Hi Zee, I think spraying less might mitigate the last bean being stuck. Also, on the EAF discord server, people are suggesting wiping down your coffee gear with IPA so the coffee doesn't stick - but I haven't tried that yet. With the portafilter leaking issue, I suggest not leaving the portafilter locked in while not in use, I think that just speeds up degradation of the gasket inside. I personally don't lock in my portafilter when I am not making coffee, and even after a year of use I haven't had to replace the gasket. Have a nice day Dan
Hey Dan, yeah sometimes its a catch 22 with RDT. Either we spray too little and get heaps of retention at the ‘spout’ or spray too much and it get’s stuck at the hopper😂 IPA sounds like a good idea, but wouldn’t it strip the coffee oils from the hopper creating more static🤔 i’ll definitely look into it. We haven’t been locking our portafilter when it’s not in use. I think it was more so getting used to the different densities of grounds hahah but all good, we’re slowly learning how to troubleshoot💪🏻 - zee
Heyyy looking really good! Smooth and steady workflow, very nice. For the latte art, here is my one cent as too many things make it confusing: try to pour much closer to the coffee, so that almost touches it ^~^ otherwise, the foam will rather fall through, instead of flowing forward which is what we want. Otherwise, it looks great and I really appreciate the actual speaking audio!
Hey Jin Lee! thank you and I’m glad you enjoyed the commentary hahah🥹 yeah, that’s what a few others say as well but I think I get too caught up in the integration phase and once that’s accomplished, it’s freestyle (i.e my brain stops working) and hope for the best😂 i’ll try to process everything together - zee
Nice coffee can :) I think what is happening is that your milk is separating a bit and you are integrating so much you are pouring out all of the good foam that hasn't separated. Also at 6:54 when you went vertical with the pitcher (try not to do that!), you dumped all of the foam towards the back of the pitcher, so when you went to pour again, there was no foam until the end when the separated foam catches back up to the spout. TL;DR integrate much much less (Stop integrating at 6:49) and tilt your cup harder instead, that way you have a lot of microfoam left to draw with and you will have an easier time forming a pattern with the coffee being less stiff. And don't untilt the pitcher mid pour, that separates your foam.
Hey katniss, once again, thank you for always breaking down what I did wrongly and how to fix it🥹 Jon noticed that too and I’ve been trying to integrate less since. Would swirling the pitcher again (when in an upright position) help to mix the foam again? I’ll try to remind my hand to not listen to my natural reflexes loooool - zee
I agree Zee. Just for fun I tried to make my first video (and last) of my workflow. I couldn't imagine myself doing that everyday so believe when Zee says creating content (specially when you have a job) is quite a workout. So kuddos to you and Jon.
Hahaha it helps that we try to have a cup of coffee everyday so we get to taste our finished product. But we have to juggle between keeping the audience engaged and not boring them out, altho! It’s nice to have a chill video every now and then😂 thank you!! - zee
Hi, good to see you enjoying ristretto with milk. You don’t have to stick to the 1:1 ratio. If you want a bit more strength you can up the yield to 21g, 22g or 23g etc. That small amount can make all the difference. Just refine the ratio to suit your taste. Latte art is difficult. I think Emilyee Bryant makes the best tutorial videos on RUclips. They really helped me.
The coffee looks veryyyy tasty!!! Yummy. With pouring latte art, the more you mix the milk in, or the another way of putting it the higher up the cup you integrate the milk before pouring the stiffer the milk will be to pour. With taller, less bowl shaped cups you tend to need to mix much more milk in to be able to get close enough to pour so it can be much stiffer. A way to combat this is to pour faster with more flow rate. Its a tricky thing to balance though, it comes with practice :) You are both doing great!!
Hey Curtis!! First things first, HAPPY NEW YEAR🎉 wishing you a year filled with happiness and lotsa good coffee😂 back to the video, it was soooo good and I’m sure you made a delicious cup of coffee after as well hahaha. Yeah, I tend to hesitate after integration but i’m trying to be more confident and leaning the pitcher nearer to the surface of the coffee. Will definitely keep that in mind, thank you! - zee
Big props for keeping up the videos. As you said, it’s no easy task! Still enjoy the updates, awesome to see the progression and passion! Also, I have a Niche Zero, and I also noticed that it was retaining some of the grounds. I got into he habit of weighing the portafilter before and after, to ensure I got the full 18gr. Although, since i got the puffer/bellows, I dont check as much.
Thank you! We too, understand that it can get a little mundane for you guys as well. But we’re still keeping true to ourselves💪🏻 Niceee! Niche’s like the endgame grinder for us hahah. We used to weigh our dose too but after a while the retention was almost negligible then we stopped after :) - zee
You are doing well! Haha. I feel like you are a bit harsher on yourself than Jon. Milk skills and latte art have been great a while already!!! 🎉 And you guys already steady with puck prep and dialing in. Yes, we have all got our days especially because we don’t do this routine 100 times a day. My espresso today was one step over my dialled-in version so it was one step more bitter but it still did really well with milk. I think it is nice to misstep sometimes as it helps us understand the range of our beans. I always find a slightly different flavour out of the same bag of beans every now and then and I feel so happy knowing the nuances the beans offer. About your latte art, try to pour fast (but close and level with surface). The milk floats from rapid pour because it has nowhere to run underneath as you push the spout almost touching the surface. Think of it as creating a stampede with the milk - force it down the tight alley. (This is provided your steaming was already done correctly, with enough microfoam as the microfoam is the milk that floats. If not enough microfoam to begin with, the rapid pour will not work.)
Hey Anne, hahah yeah I am a perfectionist which is both fortunate and unfortunate at the same time😂 Yeah I do hesitate at times and my foam can split from the milk hahaha but I am trying to be more confident with my pours nowadays💪🏻 - zee
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi Zee, I think spraying less might mitigate the last bean being stuck. Also, on the EAF discord server, people are suggesting wiping down your coffee gear with IPA so the coffee doesn't stick - but I haven't tried that yet.
With the portafilter leaking issue, I suggest not leaving the portafilter locked in while not in use, I think that just speeds up degradation of the gasket inside. I personally don't lock in my portafilter when I am not making coffee, and even after a year of use I haven't had to replace the gasket.
Have a nice day
Dan
Hey Dan, yeah sometimes its a catch 22 with RDT. Either we spray too little and get heaps of retention at the ‘spout’ or spray too much and it get’s stuck at the hopper😂 IPA sounds like a good idea, but wouldn’t it strip the coffee oils from the hopper creating more static🤔 i’ll definitely look into it.
We haven’t been locking our portafilter when it’s not in use. I think it was more so getting used to the different densities of grounds hahah but all good, we’re slowly learning how to troubleshoot💪🏻 - zee
Heyyy looking really good! Smooth and steady workflow, very nice.
For the latte art, here is my one cent as too many things make it confusing: try to pour much closer to the coffee, so that almost touches it ^~^ otherwise, the foam will rather fall through, instead of flowing forward which is what we want.
Otherwise, it looks great and I really appreciate the actual speaking audio!
Hey Jin Lee! thank you and I’m glad you enjoyed the commentary hahah🥹
yeah, that’s what a few others say as well but I think I get too caught up in the integration phase and once that’s accomplished, it’s freestyle (i.e my brain stops working) and hope for the best😂 i’ll try to process everything together - zee
Nice coffee can :)
I think what is happening is that your milk is separating a bit and you are integrating so much you are pouring out all of the good foam that hasn't separated. Also at 6:54 when you went vertical with the pitcher (try not to do that!), you dumped all of the foam towards the back of the pitcher, so when you went to pour again, there was no foam until the end when the separated foam catches back up to the spout.
TL;DR integrate much much less (Stop integrating at 6:49) and tilt your cup harder instead, that way you have a lot of microfoam left to draw with and you will have an easier time forming a pattern with the coffee being less stiff. And don't untilt the pitcher mid pour, that separates your foam.
Hey katniss, once again, thank you for always breaking down what I did wrongly and how to fix it🥹
Jon noticed that too and I’ve been trying to integrate less since. Would swirling the pitcher again (when in an upright position) help to mix the foam again? I’ll try to remind my hand to not listen to my natural reflexes loooool - zee
@@thegroundedduo it would help, but while you are stopping midpour to reswirl your milk, your coffee will be getting stiffer and stiffer :)
@@katniss3175 ahh I see alrighty, thank you! - zee
I agree Zee. Just for fun I tried to make my first video (and last) of my workflow. I couldn't imagine myself doing that everyday so believe when Zee says creating content (specially when you have a job) is quite a workout. So kuddos to you and Jon.
Hahaha it helps that we try to have a cup of coffee everyday so we get to taste our finished product. But we have to juggle between keeping the audience engaged and not boring them out, altho! It’s nice to have a chill video every now and then😂 thank you!! - zee
Hi, good to see you enjoying ristretto with milk. You don’t have to stick to the 1:1 ratio. If you want a bit more strength you can up the yield to 21g, 22g or 23g etc. That small amount can make all the difference. Just refine the ratio to suit your taste. Latte art is difficult. I think Emilyee Bryant makes the best tutorial videos on RUclips. They really helped me.
Heyyy, we’ve been trying different ratios off-camera but we’ll definitely start doing it on-camera to share the difference it makes🤓 She does! - zee
Well that's great job zee😆...well i think starting with 2 layers tulip good idea now just need to improve
Hahah thanksss i probably didn’t do it on purpose. More so what the milk allowed me to do🥲 but we’re slowly getting there!
The coffee looks veryyyy tasty!!! Yummy. With pouring latte art, the more you mix the milk in, or the another way of putting it the higher up the cup you integrate the milk before pouring the stiffer the milk will be to pour. With taller, less bowl shaped cups you tend to need to mix much more milk in to be able to get close enough to pour so it can be much stiffer. A way to combat this is to pour faster with more flow rate. Its a tricky thing to balance though, it comes with practice :) You are both doing great!!
Hey Curtis!! First things first, HAPPY NEW YEAR🎉 wishing you a year filled with happiness and lotsa good coffee😂 back to the video, it was soooo good and I’m sure you made a delicious cup of coffee after as well hahaha.
Yeah, I tend to hesitate after integration but i’m trying to be more confident and leaning the pitcher nearer to the surface of the coffee. Will definitely keep that in mind, thank you! - zee
@@thegroundedduoHey Zee. Happy new year to you and Jon!!! Hope you are both having a great new year 😁😁
I still really like the commentating :)
hey eric! hahah thank you, I was semi-dying on the inside, having to speak to the camera alone. Thank god Jon came to the rescue😂 - zee
Big props for keeping up the videos. As you said, it’s no easy task! Still enjoy the updates, awesome to see the progression and passion!
Also, I have a Niche Zero, and I also noticed that it was retaining some of the grounds. I got into he habit of weighing the portafilter before and after, to ensure I got the full 18gr. Although, since i got the puffer/bellows, I dont check as much.
Thank you! We too, understand that it can get a little mundane for you guys as well. But we’re still keeping true to ourselves💪🏻
Niceee! Niche’s like the endgame grinder for us hahah. We used to weigh our dose too but after a while the retention was almost negligible then we stopped after :) - zee
You are doing well! Haha. I feel like you are a bit harsher on yourself than Jon. Milk skills and latte art have been great a while already!!! 🎉 And you guys already steady with puck prep and dialing in.
Yes, we have all got our days especially because we don’t do this routine 100 times a day.
My espresso today was one step over my dialled-in version so it was one step more bitter but it still did really well with milk.
I think it is nice to misstep sometimes as it helps us understand the range of our beans.
I always find a slightly different flavour out of the same bag of beans every now and then and I feel so happy knowing the nuances the beans offer.
About your latte art, try to pour fast (but close and level with surface). The milk floats from rapid pour because it has nowhere to run underneath as you push the spout almost touching the surface.
Think of it as creating a stampede with the milk - force it down the tight alley.
(This is provided your steaming was already done correctly, with enough microfoam as the microfoam is the milk that floats. If not enough microfoam to begin with, the rapid pour will not work.)
Hey Anne, hahah yeah I am a perfectionist which is both fortunate and unfortunate at the same time😂
Yeah I do hesitate at times and my foam can split from the milk hahaha but I am trying to be more confident with my pours nowadays💪🏻 - zee