ACS Vesuvius Evo Leva

Eiffel

@LMSC Good luck with the revamp of the FAQ/User manual. As public discussions on this machine are concentrated in this thread, interested parties can discover here what has happened since the last published version until you release version 2.0 😉

LMSC

Eiffel Sorry mate! It’s not getting as much attention as I would like as it is crazy at work at the moment. I have marked my calendar to spend some time as a part of a daily work schedule. Will update and post you the new version as soon as it is ready. We are working very hard at the moment! 😂😉

Appreciate your and every one’s patience! 🙏🏽

HVL87

LMSC lovely looking shot. I used to be a fan of the docks from North Star. When I first tried it last year they were roasting it closer to medium - it made an enjoyable and comforting/chocolatey flat white. Now they are roasting it darker -tastes quite generic to me. Then again I don’t have a lever machine!

LMSC

HVL87 It’s good for some one who loves milk-based coffee and/or like low-acidity in the cup. It’s a medium roast, although I will be skew it towards medium dark. If you are expecting a stand out coffee, you must look elsewhere.

CoyoteOldMan

I think I need a little help…

We are now on shot #10, and things are still quite fast for my taste (vs. what I visually like in shots by people like @Cuprajake, I’m getting a very fast decline in pressure from ~11 to below 7 in 15 seconds). I will try to make a video this afternoon, but pointers would be appreciated even before then - perhaps the video will be of a more successful shot.

This is my setup:

The beans are Saka Gran Bar, Neapolitan-style medium/dark roast, roasted 6 May, frozen on 27 May and taken out of the freezer on the day.
Portafilter/filter are warmed on machine until grinding time.
Grinder (E37S) is set to produce grinds that are easily seen to be finer than supermarket ground; I don’t have a sieve or other means to objectively measure grind fineness.
Weigh beans (best so far has been 19 grams in stock double basket), RDT and grind. Dose consistency out of the grinder is within 0.2 grams (and the grinder has only been used for ‘this’ setup over the last 48 hours).
Grinds are very fluffy and not clumpy at all. Light WDT just to flatten the top of the mound into the sides.
Tamp once, pressing to eliminate air. Puck is compressed well below the retainer clip line, level and smooth.
Pull lever and wait for pump - first drops come out almost immediately after pump reaches pressure
Release lever - longest I’ve been able to keep pressure above 6-7 bar is ~15 seconds
Puck is solid and not flooded by water. Comes out in 1 piece when knocked out, but breaks easily
There is a little silting in the cups, which makes me think that grinding finer is not the way to go

What should I look to change first?

DavecUK

CoyoteOldMan How long do you preinfuse for and what pressure are you using. What grinder as well

A properly infused coffee bed resists compression, and also fracturing.

MediumRoastSteam

CoyoteOldMan - I’d grind finer to start with. If that doesn’t work, I’d buy a 250g of something that Jake also uses and see if that works. The Docks, Chocolate Point or something that’s known trialled and tested.

And, to rule things out… I don’t live too far from you. I’d happily bring some coffee, or my Niche to rule things out.

I work in Oxford, live in Thatcham/Newbury and I can take the scenic route through the Berkshire Downs one day If it would help. 😊 - or a weekend. 👍

dfk41

CoyoteOldMan Right, you need to play with a bean that has preferably not been frozen, and that you know well. Personally, I have found freshness of bean (I often use stuff vacuumed and 10 weeks plus past roast so they need to be used within 3 or 4 days). If it is not grind, then possibly tamp, or the bean itself. Do not get to hung up on proceedure aand let your taste buds do the work

CoyoteOldMan

DavecUK How long do you preinfuse for and what pressure are you using. What grinder as well

2 bar (haven’t changed it from factory). I pre-infuse for a very minimal time as there is percolation coming through as the machine reaches 2 bar or very very shortly (1 second) after.

The grinder is a Ceado E37S slightly modified for single-dose (“feeding tube” and heavy tamper on top also acting as bellows)

MediumRoastSteam Good idea re using ‘known beans’; will order a bag. I’m afraid that if I ground finer I’ll just get more silting - not that I mind (I drink Turkish), but it shouldn’t happen?

Re: coming over - you are invited to Wallingford whenever you want. I’d be curious to see what difference the Niche makes, at the very least.

dfk41 These are 9 weeks past roast, but frozen at 3; I don’t have a vacuum machine, but what I take out of the freezer is consumed in the day (or the next at most). Taste buds are quite happy; then again, they may have low expectations…

HVL87

LMSC at the time I was looking for exactly what you describe - a crowd pleaser for guests. As I mentioned, from what I can see North Star are roasting it darker now, which makes it a bit too roasty and less rounded in the cup for me. Glad you’re enjoying it though!

LMSC

HVL87

My wife and daughter like coffee on the right side of the scale. My wife always takes milk-based, my daughter mostly a long black made off espresso and I love straight espresso, brews and milk-based.

My taste preferences are fruity flavours and acidity skewed to the left. The medium is the max tolerance for me.

The risk is what a roaster describes as a medium may be a medium dark. Months ago, I know a roaster who labelled certain bags as light roasts. I bought 2 × 1KG. Both were perfect medium roasts! 🤣 The roaster never replies to my feedback! I no longer buy from such roasters, however attractive the discount may be. 😊

Most of my purchases are fruity and brighter bags! 😊

LMSC

HVL87 what I can see North Star are roasting it darker now,

Your comments resonate with @MWJB’s! I have been buying beans only during the last 2 years; I seldom buy the same bag from the same roaster. This isn’t sufficient for me to make a compare the roasts!

Cuprajake

I tend to prefer fresh to rested beans

LMSC the docks is ok, we prefer north star brazil.

Fwiw the choc point once rested is quite good, in milk. Still prefer north star. They have been very consistent for me

DavecUK

CoyoteOldMan The grinder is a Ceado E37S slightly modified for single-dose (“feeding tube” and heavy tamper on top also acting as bellows)

Could be the beans, but might be the grinder, how did you come by it how old is it?

Cuprajake

CoyoteOldMan I’m on the ims baskets now, the 26version

I did struggle at first too.

I dose 16.5g of a med and 17g of med/light

MediumRoastSteam

CoyoteOldMan Re: coming over - you are invited to Wallingford whenever you want. I’d be curious to see what difference the Niche makes, at the very least.

I have dropped you an email. 👍

LMSC

Cuprajake the docks is ok, we prefer north star brazil.

Fwiw the choc point once rested is quite good, in milk. Still prefer north star. They have been very consistent for me

Point noted! Brazil is next when this bag runs out. I will anyway have to replenish the stock for my daughter. I have about 3 KGs in the post already. The Brazil may have to wait! 🤣

Agree, CP is good with milk

CoyoteOldMan

DavecUK It’s a 2020 model. Purchased used this April from a roastery in Scotland that bought it new in April 2021 and replaced it with an EK43 in October 2021. It had 27000 single shot-equivalents on the non-erasable counter (~ 200 kg of beans), now it has 20 kg (3000 single shots) more.

Cuprajake So did you “just” grind finer to resolve your struggles? I upped dose from 17.5 to 18 to 19 grams, and it has improved things, but not enough. I still have a fair amount of room on the grinder before I reach Turkish territory: I grind Turkish at 6, getting a texture/body similar to the best Turkish coffees I have drunk in Turkey, and I’m currently grinding for espresso at 18 (the Ceado has 80 steps for half a turn of the adjuster, but I don’t know what the pitch of the screw is; I suspect similar to the Mazzer Major, but this is just speculation).

I will try a potentially ‘choking’ shot later… going down to 12. I’ll have one of these at hand, just in case

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DavecUK

CoyoteOldMan If it chokes, you won’t need the towel, just pull gently back on the lever until the gauge reads zero, then you can unlock the portafilter, before moving the lever in a controlled manner to the rest position.

Ceados don’t seem to enjoy single dosing, but that shouldn’t require a grind close to turkish to prevent the shot gushing (unless the grinders massively out of alignment, which is unlikely), it must be the coffee.

CoyoteOldMan

DavecUK It’s not gushing as such - it’s just relatively fast. I have tried grinding quite a bit finer (4 marks), and this has resulted in a much longer shot (12 seconds from pump stop to first drops, and 59 seconds in total to 7 bar, or 47 under pressure), so somewhere between 14 and 18 grinder marks is the golden land…

(Grinder is fairly well aligned - I shimmed it to the best of my abilities and using a test indicator the top (fixed) burr is within 0.01 mm all around without shims.)

TomR I’m brewing with the group at 91 and boiler at 99, so relatively hot. I haven’t played with temperature at all, yet. My Gran Bar is nearly finished (I think I have one more double shot or thereabouts). Top Selection next! Will keep you posted.

Just ordered a bag of North Star Docks - let’s see what happens with that.

Thanks, everybody!

TomR

As a fellow LSM / Sake fan- Saka Gran Bar on an Alex leva / niche - I found that with enough pre infusion to saturate the puck (ie drops all over the screen),it was not great taste wise and meant the shot flowed very fast, with a very pronounced “bad robusta” taste. Best for me is v brief pre infusion phase (3 secs) then release the lever over 2-3 seconds, and extract 14g beans into 20-25g espresso in about ??25 seconds. I also use medium-hot temperature despite what the home baristas Saka fans say.

So I vote that you grind finer and pre infuse minimally

I found Top Selection has a larger sweet spot - maybe try with that first?

I am also not getting the same great taste I got in the first few days of opening the bag - its a bit muted- despite freezing. I think it might be like my experience of illy in a tin - ok a first but stales very quickly and becomes generic.

I’m curious to see what parameters you settle on, in the hope I can learn from your experience.

Good luck

Cuprajake

I prefer quicker infuse then release

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