Some updates for the new LED KOLOR module.
This is a eurorack module designed to control LED strips, squares, etc.
....
The module will be released as a kickstarter project.
More info can be found at Ed's official website
JonDent - Explorations in Electronics, Electronic Music, Coffee, Sci Fi, Art & Travel (but mostly electronic music)
Monday 2 September 2024
Londinium profile
Londinium is a brand of coffee machine that hail from the UK.
They primarily focus on lever machines.
These machines have become famous for their unique style of shots
to the point that many baristas have tried to emulate the
"Londinium shot" on other machines.
My moddified Gaggia Classic has a "Londinium Profile".
The Decent also has something similar.
So what is it?
It's a spring lever machine that uses pressurised pre-infusion at the beginning..
The technique it uses is something like a GS3 puck slam.
It really slams the puck with something like 25mls of water.
This very fast and early saturation of the puck compresses it much faster than is usual leading to a denser & thicker starting pour.
It's sometimes called a "water hammer".
The adapted "Londinium profile" for a standard lever machine involves
quickly hitting the puck with pressure (about 3-4 bar) and holding it there.
3 Bar appears to be the perfect pressure to balance capillary preinfusion with pressure preinfusion.
(3 Bar is also common in "Blooming profiles").
This gets the water through the puck evenly & quickly will minimal channeling.
The initial flow rate will be really low ... about 8ml/s (0.3 to 0.5g/s) range.
This will give you a beautiful thick top to your espresso.
After this, ramp up to 9 bar, then gradually drop back to zero
as the puck degrades.
Try to keep the flow rate constant during this second stage.
This second stage has much less body.
When you drink a shot like this it feels super creamy due to the thick top of the preinfusion.
In summary:
1. Pre-infuse: 8 ml/s, low pressure & hold at 3 bar.
(About 13 secs)
2. Post infusion: raise pressure and hold at 9 bar.
3. Final stage: decline to 3 bar.
You need to monitor the flow in these last stages.
Your aim is to keep the flow at about 2g/sec (2ml/sec).
This profile works really well on dark to medium roasts.
Usually, I aim for a 1:2 ratio
One important think to note is that although I use the measurement of pressure alot, what is also important is flow.
Pressure = flow x resistance
This type of shot is really tasty with milk based coffee like Latte
Wednesday 17 July 2024
Rao Allonge / Sprover profile - coffee shots
Scott Rao's Allonge shot or a Coffee Shot
Sometimes called the Sprover = espresso + pour over
Very controversial because it's super long.
It's kind of like an Americano or a Australian long black, but the difference
is that you don't just add water to an espresso.
Basically you are trying to make filter style coffee using an espresso machine.
Initallly it started with using a standard espresso machine (with 9 bars) and
a coarse grind.
The method was to pass water through the puck at 9 bars for 30 secs ... aiming to get
a ratio of 1: 10 etc
According to Decent/John Buckman,
a 1:5 ratio (can do 1:4-7 or so) is good.
But with a sprover 1:11 or 1:13 is common
It's hard to do this on many "standard espresso machines" as they don't usually hold enough water
Remember to use a coarser grind than usual.... like on a Aeropress or V60
and Pull for around 30-60 seconds
Matt Perger recommended using the EK-47 grinder
These really long shots give amazing clarity ... esp for lighter roasts.
Ideally try to get a low flow rate -- maybe 3ml/sec
or 4.5ml/second flow rate the whole way
- peak at 8-9 bar, and ideally finish around 6ish on a lever.
Pressure shouldn't go below 4bar on a lever , but with a e61, it can finish at 1-1.5 bar
... just experiment
----------------
Not all coffee machines can do this type of shot.
You need a machine with a large reservoir , and the ability to control flow rate.
If you have a entry level single boiler, you will probably not have enough water.
Machine that can do these types of shots:
Most flow profile e61 machines
Breville dual boiler
Nomad manual lever
Decent
Monday 8 July 2024
MUN - build notes 2
This is part 2 of my build notes for the nonlinear circuits Mun module.
The eurorack 22HP module is a 10 channel vocoder based on the Syntovox 222
The word Vocoder is a combination of two words.
Voice + Code = Vocoder
Vocoded signals were essentially a form of data compression for voice.
Links
+ Wiki
+ BOM
Part 1 is here:
150nF = 0.15uF
To be continued....
Saturday 6 July 2024
Wednesday 3 July 2024
Adaptive profile --- pressure vs flow
This is one of the settings on my Gaggiuino.
There is a lot of debate about pressure vs flow profiles.
Pressure = flow x puck resistance.
They are linked.
The early (analog) lever machines naturally understood this relationship.
You pulled on a spring (loaded at 9 bar).
As the lever went up the pressure slowly decreased from 9 bar.
During this time, the flow naturally would also decrease.
And this would compensate for the degradation of the puck over time.
The end result was a great cuppa.
Today, pumped machines keep the pressure at 9 bar even though the puck is degrading.
The result is a increase in flow rate towards the end of the shot with a much more diluted finish.
I think lever machines had it right from the beginning. When you pulled the lever down (in the case of a spring lever) the puck was saturated instantly
(at boiler pressure) reducing the chance of puck unseating, and then a pressure to flow relationship was maintained during the shot pull.
With my E61 machine I'm getting about 7g/sec flow.
It will continue to deliver water to the coffee puck at that rate until it hits 9 bar.
At that point, the OPV will kick in.
Usually the 9 bar level is reached pretty early .. usually at the end of pre-infusion.
The flow rate is probably not 7g/sec. Instead, it will be whatever it needs to be to stay at 9 bar.
Flow is very hard to control.
Resistance is related to the type of grinder, the grind size, roast level, puck integrity, grind solubility, tamp force, distribution, etc
I think that above 10bar, coffee doesn't taste great, so if your focus is on flow
and you accidently touch 10 bar, you risk the coffee failing.
The adaptive setting is very interesting.
Its designed to prioritize the flow rate .... moving it up or down
& adapt it to the chosen grind and dose size..... keeping everything below the peak pressure.
Note that preinfusion is mostly about flow (as there is usually very low pressure).
When discussing flow we usually are focused on the post infusion stage.
Tuesday 2 July 2024
Blooming espresso profile
This profile has a very long initial pre infusion stage before a flow controlled pressured stage.
Blooming was inspired by pour over drip coffee brewers... releasing CO2 and allowing the grounds to be fully saturated.
It's a great profile for extracting sweetness, esp from lighter roast coffee that is really acidic.
It's a very forgiving profile.
Don't use a dark roast with this profile unless you like your coffee bitter.
You can replicate this on a lever machine.... or any machine that allows you to control pressure.
Firstly, make sure you grind slightly finer than usual.
Method:
1. Ramp the pressure up
to 4 to 6 bar over 10
secs.
Once you hit about 5
bar stop pushing on
your lever (if you're
using a lever machine).
2. You should have let go
of the lever.
This is the blooming
stage where the flow
drops to zero.
The pressure will also drop to zero as water is absorbed into the puck.
If you're using a lever you may see some drops of coffee falling into the cup.
This is OK.
This blooming stage will all take about 10-40 secs.
3. After the blooming stage is finished, ramp the pressure up (8-9 bar).
Try to maintain flow at 2ml/sec.
I like to aim for a 1: 3 ratio.
Or go even longer.
Pull 1:4 or even 1:5
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