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Permalink Reply by Brady on December 16, 2008 at 11:29am

How do her extractions compare to yours? Similar time? Similar taste? Do you get the same volume before blonding? I'd suspect maybe her dose is a little light. If you have a good gram scale, weigh her dose. If not, have her dose and level, then you finish the tamp and see if your puck surface is at the same height as it would be if you'd dosed.

Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by The Barista Formerly Known As JavaJ on December 16, 2008 at 4:30pm

What are you dosing?

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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on December 16, 2008 at 5:05pm

I'm with Brady and J.

The consistency of the puck is a function of dose, not tamp.

Higher dose = dryer puck. Ligher dose = wetter puck.

Neither is "right" or "wrong", but consistency is pretty dang important in a single store.

I'd go into the physics behind why, but I'm sure it's pretty self-explanatory, and it would take longer to type it out.

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Permalink Reply by Julie on December 20, 2008 at 12:15pm

The barista and I did another experiment where I dosed the portafilter then she tamped it and it still came out wet and loose. So I really really watched and it turned out that when she was tamping she didn't turn at the same time. She just applied downward pressure. Since she changed that, she has been getting dry cakes. Thanks for the input though.
Julie

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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on December 20, 2008 at 12:17pm

What happens when you rotate the tamper while tamping that would cause there to be a difference in the amount of water retained after the pressure is released?

Julie said:

The barista and I did another experiment where I dosed the portafilter then she tamped it and it still came out wet and loose. So I really really watched and it turned out that when she was tamping she didn't turn at the same time. She just applied downward pressure. Since she changed that, she has been getting dry cakes. Thanks for the input though.
Julie

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Permalink Reply by The Barista Formerly Known As JavaJ on December 20, 2008 at 3:10pm

Exactly, I don't see how failing to polish, let alone polishing differently would have such profound impact.

I don't think that is the issue. Here is what you can do to quantify your variables. Go buy a gram scale (if you don't have one) and a cheap bathroom scale. Dose like you normally would, then weigh your dose. (Depending on the gram scale you have, you might tare the weight of the portafilter or basket first). Then using the bathroom scale, tamp the shot noting how hard you are tamping in pounds. Pull the shot. Make no changes to your grinder. Do this a few times and note the weight of your dose in grams and your tamp. They should be consistent. Now have your employee do the same, and note any differences. It is possible that both the dose and tamp are issues affecting the shot, but keep one thing in mind; How does it taste?

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Permalink Reply by Julie on December 20, 2008 at 4:42pm

Hi,
I really don't know why I'm just letting you know that when all the other factors were accounted for this is the one that made the difference. She now has consistently dry cakes.
Thanks for your input,
Julie

Jason Haeger said:

What happens when you rotate the tamper while tamping that would cause there to be a difference in the amount of water retained after the pressure is released?

Julie said:

The barista and I did another experiment where I dosed the portafilter then she tamped it and it still came out wet and loose. So I really really watched and it turned out that when she was tamping she didn't turn at the same time. She just applied downward pressure. Since she changed that, she has been getting dry cakes. Thanks for the input though.
Julie

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