Yeah it’s true, it’s frustrating that things aren’t built to be infinitely serviceable anymore but I suppose that’s a small trade-off for some of the advancements technology has brought us.
La Marzocco Owners Chat (All welcome!)
Also having received my tamper from @StevenG91 yesterday - much better prep now than the curved LM one which comes in the box. The curve just seemed to let me slope the puck too easily.. so having the larger tamp (and a much better handle for my hand) means I am getting a nice even press.
MattH thanks Matt I’m pleased that you like it. Functional art!
I still find even with a 4 hole tip that the wand should be to one side, not as much as less powerful machines but the Micra has a lot of power. Most of the videos of milk steaming on the Micra show an angle, and I don’t think it would be any different from the mini or any of the bigger la marzocco machines I have used.
It does take a good bit of practice to get used to, especially when steaming smaller quantities of milk
Coffee Roaster. Home: Sage Dual Boiler, Niche Zero, Ode v2 (SSP), 1zpresso ZP6 Work: Eagle One Prima EXP, mahlkonig e80s, Mazzer Philos and lots more
Agreed - its finding that sweet spot and working out how much stretching for different milks.
I have been doing alot of water/washing up liquid practice !
Just had this email from La Marzocco post LCF
No idea what the offer Is - but just in case anyone interested…
If you’d like to hear more about the LCF Micra deal that expires tomorrow morning Friday 28th, just reach out to us. home.uk@lamarzocco.com
cheers
matt
Morning, so my slow education of Coffee continues… and I had some questions about dialing in a new coffee. Part of my issue is that I dont know yet what a particular coffee should taste like. So attempting to dial in (before it gets added to milk which makes it all taste pretty good…) is still a bit of an unknown.
Thought I wold post here as the LM machines are straight forward in terms of what you can do to the shot - its not a more complex machine with flow control and other features to and even more variables into the mix.
At the moment I have been doing the following:
Temps at 94.
Dose at 18 - extracting around 36g and just using the time as a benchmark. If it’s really quick or really slow I will adjust the grind.
At this point my taste here is probably not experienced enough to decide. For example last nights attempt hit me in the roof of the mouth. Second shot I lengthened the amount to 45g which seemed to tame that.
Anyone have any pointers on what you do - and when you decide you have nailed it?
As most of the drinks made are milk based, do you tweak anything for those over if it was for a straight espresso or americano ?
Next for me will be an electric grinder of some sort. The hand grinders works well but multiple drinks and tweaking can get tiresome. The redclix on the C40 does give me finer options than the Mazzer Omega - but I understand I can then control the other attributes if my grinding cannot be spot on.
Cheers
Matt
- Edited
Taste preferences are subjective and what one person finds enjoyable might not be enjoyable to others etc.
However, as a general guideline, for the most part most people agree that underextracted coffee tastes sour, almost unpleasantly fruity and weak, and overextracted coffee tastes burnt and bitter.
Note that milk heavily masks the above. You’ll still get elements of it but it’s much easier to distinguish without milk. The challenge here is that some people (myself included) much prefer milk based espresso drinks and I find even some dialled espressos unpleasant.
Also worth mentioning that I’m yet to pull a shot that was undrinkably unpleasant with the LM despite having the same exact coffee extracting at anywhere from 20 to 40 seconds. It’s not down to my great skills because with the Bianca and machines before, I’d pull some absolutely vile shots if they weren’t fairly accurately dialled in.
I’m still unsure as to what it is, whether temp or pressure consistency just allowing more forgiveness but I’ve found you’ve really got to get the grind massively wrong to make a ‘bad tasting’ shot.
That’s not to say it’s not possible, of course if you pull a 38g shot in 12 seconds it’s probably going to be unpleasant, likewise if you’re only getting drips at 40 seconds or something.
Then there’s the big variable of the beans themselves and to some degree, their age.
Med-dark roasts from reputable roasters are pretty forgiving, whereas lighter roasts, especially the expensive super-light roasts can be an absolute Weston to dial in.
I appreciate the above isn’t hugely helpful. One little test could be to deliberately under extract a shot and then completely over extract another to taste what they taste like, then look out for hints of that in future when dialling in.
- Edited
caffeinated-carp So did they ever get back to you ?
And the latte art attempts start to get better
I would like to say that was planned - but I would be lying !
MattH haha looking good! I just put mine up to steam power 2, saying that makes me laugh - warp factor 2!
Yeh they only came back two days ago, I’ve had to chase probably 4 times, really shockingly bad service! I was emailing someone before and they quite literally just ignored me, then I rang twice, second time was informed that person has gone on leave and to email the home team which I did and they’re sending a replacement machine.
caffeinated-carp Glad you got it sorted - sounds like you finally got to the right team !
Well clearly there is nothing to really talk about the LMs they just work 😂
I am back to using steam power 1 - as I do small pitchers all the time hopefully it will give me a few more seconds to blend the milk (and control my wand position)
Another week and I will have had it nearly a month… time flies - I try the full backflush with the cleaner!
MattH I think I may return to warp 1 as well
Cuprajake Coffee is such a rabbit hole isn’t it. A month ago I would have totally shunned the idea of doing my own water, I would have looked at the meticulous and though no way would I have that, you have to load water each time etc, and I can’t be bothered with profiling.
Now I’m making water, thinking to myself “oh that’s cool with the meticulous, it’s like a single dose grinder but for water”, and thinking to myself profiling would be interesting.
But, I have 3 young kids, no time for all that annoyingly!
caffeinated-carp But, I have 3 young kids, no time for all that annoyingly!
Give it another 6 months. Let’s see how you change your mind 🤣
I’m of the mindset it’s worth trying things once with coffee to see if you enjoy it. I’ve tried single dosing, flavour profiling and far more careful bean storage and whilst I can see the benefits for sure, I definitely enjoy the simpler approach.
It’s why the LM and an average, timed grinder works perfectly for me.
Having said that, if you do want to go down the profiling route: