had marked where I was on the grind dial. :head: Getting there.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last 2 coffees Both 30 sec pours .. backed the grind off in both. 1. 8.9/10 2. 9.2/10 Moony is back in business :thumb:

ash

Moon wrote:

Getting there..

You just don't want to end up 'there' as then it would all become very boring! :rofl: Glad to hear you're enjoying the PV and coffee from it mate!

Moon

Loving the whole lever thing thanks ash. Btw .. how is your PV going .. ready for sale? .. sold? 'There' is my rating of 9.2 - 9.4/10. I'm happy achieving that .. it's degrees of happiness from then on .. for a while anyway.. until the next skull cracker comes my way.. I'm using the cheap Coles milk, so I can get richer, smoother & more creamy, but anything above that is a bonus. I can then refine my act with more practice .. and there's the further challenge when changing bean blend, single origin .. and what Grumps also pointed out .. when they change a bean in a blend. This can make a huge difference as I have noticed when finding a 'Negrita' blend I loved & then had problems with the pour. I suspected a bean type had changed in that batch? I have a kilo of mycuppa's Espresso and then 500g of 'Barista' .. which may only require slight tweaking?

ash

Haven't sold it yet, I've been busy tied up with a couple of other projects. I might get around to it soon - but she's a delightful little machine that I'm not sure I want to say goodbye to, just yet!

Moon

Yeah .. happens quite a bit .. a little gem is laying around needing some attention .. and then you finally get it back up to where you want it and then part ways .. crying shame that 😢 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Btw .. the equipment posters have listed below posts .. how do you enter that? I gather it isn't keyed in each time you post, so do you copy & paste or is there an auto setting that includes it each time? My gear is no longer too embarrassing to admit .. and ready to step up to the plate I reckon. It may not be a Londinium 1 .. only it ain't a Gaggia Baby any more. 😃

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