jesuislepop Senior Member Joined: 17 Nov 2009 Posts: 4 Location: Melbourne, Australia Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Tue Nov 17, 2009, 3:45pm Subject: Help: Had Consistent Crema, Not Anymore!
Hi There Coffeegeeks,
Just as a disclaimer, I'm a noob here & though I LOVE coffee, my level of expertise on the technicalities of brewing is only basic. So I'd really appreciate some advice from those with superior knowledge!
We had been getting excellent shots with sufficient crema for the last six months (since we bought it), far beyond our expectations for a cheap & entry level machine. In the last 6 weeks, we've been noticeably losing crema to a point now where sometimes we are not getting any. It's killing us.
We have been using the same coffees the whole time & the same grinds: we buy from Seven Seeds (http://www.sevenseeds.com.au/) when we have time, or resort to Lavazza in supermarket emergencies. Both were resulting in consistently great shots every time, with ample crema. So, although the coffee & grind seems to be the first thing people jump at in relation to lack of crema, this is very unlikely the problem.
So I'm looking for some basic suggestions from those in the know, as to what could be the problem & what would be the first things you would look at / attend to as a solution. Once again, just want to stress that I'm looking for suggestions beyond the coffee & the grind as due to the circumstances this is very unlikely to be the problem. Also I know this has been spoken of before, but I did a search & all of the threads (not just here, coffeesnobs.com.au too) were just advising to improve coffee & grind, we need some expertise on what would be the next things people would consider to solve this problem.
Thanks so much for reading & please please please help!!
Posted Tue Nov 17, 2009, 4:08pm Subject: Re: Help: Had Consistent Crema, Not Anymore!
jesuislepop Said:
Once again, just want to stress that I'm looking for suggestions beyond the coffee & the grind as due to the circumstances this is very unlikely to be the problem.
Sorry, but I believe you are mistaken. The coffee and the grind is almost certainly the issue.
It sems like you are using preground. If you want crema with preground you will most likely need to use the rubber "prefect crema" disc (insert into the portafilter before inserting the basket).
Otherwise, there simply is no replacement for freshly roasted (less than 2 weeks prior) beans ground to a precise setting just moments before brewing. That is how you make shots that look like the one pictured....
jesuislepop Senior Member Joined: 17 Nov 2009 Posts: 4 Location: Melbourne, Australia Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Tue Nov 17, 2009, 4:47pm Subject: Re: Help: Had Consistent Crema, Not Anymore!
JonR10 Said:
Sorry, but I believe you are mistaken. The coffee and the grind is almost certainly the issue.
It sems like you are using preground. If you want crema with preground you will most likely need to use the rubber "prefect crema" disc (insert into the portafilter before inserting the basket).
Otherwise, there simply is no replacement for freshly roasted (less than 2 weeks prior) beans ground to a precise setting just moments before brewing. That is how you make shots that look like the one pictured....
Hi JonR10, thanks for the input, I also mentioned that we are sourcing coffee from Seven Seeds (http://www.sevenseeds.com.au/sevenseeds/about). This is premium, fresh roasted coffee. We have on occasion in the past used supermarket bought Lavazza (when desperate) & had satisfactory (of course not exemplary!) crema results from this too. Since the problem has happened, I actually pulled out our older Saeco machine with a adjustable burr grinder inbuilt & tried grinding the Seven Seeds beans (premium fresh roasted coffee) at different grind settings, moments before pulling the shot (in the Gaggia machine - the Saeco one is dead except for the grinder) & this is still not getting satisfactory results.
Can I stress, we HAVE HAD consistently sufficient crema for six months (with premium frsh & also substandard pre ground), it has just been lessening in the last six weeks until now we have barely any.
Coffee hasn't changed one bit, grind hasn't changed, crema has changed. & since we noticed the problem, we have also experimented with premium fresh roasted coffee & a burr grinder at different settings. All considered, I think it's worth us considering what could be other causes / solutions as the coffee / grind solution has been experimented with & also seems unlikely considering we had consistent results with the same coffee, grind & machine until recently.
So as much I'd love the solution to be simply be the coffee & the grind, I'm fairly sure it's not & would really like to know where else the problem could potentially lie so we can try some other solutions.
Perhaps a part in our machine has gone faulted? Something in particular that may need to be cleaned? etc.
Thanks again for your reply, if you have any further advice would be super appreciated!
Hmmm...then you'll need to identify what DID change to cause the change in your crema.
Do you know the roast date of the coffee beans each time? could this have changed without your knowledge? When you grind it fresh, are you getting roughly 2 ounces extraction in 25 seconds?
When you run the machine with no portafilter and no resistance to flow, how much water comes out of the group in 25 seconds?
jesuislepop Senior Member Joined: 17 Nov 2009 Posts: 4 Location: Melbourne, Australia Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Tue Nov 17, 2009, 5:41pm Subject: Re: Help: Had Consistent Crema, Not Anymore!
Ok just ran it for 25 seconds without no flow resistance, did it twice, first time was 120ml, second was 125ml. I'm not sure what this suggests so please let me know if this is good / bad or relative.
The roast date was always written on the pack & it was always very recent. They run a very tight & nerdy ship down there (the best reputation in inner Melbourne - definitely Australia's most coffee savvy city), so I don't think it would have changed & if it did they would have been letting their customers know & explaining why.
As far as the grind goes, I'll have to get some more fresh beans & check the flow of the grinder against your estimate ideal tomorrow.
JonR10 Said:
Hmmm...then you'll need to identify what DID change to cause the change in your crema.
Yes..really struggling to identify any changes in circumstance. It definitely wasn't a sudden reduction in crema either, seemed to happen over a month or so, but has gone from pretty reasonable to almost none.
Thanks again for all your advice so far!
Also, I read elsewhere that build up of impurities in the machine can cause reduction in crema - true or false? If true, is this likely? If so what would need to be cleaned & what would it need to be cleaned with?
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