Espresso extraction and late art on a Breville dual boiler

When I think back to the trouble I used to have making a consistent brew I get sad.  I was blind to the influence of my home grinder complete with clumping and poor distribution of grinds in the basket.  I wasted so much time and money with crappy little grinders and a good espresso machine expecting that the good espresso machine ought to give good espresso. Alas, that is not true.

In looking for a good grinder I offer the following:

Put 70% into the grinder and 30% into the espresso machine.  I know that stings!  But from my perspective, having used home grinders and commercial grinders and now having a commercial grinder and a top end home espresso machine, it is true.  You will struggle to make great coffee consistently with a small home or 'prosumer' grinder.  note: this is not true of commercial espresso machines. In my last cafe m LaMarzocco cost me $20K and my Mythos M1 grinder $3K, but the Breville Dual Boiler is simply such amazing value for money and has not been matched with an amazing value for money grinder. You still have to spend a lot on a grinder to match the quality of the Breville Dual Boiler.

Look for the grinder that has the largest burr size, lowest grinds retention and with the best de-clumper. 

Consider buying a used commercial grinder as they offer the best solution for consistent grinds.

Save for the grinder first, then the espresso machine. 

Consider buying a second hand espresso machine, if you don't already own one, if that allows you to buy a better grinder.  The Breville is brilliantly made and can be repaired.  Don 't buy a broken one, check it out, make coffee with it, check for leaks and drips, but if it works and it's a good price buy it!  Do NOT be shy about using the machine to extract coffee in a strangers house whilst inspecting a second hand unit even if you do not think you are a good barista yet.  At the time of writing I can find over 5 second hand Dual Boiler Breville units in Brisbane alone for under $600, some of them 'refurbished'.

Another illustration of the importance of the grinder is from my experience in the world aeropress titles.  For years I entered in Aeropress competitions.  I know you are into your coffee, so search out your local aeropress competition and go along and watch.  You will have a lot of fun, meet like minded coffee nutters, and you may perhaps consider competing next year.  It's not espresso, but it is coffee extraction at it's simplest and it is easy, cheap and a lot of fun to compete!  I can walk into the competition, go back to the competitors area, look around and know within seconds the short list of possible winners.  How?  Yes, by the grinders they brought with them.  The guys or girls with the MK EK43 grinders are always going to be at the top.  Sure, only a good barista or one with a cafe backing would have an EK, but the best have them because they make the best coffee, be that aeropress or espresso! 

Correction to the Video. Matt Perger is a World Champion Barista, not an Australian Champion!

Use the largest basket supplied with the machine you have.   The basket supplied by Breville is very good quality.  Do not use the double walled baskets or the single shot basket. 

In this lecture I look at the compatibility of baskets in the BES900 espresso machine. 

I look at the Weiss method of declumping.  I can not over stress the importance of consistency in your espresso making.  Clumping is random and introduces variance that we have no window into, it is not obvious and it is not replicable, so we must get rid of it. 

When I taste the espresso I have prepared using the Weiss method, I can taste the difference.  It is mellow, sweeter and without sourness.  It is quite remarkable.  So, whilst this looks time consuming and messy, it is worth the hassle.  I have not included this method into the remainder of the course as my process is involved enough!  Use this method once you get the rest of the process perfected, to take your coffee to the next level.

You can purchase the jamming funnels from larger home / commercial kitchen supply shops.  Get the funnel with the slightly tapered final funnel that actually fits into the basket.  It is just a coincidence that they fit the baskets so perfectly as they are made for home / commercial use in putting jam into jars, not for handling coffee.  The funnel helps keep the grinds together and makes the Weiss method much easier.

When it comes to baskets, VST baskets are recognised as the best.  They are machined and analysed to ensure that the holes in the basket are as uniform as possible and come with an analysis of the distribution of holes in the actual basket you purchase.  Buy ridged or ridge less, to the size you desire.  The 18g will do fine for most uses.

Breville states, "Just to let you know that the baskets we use in all our Dual Boiler configured machines, BES900, BES920 & the Oracle are all made to a quality that approaches that of VSTs. Hole roundness & consistent positioning is extremely controlled during production." 

Holding up a Breville against a cheap commercial basket and a VST, I can tell you that from what I can see with my naked eye, the Breville dual boiler basket and the VST look similar in the way that they appear to be machined and not just pressed. 

When looking at basket size, I try to keep in mind that the classic espresso machines as used in Italy for decades and still used today use a 14g basket.  That is 7g of coffee per shot!!  If you have a cafe and you use 14g baskets vs 21g baskets, you are saving 30% on your coffee bean COGs [Cost of Goods].  That is dramatic. 

There is a lot to weigh up in the selection of basket size in your cafe and the same for your home.  If you are starting out, use the great baskets they supply with the BES900. 

Mostly you will probably be pulling shots for milk based coffee, where in Italy they sell a huge amount of espresso, at 1 Euro per cup.  If you put a single shot of espresso into an 8oz cup, it may well be too weak if you are using a 14g basket.  Up the basket to 19-21g and you can get enough flavour out of a single shot to cut through the milk. 

If you make a lot of black coffee and espresso, then go for the smallest basket which is not a single shot basket.  If you make white coffee and you are making one coffee per extraction, then again you can go with a small size, even as low as 14g.

It may seem like I am concentrating too much on waste and coffee use, and perhaps that comes from my years of owning a cafe and having to pay for all those 100's of kilograms of beans, but it also comes from a space of wanting you to build your own coffee making flow that sees you making awesome coffee in a way that makes financial sense.  I know for some it's more about doing it themselves and learning and loving the process.  I invite you to consider that coffee bean prices are going up all the time, and this translates to higher roasted bean prices.  I encourage you to establish good habits early.

This part of the process is often overlooked and it is more important that it appears.  In a later video I look at the Weiss method of distributing the fines in the basket.  The overriding mantra of making exceptional coffee is 'even extraction'.  The grind, the distribution of the grinds in the basket and a level tamp are key to that goal. 

There is no need for a new tamp, the one provided is fine.  Yes, it could be a little larger but that wont effect your coffee.

The BES has preinfusion and it is simple to set it up.  Preinfusion is a tool in our fight against micro-channeling.  We wet the grinds enough so that the high-pressure water hits wet coffee, but not that much that we extract our coffee at a low pressure.  Keep in mind that longer preinfusion leads to shorter extraction time at full pressure.  Preinfusion does NOT help with getting more extraction, it just makes your worst cup better.  It helps the grinds adhere to the side of the basket to decrease the chance of channeling around the edge of the puck.  If you have a bullet proof distribution of grinds and a bullet proof tamp, then you 'shouldn't' need preinfusion.  I think of preinfusion is insurance against a bad extraction. 

Re age of the roasted beans.  The older the coffee is, the more soluble are the volatile chemicals we want to extract, so the easier they are to extract and it becomes easier to over extract.  As your coffee ages past say 2 weeks, if you get dry and steely coffee, extract less.  You can do this with shorter extractions.  The more persistent problem is not ageing as much as coffee going stale.  This comes down to storage.  You want to keep the air away from the beans as much as possible.  You can go as far as freezing the beans as soon as you buy them.  You can do this in small one dose size bags, or you can do this as a big bag.  You can even grind the beans whilst frozen.

The actual capacity of the cups is important as well.  I am going smaller and smaller for my milky coffees as I like to drink more coffees without drinking so much milk.  In the video I show 8oz cups as they are easy to demonstrate late art, and because my partner likes the strength of a single shot in an 8oz cup. I prefer a single shot in an 6oz cup.  As a guide, aim for a ratio of 1:4 or 1:5 coffee : milk volume.   19g coffee in, 45g espresso out, x 1/2 = 22g espresso [single shot].  22g x 5 = 110g of milk plus the espresso = 230g = 8oz.   If you want a stronger coffee, try extracting more from your 19g.  If that doesn't taste good, go with a short double shot, extracting say 30g espresso from 19g of coffee. 

Keep in mind that you can do this with frozen beans straight from the freezer.

You may choose to use the Weiss method outlined earlier, or you may simply use your finger. 

The important part is consistency. 

In my cafe we had strict protocols.  Two taps on the tongs of the grinder whilst grinding to compact the grinds a little.  Two short sharp taps on the side of the basket with our hand whilst taking the portafilter to the scales with an objective to break up clumps and level the grinds a little.  Weigh then level off with a finger swipe, tamp, extract. 

Come up with your own routine and follow it exactly each time.  Consistency is our objective. 

Arabica beans come from the Coffea Arabica plant. It originated in Ethiopia and accounts for over 60% of worldwide production.

Robusta beans come from the Coffea canephora plant.  It is called robusta as it is a very robust plant which can be grown in a wider variety of climatic and soil conditions.

Note.  It is possible to grind your coffee beans whilst they are frozen.  Try to store your coffee in a way that is is subjected to as little air as possible. 

Now we insert the portafilter into the espresso machine continuing to be careful not to disturb the puck. 

Be careful to tighten the handle into the machine tightly as the vibrating pump has a tendency to vibrate the handle loose.

A note re brew boiler temperature.  Our goal is even extraction.  The challenge is that any one variable effects the other variables.  If we choose a grind that is finer, then we need a water temperature that is lower.  As a guide, too hot will give dry tasting espresso, too cold will give sour tasting espresso.

The goal is to set a preinfusion time which fully wets the ground coffee without actually extracting coffee.  I went a little long on the preinfusion in the video.  Aim to have the first drips of coffee coming out as the pressure ramps up to full pressure.

In a later video I show you how to pour a nice simple double heart if your milk is too thick, or if you have not mastered the rosetta.

IMPORTANT:   Heat changes the flavour of cows milk.  I aim for 60 degrees Celsius.  When you go over say 65 degrees, and most certainly at 70 degrees, the milk looses a lot of it's sweetness.  Coffee made to 70 degrees tastes a lot different, a lot flatter than coffee made with 60 degree milk.  This applies mostly to cows milk.  Other milks are not as fragile to temperature.  Soy can be heated to 70 degrees and not change, as can almond milk.

Full cream vs low fat milks.  You will learn very quickly that low fat milk froths much quicker and is more prone to going stiff.  Extra care is required when texturing low fat milks. 

From the factory the BES comes with a very friendly usable steam delivery.  Commercial machines offer up much more steam to allow for much quicker milk texturing, but we dont want that at home.  At home we want time to texture the milk perfectly.  The milk from a BES is as good as the milk from a Slayer!

Names for coffees vary around the globe and even within countries.  Australia and New Zealand have the flat white, but even then there is no agreement on what exactly a flat white is.  In Australia we call an Americano a long black with a small amount of hot textured milk.  In Australia customers want to see the crema on top of their long and short black coffees.  The important part is that as makers of our own coffee, we get to make it exactly how we like it.