Coffee Forums banner

E5 T - 1 and counting

12K views 65 replies 9 participants last post by  Jony 
#1 ·
I have joined this party, my E5 is due tomorrow.

Have wanted an OD machine for a while and BB could not speak highly enough of the machine. Give my height restrictions and want for an upgrade the trusty Mignon is off to a new home ( I hope ) or will become the Decaf grinder and the mis adventure with the Mazzer will be forgotten!

Cant wait, mis remember to read the instructions first before I plough in like the usually impatient bloke ( read Child ) that I am.

Will update further...
 
#3 · (Edited by Moderator)
Jony, are you selling an E5.

Ok first obs':

Great looking ( though effect over appearance more important )

feels very robust

tricky is to set up, and I question the accuracy of the output figs, I have now got 18.5gs in 5.5 secs and a 21g in 6.2 secs

Tested the selected grind with 21g in the blind basket and managed to collect all the output in a shot measuring glass. V Happy with that.

Very nice that BB set a bag of QC failed beans for me to run though ( kitchen smells amazing ). BB where amazing in their service, as ever.

Need to train my dearest, otherwise we will have a Coffeegate scandal and issue, user issues in my house are defined as problems belonging to another person, ( usually me )

Fits brilliantly under the counter.

Lots of heat generated first noted, maybe the unusually high output and new burrs?

Clumpy to start with but maybe was too tight?

Excellent so far.

Looks great and so far is grinding well for a decent extraction
 
#5 ·
Don't worry about clumps just yet. If you are still dialling it in, it may be finer than you want and most OD grinders will clump to one extent or another when grinding very fine. Also, it will probably improve as the burrs get seasoned. Plus you can always grind into a little pot, or just do WDT with a cork with pins in, or a mini whisk (or even the smart Londinium whisk if Heath Robinson isn't your cup of, er, coffee)
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
hotmetal said:
Don't worry about clumps just yet. If you are still dialling it in, it may be finer than you want and most OD grinders will clump to one extent or another when grinding very fine. Also, it will probably improve as the burrs get seasoned. Plus you can always grind into a little pot, or just do WDT with a cork with pins in, or a mini whisk (or even the smart Londinium whisk if Heath Robinson isn't your cup of, er, coffee)
I currently use a corn cob skewer but will be upgrading to a chopped up mini whisk
:)
^^ the Londinium whisk, you gotta love the sales people's eyes light up when people pay £30 for an off cut with 3 prongs
:)
I also haz pot, and funnel
:)


Im throwing out a helluva lot of decent coffee trying to get this thing happy, i guess it doesn't help buying a couple of shot glasses and giving myself more confusion
:)


UPDATE: had a wakeup clumping thought, gonna shift from 15g VST > 18g VST so the grind is a tad coarser, should lower clumpiness.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi Guys thanks for those thoughts.

Im not that fine on the grind I didn't think, and have in fact backed it off. I was hoping I could dispense with my old cocktail stick! We will see how it develops. Did BB not give you a bag of rejected beans to help set it up?

I am using a 18g basket and a 22g.

Once I get some of my Italian Manaressi Gold ( quite dark and oily ) I suspect that may be another equation, and will end up back off quite a bit. Still on a fairly med roast Colombian just now.

Having said all that very happy with the flavour improvement over previous grinders and I have poured a naked shot without spraying the whole machine ( an acid test of grind consistency I understand ) so now a happy boy drinking some improved coffee and in a much cleaner environment than with the previous incumbent.

Cheers
 
#8 ·
jerbla said:
Hi Guys thanks for those thoughts.

Im not that fine on the grind I didn't think, and have in fact backed it off. I was hoping I could dispense with my old cocktail stick! We will see how it develops. Did BB not give you a bag of rejected beans to help set it up?

I am using a 18g basket and a 22g.

Once I get some of my Italian Manaressi Gold ( quite dark and oily ) I suspect that may be another equation, and will end up back off quite a bit. Still on a fairly med roast Colombian just now.

Having said all that very happy with the flavour improvement over previous grinders and I have poor a naked shot without sparking the whole machine ( an acid test of grind consistency I understand ) so now a happy boy drinking some improved coffee and in a much cleaner environment that with the previous incumbent.

Cheers
Indeed BB gave me a kilo which went through it straight away, being new at dialing in and trying to get some consistency is taking me a while, I put this down to having bugger all experience. i decided to ditch the 18g basket and revert to the 15 as it made no difference on the clumping, i just presume it will take a bit of time and settle down as I tried the E5 at BB and that was not clumping and produced great shots.
 
#9 ·
Our combined experiences so far added to your observation suggests as you say, patience and time to allow it to season and settle in.

I still remain impressed by the machine
 
#11 ·
We appear to be sailing a similar ship, I am now under pressure to "move on" the pre loved and owned items, not helped by certain people selling similar ( enhanced items ) at the same time!
:o
 
#13 ·
Hoping the decks are now cleared of other SJ's and that I have illustrated my desire to move on, a suitable offer will follow, sometime soon.

I might well keep the Mignon, however with the ease of grinding with the E5, and the small loads and retention, flipping some Decaf in for a few cups would not present a problem i don't force ( so long as it doesn't take 1kg to re dial!! )

Have fun with the new toy, I will share any observations re clumping as they develop or improve, Cheers.
 
#15 · (Edited by Moderator)
So I've just changed beans and my grind timings have just gone out of the window. I've gone a lot tighter and longer in order to get my 18g's and to get a 36g extraction over 30 seconds. At this rate my coffee consumption is going to go through the roof, I think I'll stick to a known blend as I can't go using ha;f the small bag dialling the bloody thing in, however i suspect with more use it will get easier.

I must say the only adjust when grinding instruction is much easier said than actually done!
 
#17 ·
jerbla said:
I must say the only adjust when grinding instruction is much easier said than actually done!
Hahaha! Yes it sounds so simple doesn't it, until you try it! Remember this is only for going finer - to avoid trapping coffee between burrs when not running - no harm in going coarser while off. After cleaning or when mine is empty, if I think I'm going to need to go tighter I slightly overdo it beforehand, knowing that I'll then be going a tad coarser to dial in. It helps if you keep a log of your settings for each bean. Sounds nerdy (well it is!) but it does at least allow you to build up a picture of what beans need what grind, and can save you a bit of coffee by getting you in the ballpark before you've even filled the hopper. Remember you need to purge a little between adjustment, otherwise you can get caught in a back and forth pendulum effect and end up wasting more.
 
#19 ·
I get stuck between the need and desire to get on with making my coffee and being precise about it. I am using an Indian coffee today which is ( I think ) Peaberry and very small compared to the previous Columbian, even then I think i was over extracting in my 30 second window however, so I needed to tighten up. Happy after 4 attempts that I am getting the 1:2 ratio in 27 secs.

my Dearest commented on how much coffee I have accrued of late, list;e does she realise consumption has doubled since the new toy has arrived.

Clumps are definitely receding, and we are getting fluffier grounds now.

Just the simple matter now of finding a new home for my Mignon and SJ.

Live and learn....
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
very sensitive to bean change. Today even with 1 sec less ( 18g ) and coarser setting I nearly choked the machine.

Never realised what a big difference bean type could have, all part of the learning experience. Hoping my Barista foundation course in Feb will guide me to better practices and more precise repeatable coffees.
 
#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
Gone to an Italian espresso Blend, Manaressi, my Florentine favourite. Much more oily so a great crema on extraction.

Still got clumps, seem less with the oiler beans. Sent a video to BB who liked the extraction, but said in one breath I need to be finer but then commented in the finesse relative to the clumps?

Getting a great extraction on the 22g Bottomless filter, so I guess I should be happy.
 
#25 ·
That doesn't make much sense, in theory the oilier the bean, the more it should clump due to the moisture content being higher?

I just use blends now anyway. I dont see much point in single origin, massaged, sang to coffee beans when i have the palette of a cat thats licked cleaned its ar*e. I am currently running fudge by Rave which is yummy and also means i dont need to constantly faff too much dialling in different beans.

Tasting notes : tastes like coffee
 
#26 ·
craigsalisbury said:
That doesn't make much sense, in theory the oilier the bean, the more it should clump due to the moisture content being higher?

I just use blends now anyway. I dont see much point in single origin, massaged, sang to coffee beans when i have the palette of a cat thats licked cleaned its ar*e. I am currently running fudge by Rave which is yummy and also means i dont need to constantly faff too much dialling in different beans.

Tasting notes : tastes like coffee
I think the clumps are usually static related.

Certainly on the mignon they tend to fall apart with the slightest poke.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top