A bit of lever action

[John F]

I don't understand a word of it but the backing track in reply #42 makes me think it's the foreign language version of spill the wine. 

The entire vibe the singer is giving off....totally a "leaping gnome".

Eric Burdon & War - Spill The Wine

 

[staylor]

Dead Can Dance, I first heard them in the mid-90's while laying on some pillows in a small cafe in a place called Dahab, the Sinai Desert.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Can_Dance

That song you heard was off the 'Into the Labyrinth' album.

This is the first track off that same album, give it at least 4mins it will build on you.

Yulunga - Dead Can Dance

[Warrior372]

I am loving the videos. How many shots are you pulling a day? You might be altering the lever learning curve . . . What are your thoughts on the 45mm taller PF basket? Can you pick out differences between the shots you are pulling, with the coffee you roast, on the PVL versus the Brewtus?

[staylor]

I am loving the videos. How many shots are you pulling a day? You might be altering the lever learning curve . . . What are your thoughts on the 45mm taller PF basket? Can you pick out differences between the shots you are pulling, with the coffee you roast, on the PVL versus the Brewtus?

Well I've had the PVL for a week and I figure I've got over 100 shots on it now. Partly for my own enjoyment and partly to push it around a bit to see what it can do and to expand my small lever sandbox - big sandboxes are big fun. ;-)

I'm trying to capture some of my learning curve on vid, when I was looking around I thought there was a real shortage of stuff that I was interested in seeing as a lever noob, it might be boring to some of the old lever dogs, but I know as a newbie there's isn't much out there. Hopefully it's helping someone out there.

I've read pretty much everything there is to read about the 45mm tall basket, I think some of the theories are correct, certainly the results in the cup don't lie. One thing for sure, there's a very big difference between what I am getting from the PVL vs the BII. Very different.

[mp]

Well I've had the PVL for a week and I figure I've got over 100 shots on it now. Partly for my own enjoyment and partly to push it around a bit to see what it can do and to expand my small lever sandbox - big sandboxes are big fun. ;-)

I'm trying to capture some of my learning curve on vid, when I was looking around I thought there was a real shortage of stuff that I was interested in seeing as a lever noob, it might be boring to some of the old lever dogs, but I know as a newbie there's isn't much out there. Hopefully it's helping someone out there.

I've read pretty much everything there is to read about the 45mm tall basket, I think some of the theories are correct, certainly the results in the cup don't lie. One thing for sure, there's a very big difference between what I am getting from the PVL vs the BII. Very different.

Shaun ... can you expand on the different part ... different good ... different bad?  Are the shots creamier, sweeter, all around tastier?

Any regrets going lever so far?

 

[Warrior372]

Mp,

The results could very well be all of the things you mention depending on the shot. One of the great benefits of a lever is that you do have total control . . . for better and for worse. With that said, I would love to hear your experience Staylor.

[John F]

I would love to hear your experience Staylor.

I think it all might have started somewhere in a UK pub (or maybe it was in Ireland) whereupon a drunken fool was harassing a young lady. A slender but strong young man leaning on the bar having seen enough, walked over and delivered a head butt that sent the drunkard off to sleepy time for a while.

Then the two stepped out for an ice cream....

I might be way off but it's possible this is where the Staylor experience began.   

[staylor]

As I remember it, I was drinking a pint of Dublin Guinness.

The ice cream in Dublin is good but the Guinness is better.

[John F]

As I remember it, I was drinking a pint of Dublin Guinness.

Sure, but isn't that is where the Evan and Keegan   Gluey and Leg Beard show begins?

You probably can't remember the story I was talking about.  

[staylor]

As I remember it, I was drinking a pint of Dublin Guinness.

Sure, but isn't that is where the Evan and Keegan   Gluey and Leg Beard show begins?

You probably can't remember the story I was talking about.  

Gluey and Leg Beard, totally an insider joke.

[staylor]

Here's a different angle:

Pont Vechhio Lusso 2 bean blend

[staylor]

A different extraction technique, tighter grind, lighter tamp, keeping the pressure profile up and enjoying the glop.

PVL 14gms tight grind w/ light tamp

[staylor]

Some quick microfoam...

3oz of milk off the PVL

[staylor]

I've been posting over at HB, trying to pay back a little bit for the institutional knowledge that exists over there in the lever camp. http://www.home-barista.com/levers/shot-technique-question-for-spring-lever-owners-t14676-60.html

I just replied to a fella who said:

"tekomino wrote: Nice, but you need to post tasting notes as well for videos to be truly useful."

So I obliged, but as you will see it probably isn't worth anything to anyone because of the multiple variables you can use to drive the shot any which way you want. I'm starting to feel a whole lot more up to speed on the lever process and am finally dialing in to the 'intuitive pulls' that have me modifying my technique in real time as the shot is flowing. So his question of 'post tasting notes' have very little relevance to anything other than I Start and I Finish and I Get the resulting Cup. Anyway... here's my response, I post it here because some of you have been asking about 'how's it taste'.

   
"tekomino wrote:Nice, but you need to post tasting notes  as well for videos to be truly useful.


I can do that but my main goal was/is to try and capture (via video) a bunch of different ways to pull shots with the PVL.

Before I get into tasting notes, I want to do the mandatory preamble that my palate/espresso experience/expectations might be different than yours, which might be different than the guy next door. My tasting notes from this morning make more sense to me than my neighbor.

On to the shots...

The shots I pulled this morning were from two roasts; one batch is an 8 day old Gethumbwini Peaberry taken to the outliers of 2nd and the other batch is a 3.5 day old Wiladah Mabrur generally using the same roast profile. I was post-roast blending straight into the grinder throat at an approx 50/50 split. The several shots I did this morning ranged from .75oz to 1.5oz in volume, they ranged in dose and in pull time. As you will see shortly they also ranged between single basket and double basket.

Depending on how I extracted/setup techniqued I got combination's of blackcurrant cassis, merlot and earthiness/warm wood, a blackcurrant tea and brown sugar, a Rich red grape and a bit of cinnamon and warm brown sugar, etc, etc. On the nose it was a lot of blackcurrant and rich grape along with some earthy wood, some of the shots had a tiny bit of anise thrown in there and some had a tiny bit of nutmeg. Body ranged from heavy to medium depending on the pull/technique. Nothing sharp or citrusy, all shots were low acidity.

I know those tasting notes aren't worth the electronic paper they are written on because they reflect at least 10 shots that were a mix of half pulls and full pulls depending on what I saw in the espresso flow or how I wanted to drive the shot. Hence my reluctance to post up tasting notes with the videos, preferring to stick to things like "that was a pretty good shot". Maybe not the answer you are looking for... sorry about that."


Here's a 7gm shot, at tight grind and light tamp...

Ponte Vecchio Lusso single basket

[mp]

Shaun,

What might be more worthwhile is the taste of the coffee pulled with the PVL and the Brutus in general terms.  Based on what you said so far I'm getting the impression that the same coffee combo tastes different from pull to pull ... depending on your barista technique.  Sounds like you have radically more control of the pulled flavor with the lever than a semi auto.