Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on May 25, 2011 at 9:15am

Synesso 18g ridgeless, 17 to 20g depending on coffee, rest etc.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Keaton Ritchie on May 25, 2011 at 8:35pm

The stock doubles that came with our marzocco drove me crazy. Couldn't dose under 18-19g and still tamp properly, really irregular hole sizes and patterns on the set, leading to inconsistent shot times/weights. Basically, the best shots I go out of them were still underextracted and disappointing. Now running Nuova Simonelli doubles, straight walled, fairly shallow (simonelli also have a deeper, curved wall double basket). The difference is mind blowing. Much more even extraction, more reasonable capacity (a matter of taste, yes, but my coffee tastes killer with 15g doses). Until I get the new Strada/VST baskets these are doing a pretty solid job.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Terika on May 25, 2011 at 8:47pm

Cool, thanks guys.  We're wanting to play with grinding a little finer and dosing a little less, but with the baskets we currently have, this just results in muddy pucks.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alexander Stephen Root on May 26, 2011 at 6:22pm

NS can do no wrong. It disappoints me when I hear things about inconsistency with LM because I'd really love to use them in a store one day.

 

Thank god for modifications, amiright?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on May 27, 2011 at 8:40am

What's wrong with muddy pucks?

Terika said:

Cool, thanks guys.  We're wanting to play with grinding a little finer and dosing a little less, but with the baskets we currently have, this just results in muddy pucks.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ryan Willbur on May 29, 2011 at 12:28pm

The new Strada baskets are game-changing. With the experience I've had, there's been nothing but cleaner, more efficient extractions. The hole pattern is pretty exact. This is partially because each basket is scanned to make sure the hole are correct.

Most other baskets have serious inconsistency in hole size and spacing... So, we've been using more coffee with a coarser grind to get the extraction rates we're used to.

With the Strada baskets you can grind finer, and dose a little lower to get a cleaner extraction. At this point, I can think of little reason to use anything else...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by N. Freeman on May 30, 2011 at 7:19pm

I agree with Ryan,

Using the Strada basket I was able to adjust the grind, similar to Ryan's grind setting, to cure a watery puck. I now have shot time consistency that I never experienced before. Using the 15+ gram basket the espresso streams from the double spout now drop straight down without moving in and out as it did with two other types of baskets.

When wiping the Strada basket dry for another draw I have never seen the holes stopped up with coffee grounds when the basket is removed and held up to light. I sure can't say that about the previous baskets. In addition to the shot time consistency, the coffee is tasty, full flavored and smooth using volume and time as a base draw instead of weight ratio. Maybe the weight ratio is right on, but I just don't know it.

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion