Do you overdose your basket, relative to its suggested dose? Such as 19g in an 18g IMS basket? By how much? When (with what beans and/or roasts) and why? Or why not? Do you maintain the same brew ratio when you increase the dose (ie increase the output) or do you reduce the ratio (keep the original output)? What are the impacts on taste? I have the perception that many American cafes (not that I am in the US or frequent their cafes) tend to overdose. Is this to increase body and strength, catering to the same tastes that like full bodied California wines? Or just to pour a slightly larger volume shot?

> @"JHCCoffee"#p36185 Such as 19g in an 18g IMS basket Is there such a thing? As in, an IMS 18g basket? Do you know the model exactly? Personally, I use a VST 18g (it’s written on the basket, 18g), and I dose between 18g and 18.5g in it. I don’t think there’s an adverse affect in overdosing or downdosing within reason. Of course, if you have a basket which is designed to take 18g and you dose 20g, you will quickly notice that the basket is overfilled and the downside is that it will touch the shower screen as soon as the coffee expands or as you lock the portafilter, resulting in a cracked/fractured puck and ultimately channelling. If you downdose, you’ll end up having to grind finer in conjunction with the puck be so thing and ultimately resulting in puck fracturing/channeling. Directly to your point: For example, in a VST 18g, it’s OK to dose 19g depending on the coffee. For example, with light roasts, I feel that I can dose more. For a darker roasted coffee, not quite as much, and I feel that for certain coffees, 18 is too much. Hence why, for VST at least, the basket nominal dose is 18g, but they do say you can vary the dose by +/- 1g. For the same coffee, if you updose (within reason) you will have to coarsen the grind to keep to the same ratio. And the opposite is also true (grind finer for a lower dose). As per difference in taste… Not a clue. My tastebuds never reported anything back in terms of meaningful difference. 😊 - You can always try it and check if yours do.

Do you overdose your baskets?

Ernie1

I almost always over dose baskets because on the machines I’ve had, with most coffees I enjoy, there’s been too much headroom which has caused sloppy pucks and inconsistent extractions.

Currently dosing between 18-19g in a 17g La Marzocco basket.

MediumRoastSteam

Ernie1 Currently dosing between 18-19g in a 17g La Marzocco basket.

Funny enough… The LM Strada 17/14g are essentially the same as the VST 18/15g. I think the only differences are branding and maybe some more loose QA. So… Depending how you are seeing it… You are not overdosing it at all :-)

Ernie1

MediumRoastSteam

Interesting!

I did think 17g is low given I reckon I could dose 20g in there without issue.

hornbyben

I use an 18g VST, and typically find that 19g of medium or light coffee gives me the right headspace. I have come across coffees where that is too much and had to drop it down though.

Personally I think the only thing that matters is the headspace

PortafilterProcrastinator

hornbyben That’s interesting. Do you get residue on your shower screen much?

This thread has really got me thinking.

I use an 18g VST and does 18g. I almost always get residue on the shower screen and have got used to rinsing the screen after each use.

CoyoteOldMan

I’m currently dosing between 14 and 18.5 grams in a 14/18 g IMS basket - depending on whether I’m making milk drinks or a last espresso relatively late in the evening. I may adjust grind (minimally) if I remember… otherwise the shot may run a little faster. I try to keep ratio between 2.2 and 3 by removing the cup at different spring pressures, and that depends largely on the bean and what I like.

As long as the basket is reasonably prepped, I don’t find any significant differences in taste.

JonWoo187

I keep it simple, but quite effective… using the same basket (never change that) and have my palm tamper set to bottom out on the basket rim around 7.5 mm of depth. That gives a perfect amount of headspace and max amount of coffee for extractions I like. I will vary the dry dose a bit depending on the coffee to maintain that puck thickness, but definitely not gonna overthink it and chase my tail.

Petre

I use the smallest basket that does not cause the puck to touch the shower screen. Actually, I keep things simple and never change the dose nor the basket - VST 18g, there is enough fuss with other variables like yield, temperature, grind settings, extraction profile, don’t need more problems in my life.

Cuprajake

I’ve always had the same style ims comp basket and always end up around 17g,

Obs bean plays a big factor

MediumRoastSteam

PortafilterProcrastinator - I do the same and get residue on the shower screen. Don’t forget our machines have a solenoid vented group: so it goes from 9 to 0 bar on the dial in a fraction of a second. That sucks the puck upwards and it will collide with the shower screen, proven by the stuck pucks which are quite a common occurrence with the Elizabeth, as an example.

With an E61 group operated by a cam, it’s similar, but less intense. With a lever machine (unless it has the ability to do so) you don’t have that problem as the piston keeps pushing the water towards the puck, to the point that you have to wait for all the water to go through the coffee puck in order for the pressure to equalise.

Worthwhile mentioning to anyone interested that Jake’s, Coyte’s and LMSC machines are 54mm group, lever operated, to the basket they use are deeper than one for the same dose for a 58mm standard basket.

hornbyben

PortafilterProcrastinator I get some residue, but nothing significant. A quick flush after the last shot is all it needs to keep it clean. I tend to drop the screen every week or so to give it a manual clean (usually isn’t much mess other than a bit around the edge of the brass block where it meets the rubber gasket), and then give it a backflush with cafiza every 2L of pumped water (₂₅ shots) to keep everything clean.

LMSC

Like Jake, between 16.5 and 17 max using an 18g IMS.

PortafilterProcrastinator

MediumRoastSteam Brilliantly clear explanation, thank you.

PortafilterProcrastinator

hornbyben This sounds very familiar. I drop my screen a couple of times a week and pulycaf a couple of times a month.

ajohn

To me the branded capacity of a basket is meaningless. The grinds expand when they get wet. If they hit the shower screen the basket is overloaded. ..The grinds will be more compressed by the expansion which in turn will change the grinder setting for some fixed ratio in some fixed time.

LOL I recently had a bad experience with an overloaded basket. I was using 13.5g of a bean that is lighter than many types. It’s density is unusually low. Most evil smelling and tasting coffee I have ever produced. I eventually noticed signs of the shower screen on the pick so reduced the dose until that went. 12.8g is the max for this bean. Finer grind as a result and much better behaviour when the bean was tuned in. Stronger coffee too. Go too low and that usually results in a soggy puck.

The reason for this problem is bad dose memory due to having some months off, machine broke and the fact that I haven’t fitted the machine with an IMS shower screen which leaves a little more headroom.

In the past on the other older uk forum people have suggested using a coin test to make sure the grinds do have some headroom for expansion.