This link takes you to my log templates www.tomsgrinderlab.com/free-stuff/ but make sure pop ups are not blocked. While you are there you can also pick up the log template that I use for daily espresso pours.
Great video Tom, fully agree with the advocacy for putting the time in to blind taste. It helps you better understand your own preferences and what you actually like in the cup (vs what general advice or consensus tells you).
100%. Its a wee bit of faff but my guess is that what stops a lot of people is that they don't back themselves to be able to tell the difference, but that comes with practice and if the samples are taken as soon as temperatures are within one degress celcius of each other, then people can sample again at room temperature when often the differences are more distinct.
@@tomsgrinderlabI also think fear of not having your bias confirmed! For example if you’ve gone out and bought something new, fear of the real outcome being well it’s no different or even actually I don’t prefer that after all haha
The probity and respect for process, methodology, attribution and the development of the industry you show in all your videos is unparalleled. The way you approach your videos is akin to the delivery of an academic research paper worthy of a peer reviewed journal. Well done sir!
So, back in the day i did actually try it blind folded comparing grinders and my wife feeding the cups!! Lets just say it's not really the way to go. But even being able to see the coffee in the cup with the number on the bottom you are biased towards even the look!! But at least you dont get dizzy!!
Thanks for the series Tom. Long time espresso consumer and in the last 2 years having becoming more obsessed with it. Bought a La Pavoni Esperto Abiele with Mazzer Super Jolly. Make 2 espresso a day - one when I wake up and another around lunch time. I notice that at these different times of the day I need to really change the grind setting in an attempt to get consistent shot times. But it is always an estimate and due to humidity and temperature variation, I frequently get it wrong. I'm not going to sink it every time I get it wrong and make another. I don't have the time or the money to keep doing that. This is my single most frustrating aspect at espresso. I only get 2 chances a day to try and get a good result. I am going to assume that the main cause for my variation is due to air temperature and humidity at the time of making the coffee because we get cold / cool evenings and warm / hot days often with 80%+ humidity. I've tried several dozen different roasters in NZ and based on my understanding of good beans / roaster, I think that can be ruled out as where the problem lies. My puck prep looks much more careful and involved that any youtube video I've seen. Nearly every time I get channels. I'd estimate about 2/3 of my shots are not what I consider to be good espresso, with maybe only 1/5 being great. I think this is a terrible result. The harder I try and the deeper I go down into espresso, the worse the result seems to get. Maybe it is due to my expectations being raised as I try new things or buy new equipment, I don't know. But its getting to the point where I'm on the edge of being finished with espresso altogether. I've become tired spending money on this and being let down with the result. I don't know where my problem lies with this drink. Its becoming the most frustrating thing in my daily life.
@6Deep6 That would be frustrating. Keep a log (see link I posted) including the dial setting and humidity at each pour. Without knowing the flow rate variance, grams in and grams out, shot duration and dial setting its hard to diagnose. If humidity is the culprit, keeping a log will help you to assess how much to change your dial setting to compensate. A change in humidity from say 60% in the morning to 80% at midday will make a massive difference to the pour rate i.e. it will pour much faster. If it's not the humidity, then there may be an issue with the grinder. Worn burrs, alignment ... who knows. If you can borrow another grinder or buy something used to try, then you can always sell it again if the issue is not the Super Jolly. Or put the Super Jolly in for a service check with a trusted shop. I'd love to know how you go.
@@tomsgrinderlab Thanks for the reply Tom. Yes that is what I consistently experience every day. The midday shot always pours much much faster unless I quite significantly adjust the grinder finer. It's a guess where I'm trying to calibrate it based upon experience but I'm usually wrong about it and my midday shot is sometimes good (not great), usually terrible. I had thought about the burrs but just bought brand new burrs last month from Mazzer. They say it should do 400KG per burr set. I bought the Mazzer brand new and I doubt I even put 100KG through the burrs I replaced... I'll update this if I ever manage to make some consistency between the morning shot and the midday shot. Cheers.
@@tomsgrinderlab Hi again Tom. I just wanted to update you on this. I've been recording the humidity, temp, grind setting, shot duration in a notebook. This has led to significant improvement in shot quality and consistency. This has surprised me how inconsistent I was setting the grind based on my "experience". This notebook will now be a main staple in my coffee routine. It got me thinking, wouldn't it be cool to have a high end grinder keep track of these things - call it a coffee log. Enjoy the approaching summer in AU. Heating up here for me now (in NZ). With all my best, MK
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This link takes you to my log templates www.tomsgrinderlab.com/free-stuff/ but make sure pop ups are not blocked. While you are there you can also pick up the log template that I use for daily espresso pours.
Great video Tom, fully agree with the advocacy for putting the time in to blind taste. It helps you better understand your own preferences and what you actually like in the cup (vs what general advice or consensus tells you).
100%. Its a wee bit of faff but my guess is that what stops a lot of people is that they don't back themselves to be able to tell the difference, but that comes with practice and if the samples are taken as soon as temperatures are within one degress celcius of each other, then people can sample again at room temperature when often the differences are more distinct.
@@tomsgrinderlabI also think fear of not having your bias confirmed! For example if you’ve gone out and bought something new, fear of the real outcome being well it’s no different or even actually I don’t prefer that after all haha
The probity and respect for process, methodology, attribution and the development of the industry you show in all your videos is unparalleled. The way you approach your videos is akin to the delivery of an academic research paper worthy of a peer reviewed journal. Well done sir!
Wow, thanks, can I quote you on my tombstone? 😀😀
@ that might be divorce material. ;). But for coffee snobs, maybe not ?!?
So, back in the day i did actually try it blind folded comparing grinders and my wife feeding the cups!! Lets just say it's not really the way to go. But even being able to see the coffee in the cup with the number on the bottom you are biased towards even the look!! But at least you dont get dizzy!!
Thanks for the series Tom.
Long time espresso consumer and in the last 2 years having becoming more obsessed with it. Bought a La Pavoni Esperto Abiele with Mazzer Super Jolly. Make 2 espresso a day - one when I wake up and another around lunch time. I notice that at these different times of the day I need to really change the grind setting in an attempt to get consistent shot times. But it is always an estimate and due to humidity and temperature variation, I frequently get it wrong. I'm not going to sink it every time I get it wrong and make another. I don't have the time or the money to keep doing that. This is my single most frustrating aspect at espresso. I only get 2 chances a day to try and get a good result.
I am going to assume that the main cause for my variation is due to air temperature and humidity at the time of making the coffee because we get cold / cool evenings and warm / hot days often with 80%+ humidity. I've tried several dozen different roasters in NZ and based on my understanding of good beans / roaster, I think that can be ruled out as where the problem lies. My puck prep looks much more careful and involved that any youtube video I've seen. Nearly every time I get channels.
I'd estimate about 2/3 of my shots are not what I consider to be good espresso, with maybe only 1/5 being great. I think this is a terrible result.
The harder I try and the deeper I go down into espresso, the worse the result seems to get. Maybe it is due to my expectations being raised as I try new things or buy new equipment, I don't know. But its getting to the point where I'm on the edge of being finished with espresso altogether. I've become tired spending money on this and being let down with the result. I don't know where my problem lies with this drink. Its becoming the most frustrating thing in my daily life.
@6Deep6 That would be frustrating. Keep a log (see link I posted) including the dial setting and humidity at each pour. Without knowing the flow rate variance, grams in and grams out, shot duration and dial setting its hard to diagnose.
If humidity is the culprit, keeping a log will help you to assess how much to change your dial setting to compensate.
A change in humidity from say 60% in the morning to 80% at midday will make a massive difference to the pour rate i.e. it will pour much faster.
If it's not the humidity, then there may be an issue with the grinder. Worn burrs, alignment ... who knows. If you can borrow another grinder or buy something used to try, then you can always sell it again if the issue is not the Super Jolly.
Or put the Super Jolly in for a service check with a trusted shop.
I'd love to know how you go.
@@tomsgrinderlab Thanks for the reply Tom. Yes that is what I consistently experience every day. The midday shot always pours much much faster unless I quite significantly adjust the grinder finer. It's a guess where I'm trying to calibrate it based upon experience but I'm usually wrong about it and my midday shot is sometimes good (not great), usually terrible.
I had thought about the burrs but just bought brand new burrs last month from Mazzer. They say it should do 400KG per burr set. I bought the Mazzer brand new and I doubt I even put 100KG through the burrs I replaced...
I'll update this if I ever manage to make some consistency between the morning shot and the midday shot. Cheers.
@@tomsgrinderlab Hi again Tom. I just wanted to update you on this. I've been recording the humidity, temp, grind setting, shot duration in a notebook. This has led to significant improvement in shot quality and consistency.
This has surprised me how inconsistent I was setting the grind based on my "experience". This notebook will now be a main staple in my coffee routine. It got me thinking, wouldn't it be cool to have a high end grinder keep track of these things - call it a coffee log.
Enjoy the approaching summer in AU. Heating up here for me now (in NZ).
With all my best,
MK
Very helpful information
Glad it was helpful!
Here is the link www.tomsgrinderlab.com/free-stuff/