Channeling

Vst baskets are really hard to use,

Id try a different basket first to see if you still have issues. If you do then basket prep will likely be the cause

hedonist222 I imagine you are single dosing the Ceado, not running with any sort of hopper?

To get a feel for what might be going on…

• Run a straight 9 bar shot (normal flow rate) and adjust the grind for that, see if you can get that going OK
• Do you have to grind finer for your flow controlled shot compared to the 9 bar shot
• VST baskets need a finer grind… if the 9 bar shot goes well, change to a standard basket and try a flow control shot…is it better

Do those things for now…they are more diagnostics than anything else.

What tamper do you use?

Doesn’t look distributed properly or tamped evenly.

The Ceado is called a single dose grinder but you’ll see the same problems with it when single dosing the standard version, i.e the grind setting effectively drifts through the dose as there’s a reducing weight pushing the beans into the burrs from start to finish, this won’t help things. As far as I’m aware the only thing that’s different about this and the standard E37s is that it comes with a set of bellows. I’d use a bit of perspex tube and keep a few doses in there with a weight on top to avoid issues associated with single dosing.

Sort out distribution and tamping and don’t worry about how thin and patchy the extraction looks.

18:26 is going to be a very low EY, though that doesn’t mean it won’t taste good if you want a simple, concentrated shot.

hedonist222 Honestly - the e37sd has been consistent

weigh-wise and grind consistency.

If you grind three doses and collect the first third, second third, and final third from each you’ll probably see very different shot times. Even collecting the first and half and second half from two doses should reveal differences in grind consistency evident in different shot times and pours. Tamping level is guaranteed with the tamper but you still need to get the coffee even in the basket to start with. Even though the E37sd will suffer the same problem as all other single dosing grinders to one extent or another I wouldn’t expect it to be the cause of bad shots by itself.

The shot doesn’t start out ok to my eyes, and those blanks from 20 seconds onwards probably wouldn’t be anything to worry about if the shot were to start evenly and come together in a single stream quickly. Maybe check to be sure the machine is level too, it’s a simple check to perform to avoid unnecessary and endless faffing with distribution and wdt.

You cant diagnose a shot from the looks, taste it.

Dont worry about the god shot. The vst basket womt be helping

For perspective.

Mine often look like that but taste good (also with an 18g vst basket. What I have noticed though is that I hardly ever get sprayers like I did when my puck prep was poorer. My current hypothesis is that due to the very small hole sizes they just sometimes get blocked and you get dead spots. I’m not convinced this means the coffee above that isn’t extracting, as the taste is good and the timing repeatable.

hedonist222

hedonist222 Which machine is level

The espresso machine. Check the group head is level…

I’d echo the “looks aren’t everything” posts. I’m rocking 3 beans at the moment, some Columbian, Nicaraguan and Yemeni, the latter looks like a car crash compared to the other 2 coming out of the basket (so much so that I ditched the naked portafilter for a while) but my golly does it taste good!

VST baskets are less forgiving but that’s not how all extractions look using VSTs.

Cuprajake I’m sure the sentiment is right, but this video doesn’t help. As a newbie and someone who likes data this just asks more questions than it answers. He pulled 2 entirely differently set up shots that tasted different and happened to look different.

If the message was do what’s best for the taste and ignore the look, much like people say don’t fixate on the 30 second mark, then make the point with similar setups. Alli want to know is about the weight difference, the filter paper, the puck screen on the impact of the taste.

I get perfect even appearance of drops on my vst with thorough wdt and a level bed that I tamp with leveling tamper. No need to pack more on the edges. So what’s the take away? I need to look at all the other variables that were different in his video to get a better shot?

DavecUK the appearance of the drops is “perfect” but the shot most definitely isn’t. 😭