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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Conley on December 8, 2009 at 11:17pm

I believe you're referring to the function that toggles the pump on and off during the initial stage of the extraction; what's referred to as the leveling stage. You can toggle the pump off for line-pressure pre-infusion before the pump engages. Insert the "U" key and go into the menu and find "Leveling Pump Activation," press the continuos button on the panel for group #2, press the single "short" espresso button on the panel for group #2; if the single "short" espresso button is lit —default, if I recall correctly— the pump engages immediately, if the single "short" espresso button is not lit, you get line-pressure pre-infusion before the pump kicks in. It's really an interesting system, in theory, in that it claims to compensate for uneven tamping as well as uneven distribution —I haven't seen much in the way of testing whether it makes a discernible difference in practice, though.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Conley on December 8, 2009 at 11:49pm

The above is for the Aurelia V model, which is most common. I knew someone with the ESSE model; and, if I recall correctly, it's basically the same sequence; however, you hold the "long" single button on group #2 until the "long" single button on group #1 lights up, and you toggle the pump off and on by pressing the "long" single button on group #1 —lit equals pump "on", unlit equals pump "off".

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Permalink Reply by Mike Benis on December 10, 2009 at 7:32am

Like everything coffee-related, there's no simple answer since we're dealing with an organic product.

I have no experience of your machine Joseph, your coffee beans or your coffee style. So I'd say experiment.

A long preinfusion can help preserve puck integrity, especially at high doses, and thus help prevent channelling and underextraction. It may however also mean you have to back off your grind a bit to avoid choking the machine.

It can also help tame the brightness in certain single origins.

That said, some beans work best without preinfusion and it's generally not advisable for classic ristrettos pulled on single baskets.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Robertson on December 10, 2009 at 9:15am

Mike, "back off your grind a bit" dose weight?
Joe

Mike Benis said:

Like everything coffee-related, there's no simple answer since we're dealing with an organic product.

I have no experience of your machine Joseph, your coffee beans or your coffee style. So I'd say experiment.

A long preinfusion can help preserve puck integrity, especially at high doses, and thus help prevent channelling and underextraction. It may however also mean you have to back off your grind a bit to avoid choking the machine.

It can also help tame the brightness in certain single origins.

That said, some beans work best without preinfusion and it's generally not advisable for classic ristrettos pulled on single baskets.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Benis on December 10, 2009 at 9:24am

Sorry! Grind a bit coarser was what I meant. But you're quite right: if you find that the grind you are currently using is giving you the taste profile you desire, stick with it and dose a little less.... assuming that increasing the preinfusion is slowing the flow more than you want or causing channeling.

Joseph Robertson said:

Mike, "back off your grind a bit" dose weight?
Joe

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Robertson on December 11, 2009 at 1:58pm

Thanks Mike...

Mike Benis said:

Sorry! Grind a bit coarser was what I meant. But you're quite right: if you find that the grind you are currently using is giving you the taste profile you desire, stick with it and dose a little less.... assuming that increasing the preinfusion is slowing the flow more than you want or causing channeling.

Joseph Robertson said:

Mike, "back off your grind a bit" dose weight?
Joe

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