The Systemic Kid

The gluten will have gone so the dough won't hold shape when baked unless, as grumble suggests, you use a loaf tin.

It's not a definition - more of a tradition. James Hoffman sums it up nicely here The original espresso, i.e. Italian was a short strong hit - one sip and it's gone. World of espresso has become a broader church in terms of levels of roast, dose weight and output ratios.

Traditional Italian espresso dose was around 7-9grms and pulled short, i.e. ristretto in the region of 1:1 ratio. Italian espresso is darker roasted and made with a proportion of Robusta beans to give a extra caffeine kick.

To get the best extraction from an EK, run it 1:2 to 1:2.5. This should put you in the extraction yield area of around 22%, i.e. the sweet spot. The burr carrier is responsible for nigh on all the run out problems so if yours is one micron or less, you don't need to worry. Am assuming you've got coffee burrs - they require careful alignment to get the best out of espresso. Mahlkonig have a video somewhere but the main thing to draw from this is to carry out the alignment procedure twice. Having cleaned the burrs and chamber, switch on the EK and turn the adjustment knob until the burrs chirp and then back off very slightly. Mahlkonig recommend ten degrees which is minimal. Lock the dial Allen nuts. Now put a quantity of beans through on espresso setting - 20-30grms and once all grinds are purged, undo the Allen nuts, back off the adjustment knob slightly and carry out the alignment procedure until the burrs chirp. Finally, lock off the Allen nuts and you're good to go. As for barista technique and especially for lighter roasts, go for as fine as your machine can happily cope with and tamp light. Grinding into a pot/container and stirring with a needle on a cork or something similar. Decanting into the portafilter with ring attached is helpful. I give my grinds a final stir round and ensure they are fairly evenly distributed before tamping. Ekspresso is very different to most espresso produced through other grinders. My preference is for lighter roasts, so you are never going to get huge body but you do get fruit notes without acidity if your EY is in the 22% ballpark. One thing about grinding pretty fine, you will prone to channelling issues if your barista technique isn't spot on. Sounds a lot of faff but once you've nailed it, it's pretty straightforward and the shots speak for themselves.

For some reason, reminds me of the That Was The Week That Was sketch

Depends by how you quantify 'considerable'. An important factor is the degree of roast. If you like dark roasts, you won't see as much difference as you would with a V60 using lighter roast beans. Also, blade grinders shred beans rather than grind them so it's difficult if not impossible to tweak the level of grind you want to achieve. For V60, the grind consistency you want to achieve is akin to granulated to caster sugar. A high quality grinder will produce a more uniform grind. In any grind sample, you will have a proportion of optimum sized particles, some boulders (bigger particles) and some fines (very fine particles). Boulders underextract - more sour notes, whilst fines overextract producing bitter elements. You can get sieves (Kruve) and sift your grinds to get rid of fines and/or boulders leaving you with the optimal grind sized particles. Best advice is to borrow a decent hand grinder if you can and see if you can perceive any difference and whether that difference is big enough for you to bin your 'beloved' blade grinder.

Says it all in today's cancel culture.

Tiger stripes are created by insoluble particles suspended in the crema.

Indeed it isn't. Try tasting it. Crema is made up of fats and oils mixed with carbon dioxide which explains why it is foamy. As beans age, the amount of carbon dioxide remaining within the bean declines resulting in less crema.

Rocko Mountain is big on strawberry. Check out sellers that still have stocks.

Someone said the difference between left and right in politics is not linear but a circle seen through one plane.

Glenn took a position following a spate of students coming on to the forum requesting members participate in surveys. Some were clearly spam. The new site owner deserves the courtesy of being informed about BeanyT's request and making a decision regarding her request.

@BeanyT Before going any further, you will need to check out with admin first and get permission for anything run via the forum. I will message admin and the site owner and copy you into it to keep you in the loop.

Have compared shots produced through a Niche with a big flat - results were interesting. Beans used included a pretty funky medium to light offering - think it may have been a natural? @Fez ? Niche held up better than I expected but could not match the clarity the big flat produced or the sweetness. For what it is, Niche offers plenty if your preference is medium to darker roasts. As regards the pursuit of the God shot, it's surprising how much more you have to pay, grinder-wise, to see any marked difference in the cup. The relationship between incremental increases, taste-wise, and price of grinder is, like HiFi, logarithmic.

It's not against Ebay rules to pay on collection following the conclusion of the auction to avoid PayPal fees but you have no protection.