redkiosk Said:

Can you isolate the problem to one specific brew chamber? After the pre-soak, is all of the water from the reservoir entering the brew chamber? Is this a new coffee? When you dump the coffee grinds into the brew chamber are they fairly level or heaped up to one side against the chamber wall? I usually tap the brew chamber against the palm of my hand after dumping in the coffee grinds. This levels them out and settles them in a bit. Let us know what happens. Take care!

Posted July 25, 2012 link

1. Too fresh! I never brew before 5 days--usually 6.  But roasters ship their beans in unpressurized bags.  How do you store your freshly roasted beans?  Do you keep them in an air-tight container?  That would tend to extend the out-gassing period.  To verify this in a fun test, simply let your grounds sit out for 30 minutes, then brew 'em.  See if that makes all the difference.
   
2. Ok, try grinding a few notches finer--go to drip grind.  It does wonders.
   
3. Grounds not level.  Are they?  Hmmm?  Did you use a carpenter's level or just eyeball it?  Seriously, I even found that the air bubbles tend to hit the water surface off-center on the right side, so I tried humping the grounds slightly on that side and was rewarded with pleasing hill-destroying bubble activity... er... once.  The other times, the grounds actually rotated the hill away.  I just keep 'em level nowadays.
   
   

barkingburro Said:

Hi, Patty!

I'm probably the one Jim is referring-to, w.r.t. using 30 grams of coffee.  I've been doing this for quite some time, and here is what I consider normal trifecta behavior:

- If you grind coarse, expect some dry grounds that don't get saturated.
- The fresher the roast, the more CO2 out-gassing, the more flotation, the more dry excess grounds.
- The darker the roast, the lighter weighing the grounds, the more difficult to sink under water.
- If you don't have level grounds in the brewing chamber, expect the hump to be left partially above water.
- C is as low as I can go for 12 oz. H2O; otherwise grounds don't get sunk
- 20 grams should sink 'em all unless something extraordinary is going on

From your description, one might eliminate the following as possible causes:
- Dark roast
- A or B turbulence
- Too coarse a grind (maybe, maybe not)

So, I'd have to go for (in order of likelihood):
Too fresh! I never brew before 5 days--usually 6.  But roasters ship their beans in unpressurized bags.  How do you store your freshly roasted beans?  Do you keep them in an air-tight container?  That would tend to extend the out-gassing period.  To verify this in a fun test, simply let your grounds sit out for 30 minutes, then brew 'em.  See if that makes all the difference.
Ok, try grinding a few notches finer--go to drip grind.  It does wonders.
Grounds not level.  Are they?  Hmmm?  Did you use a carpenter's level or just eyeball it?  Seriously, I even found that the air bubbles tend to hit the water surface off-center on the right side, so I tried humping the grounds slightly on that side and was rewarded with pleasing hill-destroying bubble activity... er... once.  The other times, the grounds actually rotated the hill away.  I just keep 'em level nowadays.

Finally, as I said, a little unsaturated grounds is not too high a price to pay.  You might want to try brewing slightly smaller amounts of beans and see if it makes a difference in taste.  But my money's on #1, above.  I think you are too fresh!

Posted July 25, 2012 link

sookie Said:

...-  21-22g of coffee for me in about 11 oz of water.  Don't go below a C for turbulance...

Posted August 10, 2012 link

sookie Said:

Don't go below a C for turbulance.

Posted August 10, 2012 link

DanH Said:

New problem:  A few times per week my machine won't pull all the water in.  It stops when there are 3-4 ounces left in the reservoir.  Does anyone know what's going on and how to remedy?

Posted August 11, 2012 link

jbviau Said:

Hi there. Funny--I never go *above* C for turbulence! Guess I like a little more acidity in my coffees? I'm usually at B-0:50 and will go down to A for more delicate beans or up to C for less fruity, more full-bodied, comfort-oriented ones.

Posted August 10, 2012 link