So you buy an expensive 250g bag of fresh beans from your local roaster … how cautious are you of wasting beans when trying to dial in? …sometimes it can be frustrating trying to get the right grind before the bag runs out.

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generally though, id look back at my notes to see where that origin bean had dialed before, and go from there i had a 30g taster ethiopian from square mile 30g so i did 22g in at 8 on the duo, pullman basket and that gave me a 'normal' 1:2 in 36s

It is sometimes a good use case for smaller baskets, 16g baskets instead of 20g would give you \~3 extra shots in 250g, I wouldn't go much smaller than 16 but a couple of extra shots can help when dialling Also 100% agree with keeping notes, it makes it easier to find a starting point

Dialing in = wasting beans

MWJB

15.6g dosed as wholebean gives you 16 shots from 250g, 16.7g gives 15 shots. 17.8g gives 14. Any weighed excess in the bag can be taken into account to nudge up dose weight.

Cuprajake

i basket hop too much atm, im 16-22g any given day

Twotone2

I’m 14g religiously it’s down to the coffee machine which is an elektra T1 but I’ve a 17g IMS basket which I use very occasionally and also a 20g bottomless PF which I use very rarely too, I use it to just check the pour if there’s an issue sometimes.

I very rarely need to dial in beans these days mainly because I buy the same ones all of the time.

drdre89

Twotone2 I very rarely need to dial in beans these days mainly because I buy the same ones all of the time.

I generally buy the same beans too but I’m finding there’s an adjustment of up to 3 steps sometimes on my Niche Zero to get the right grind with different batches

JonWoo187

If I was stuck buying roasted I’d look for a quality/fresh bean I know I’d probably like based on origins/roast development and buy more than 250 grams to begin with. If you’re in tune with your setup and environment (humidity plays a large role) you should be able to get things dialed in within a few extractions at most.

Cuprajake

the mrs niche zero is always set around 20 for her beans and its pretty bang on, but im also not hyper focused on nailing ratio/time

Twotone2

I’ve just changed beans from monsoon Malabar to Kenya peaberry and the grind setting was more or less spot on I did change the grinder for the second espresso from 5 to 5.5 but I’ll probably move it back to five.

Absolutely no waste of beans 14g into the grinder 13.9g out.

I rarely lose any beans dialing in that only happens if I go for a completely different roast and then I can be dialling in a few times, to be honest I don’t get good results from light roasts with my grinder so that’s why I tend to buy similar beans every time I’m hoping the Duo, when it arrives, will allow me to explore lighter roasts.

dfk41

Unless the beans are vastly different ie roast level, bean size, just grind the first batch at the same setting as the last. That will then give you a base line. I have never met a bean yet that I cannot dial in using this method. I know whether to coarsen or loosen the grind and always by the 3 shot it is spot on. of course, some grinders are less finicky and easier to dial in than others. There is no point in blindly adjusting the grind for a new bean. Think of a long distance sniper. When practicing he will fire a practice shot which then lets him adjust trajectory and allow for wind speed etc

delta76

I have stopped buying from roasters which only provide 230gr bag. I buy 500gr bags now, never look back. less plastic waste. cheaper coffee per kg. and I can just dial all I like.

If I can, I would buy 1kg bag now, put around 800gr in an airscape cannister, and 200gr in a resealable bag. then transfer one in a while.

Twotone2

I only buy kg bags can’t be bothered with 500g or 250g bags, postage is way too expensive so I buy four kg bags at a time which keeps the postage cost down to about £1.50 per kg bag.

delta76

Twotone2

how long does it take you to run through all 4 bags?

i’m lucky I have a few friends who are interested in specialty coffee but not too picky to choose the beans. so we buy 5×500gr or sometimes, 10×500gr bags, get free shipping, and 15% discount. in the end it is around $22-24 per kg. Of course it is not the most exotic coffee, but still great quality and with our current equipment/techniques, can’t complain.

Twotone2

delta76

Hi, I’d need to check but it’s around six weeks. I’m currently on my last kg bag from my last order, we go through a kg in about ten days depending on how many coffees a day we have which is usually about four a day.

That’s mainly for two people my wife only has one a day on a weekday and two per day at the weekend.

The coffee beans are fine and decent quality the cost of an order of four kg bags of beans including postage is about £60-£64 never more than that.

Just checked the last order was delivered on the 21st of June we were on holiday for a week at the beginning of August so no coffee used during that time cost of the order was £61 delivered.

JahLaza

Twotone2 that’s reasonable. We (me and her) go through about the same amount (1kg lasts about 11 days) but I’m paying €30-€33 per kilo free postage