To Use or Not Use my IMS Screen (with Lelit Elizabeth)

JHCCoffee

Hi All

I have been working to dial in my go to coffee blend (Goldstar - 50% Hawaiian Kona decaf and 50% espresso decaf) with my new Lelit Elizabeth. After much struggling, a fair bit of reading, and a couple of pounds of coffee, I finally figured it out and dialed it in. I now much better understand the combined impacts of grind fineness, brew ratio (output/dose), water temperature and pre-infusion type and time on extraction, strength and bitterness vs sourness. My shots and cappuccinos are finally tasting decent.

Part way through, when all was sour, and not knowing what else to do, I swapped out my IMS screen, and te-installed the Lelit screen.The flow slowed, extraction increased and I was on my way towards dialing things in.

I am now debating whether to re-install the IMS screen. Flow would increase, which I would offset by making my grind finer.

Except that I will have to work through dialing things in again.

Any thoughts on the IMS screen. Should I swap it back in or not? Will it help or not? Still looking for that elusive God Shot!

Are you using the Lelit screen or IMS or VST? Why or why not?

Btw, I am now using 0.35 mm needles for my WDT and freezing my coffee in 17g doses, which I grind frozen. Both these workflow items seem to help taste and consistentcy. I also found bloom pre-infusion (11 seconds, including the 6 second initial headspace fill) to be helpful .

Anyway, thoughts, comments, ideas?

Thanks

JHCCOFFEE

CoyoteOldMan

JHCCoffee Will it help or not?

I don’t have an Elizabeth, and thus I don’t know if its shower screen is inherently bad or perfectly adequate, but I think my observation/question still applies:

Will it help to do what? Much of your post above only applies to ‘technical’ parameters (this much coffee in this much water with this many seconds of pre-infusion and this many of extraction etc.); your only description of the ‘output’ is “finally tasting decent” but still “elu[ding] God Shot”.

What is missing from your currently ‘decent’ coffee that would turn it into your ‘God Shot’?

It may well be something that can be achieved by doing something other than changing shower screen and re-dialing in, or at least achieved more easily (particularly if - as you describe it above - the change of screen resulted in a significant change in how the coffee was coming out, if not necessarily in how it was tasting - you don’t mention it above). Or it may something that is impossible to achieve because your impression of what a ‘God Shot’ is goes back to a time when you were not paying as much attention to coffee as you are now…

MediumRoastSteam

JHCCoffee - swap back the screen by all means. See which one you prefer in terms of taste. I think the OEM screen is perfectly fine and is a much better fit than the IMS CI200IM, in my opinion.

LMSC

@“JHCCoffee”#p26

My shots and cappuccinos are finally tasting decent.

Part way through, when all was sour, and not knowing what else to do, I swapped out my IMS screen, and te-installed the Lelit screen.The flow slowed, extraction increased and I was on my way towards dialing things in.

Agree with MRS and CoyoteOldMan re-shower screen.

How did the coffee taste when you said dialed in? How long did the shot last? How would you score the coffee on a scale of 1 to 5 - the higher the better?

I am sure you are aware the decafs need a finer grind than the normal bag. I always prefer pulling short dealing with decafs - typically less than 1:2. What’s yours ?

How long do you rest the beans. I rest the decafs for at least 3 weeks.

JHCCoffee elusive God Shot!

I don’t really care about this; neither I know what a God shot is nor keen to know. All I care about is the coffee we make on our machines puts a smile our faces.

JHCCoffee Except that I will have to work through dialing things in again.

If you are swapping the shower screen to normal, why does it need dialling in? You have already dialed-in; grind at the same grind size and pull a shot using the same settings.

JHCCoffee And good points. What I have been looking for (and hope to achieve) is an espresso shot that has:

A nice round mouthfeel
Full bodied
Sweet
Balanced (neither acidic or sour)
Complex (ie showing some of the underlying coffee bean notes)
Long aftertaste
With good strength
All while brewing decaf, as this older fellow cannot drink caffeine.

The “technical stuff” is how I am trying to get there, along with finding the best main ingredient (the beans) and using the right water recipe.

These are too many adjectives to what you consider as God shot or what ever you are chasing.

What grinder do you have? Without stirring a discussion of flat vs conical, a conical grinder and at least a medium dark, if not a dark roast, will get these - assuming you have the right parameters and dialed-in. You may try avoiding decafs that pack a fruity punch as they are likely to deny you the fully bodied mouth feel.

I think you should try not to blend the decafs initially, at least until you are happy with the shots.

CoyoteOldMan has asked a lot questions, which you need to look into and see if that helps.

Rob1

JHCCoffee I am now debating whether to re-install the IMS screen. Flow would increase, which I would offset by making my grind finer.

All else being equal, a higher flow rate means a higher extraction.

JHCCoffee

CoyoteOldMan

Thanks for the thoughts. They are appreciated!

And good points. What I have been looking for (and hope to achieve) is an espresso shot that has:

A nice round mouthfeel
Full bodied
Sweet
Balanced (neither acidic or sour)
Complex (ie showing some of the underlying coffee bean notes)
Long aftertaste
With good strength
All while brewing decaf, as this older fellow cannot drink caffeine.

The “technical stuff” is how I am trying to get there, along with finding the best main ingredient (the beans) and using the right water recipe.

Any constructive ideas/suggestions are welcome.

JHCCoffee

MediumRoastSteam

Thanks and will give it a shot (excuse the pun).

Just curious. You’ve been down this path. Why do you think the OEM screen is a better fit?

CoyoteOldMan

JHCCoffee A nice round mouthfeel
Full bodied
Sweet
Balanced (neither acidic or sour)
Complex (ie showing some of the underlying coffee bean notes)
Long aftertaste
With good strength
All while brewing decaf, as this older fellow cannot drink caffeine.

OK, so that’s what you would like - half the equation. Where do you feel things are falling short, and what are you basing the ‘falling short’ on? Have you been able to taste those beans coming up with all the attributes you expect? The limitation may well be in those - not that I can recommend any ‘solutions’ to that, but others like @LMSC may do!

MediumRoastSteam

JHCCoffee - I found the IMS screen just a tad too small for the shower screen. Presumably as this is not a screen made for the Elizabeth but for La Cimbali machines, it will never be a perfect fit anyway.

Also, the OEM screen, in my case, didn’t fit flush with the IMS screen - it just felt bulky and wrong.

And lastly, I found it didn’t add any value and didn’t make it any better than the OEM screen.

JHCCoffee

LMSC How long do you rest the beans. I rest the decafs for at least 3 weeks.

Hi LMSC

Just curious about your resting decaf 3 weeks. Any particular reasons why fully 3 weeks? I’ve read about resting light roasts 7 to 10 days vs dark roasts 3 to 4, all of ofcourse to let the off gassing process tail off or end. Do decaf’s take longer to off gas? What ever works for you ofcourse. Just curious about how You got to that approach and why. FYI, I’ve been resting my decaf for 7 days. I think that works, but am open to suggestions.

JHCCOFFEE

LMSC

JHCCoffee

By default, I do not open any bags before 2 weeks of resting. If light and medium light, I like a longer resting period for the flavour to develop. I do not buy medium dark or dark roasts, unless the bag doesn’t match the description.

Similarly, I also find the flavours are better in the case of decafs after resting for 3 weeks. It works for me!

If I am not wrong, @dfk41 who has been drinking decaf longer than self also rests it for 3 weeks at least.

dfk41

LMSC Correct! I used to have to drink decaf. Now I drink it through choice. On a personal note, i like darker roasted coffee where the flavour develops with time. I rarely open a bag before 3 to 4 weeks old, then vacuum seal them. Obviously if you do this, then once the bag is open you need to drink it and not fanny about! But at the end of the day, what is one mans meat is another mans poison!

LMSC

dfk41 I assume you pack as 250g? How long does it stay fresh / good to drink once the vac is opened? Thx mate.

dfk41

LMSC I always drink it within 5 days or so and it is always still nice to drink, but I am guessing that it will degrade faster

MediumRoastSteam

If anyone here can taste the difference between a coffee made with the OEM vs the IMS shower screen, for the Elizabeth or E61, then please change your job and insure your tongue. 😊

I can see why they are better in terms of cleaning, or better flow of water, or not letting as many fines back through - but I doubt taste changes.

coffeealex

Comparing Precision Shower Screens for Espresso Machines

Might be an interesting watch when looking at different screens