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

https://hex.coffee/blogs/journal/why-we-coffee-shot-how-we-coffee-shot

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

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

+ A bit about vocoders

Part 1 is here:

https://djjondent.blogspot.com/2024/02/mun-build-notes-nlc-vocoder.html

on order:

150nF = 0.15uF

To be continued....

Audacity 3.6 Out Now! New Effects & New Master Channel!

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.

Is flow more important than pressure?

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.

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

The Slayer shot profile.

 This is another famous espresso style which many baristas try to emulate on their coffee machines.

It was made famous by the "slayer machine"

The Slayer is one of those holy grail machines.

This pic is of a single group version with a saturated group head.

 What truly sets Slayer coffee machines apart from the rest is its patented Espresso two stage Needle Valve. 

This was created to control the flow rate,.

This technology gives you the ability to adjust the water flow during the pre-infusion stage.

A slayer shot puts water slowly onto the puck (2mls/sec) for typically 25 - 40 secs.

(Its very different to a Londinium shot).

You can do this with any machine which allows you to control flow & pressure.

https://slayerespresso.com/dialing-in-the-slayer-espresso/

It uses very low initial pressure & flow during pre-infusion.

At the end of this time, the puck is fully saturated and the pressure will rise.

You only end the pre-infusion when you see the first drops of coffee at the bottom.

The nice thing about this is that it addresses solubility, esp for coffees like light roasts (where you need more contact time). The puck releases CO2 & gently expands in the basket. ... less chance of channeling.

Because prefusion takes so long, there will be a difference in water/coffee contact between the coffee at the top and the coffee at the bottom of the puck.

The coffee at the top might have ben in contact for  40 secs, while the coffee at the bottom only 1 sec.

This gradient between the top and bottom results on an uneven pre-infusion.

(The top might be over extracted, while the bottom is under extracted.)

This pre-infusion is followed with a full pressure extraction.

In summary:

2-bar pre-infusion (for 20-40 seconds) and then move to full pressure extraction for another 12-13 seconds

New Deluge Community Firmware 1.1 Features! Mutable Reverb, Performance ...

....\......

oooo

mmm

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Gaggiuino - boiler & pump removal & first tests - part 6

These are my personal build notes for building the Gaggiuino espresso machine.

I'm not a part of the Gaggiuino team.

The project is not for profit. 

This is really fun if you're interested in learning how microcontrollers such as the Arduino 

can be applied to solving a daily problem of mine ..... how to consistently make a great cup of coffee.

The Gaggiuino team have come up with a solution for modifying a relatively inexpensive coffee machine into something amazing.

This particular modification uses a STM32F411CEU6 (BlackPill) microcontroller.

Part 1,2,3,4 & 5 are here:

   Part 1 Gaggiuino Build Log with Workflow intro

   Part 2 Gaggiuino V3 - Build Log Notes - switches, PCB

   Part 3 Gaggiunio mod - The original Classic Pro - How it works

   Part 4 Gaggiuino - boot first time 

   Part 5 Gaggiuino - wiring

The build might change as I work through the various issues which will obviously happen.

I'll update as I go along.

Gaggiuino Project Page

https://gaggiuino.github.io/

Discord;

https://gaggiuino.github.io/#/community/community-media

facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/5362374853865845/

I've decided to do a custom rewiring.

So I think I'll need to remove the boiler.

Removal of the boiler & pump will make things easier

 to get to the connectors.

You can also remove the 20 min timer PCB while you're at it.

First number all the connections before you disconnect anything.

The single boiler has two heating elements. 

They are connected to 1,2,3,4.

5 & 6 are connected to the steam thermostat.

Pop out the switches . label them of course. 

Power, Brew, steam

I'll need to remove the switch housings later.

I'll also need to remove the thermal fuse (thermafuse) from  the top of the boiler.

The fuse cuts power off to the machine.

Dm1040

Next remove the steam wand.

The screw in the container belongs to the therma fuse bracket. It holds the fuse against the boiler.

The machine is looking a lot less cluttered and easier to get into

The boiler is just held in place with 4 Allen head screws

Making the T-junction hose

These hose clamps are the best .... They only need a screwdriver to tighten.

The other end of this hose connects to the Pressure Transducer. (0-1.2 Mpa, 5V, G1/4)

You need to cut the orange hose and inset the T-junction

Remove the pump first to make this easier (see below)

As I got deeper into this project, I started to remove more and more cables.

In the end, I removed everything,....  even the boiler and pump. 

It really wasn't so hard.

------------

The pump

To remove the pump

I first removed the power socket.

The pump wiring circuit.

This is the longest (and most confusing) section of cabling.

I left the original Gaggia cable that was attached to the pump (at the pump fuse), and extended one end

to AC on the PCB & the other to the neutral Power Socket. This cable already had the LAMPS attached. I had to extend it further and add extra cabling for the boiler & SSRs.

There is a Allen screw you need to loosen

which sits right under the socket terminals.

If you have a long necked Allen screwdriver it 

will be a breeze.

The other screw has a Phillips head.

You don't have to remove the other Allen screw to remove the pump.

BTW, this also removes the 20min timer circuit which is housed in the black box next to the pump.

The Gaggiuino doesn't use this board.

You can now easily access the pump connections.

The old fuse

...

.....

The new resettable fuse. 185 degrees C. 16A, M4

Oh dear....the time of reckoning is approaching.

The white hose hanging over the edge of the Gaggia in the pic below, is connected to that "T-junction"  inside the machine. It's other end connects to the pressure transducer which "talks" to the Blackpill microcontroller, relaying info about the pump pressure.

In the end, I did a full custom wire installation. This wasn't my intention in the beginning.

I ended up using most of the cables that came with the Gaggia and just a few that came with my Peak kit.

I've never done anything like this before, but its pretty straightforward if you study the circuit diagram carefully. Always double check the connections.

Nothing has blown up so far :-)

The Gaggiuino is now stabilising boiler temp. Aim is 93 degrees C

This shot is using the default setting

I'm really impressed.

Tastes great. !!!!!!

15g in, 34.9g out, in 33 secs

The weight out is estimated.

I haven't attached scales yet.

Steam test

Wow ... this is a huge improvement on the original Gaggia Classic.

I've ordered some printed parts .

https://gaggiuino.espressio.nl/

(official supplier)

Can't wait till they arrive so I can install the screen and PCB properly.

What a satisfying build. I can't recommend this enough.

+ Gaggia Classic Evo Pro - Modding with arduino - Gaggiuino

   Part 1 Gaggiuino Build Log with Workflow intro

   Part 2 Gaggiuino V3 - Build Log Notes - switches, PCB

   Part 3 Gaggiunio mod - The original Classic Pro - How it works

   Part 4 Gaggiuino - boot first time 

   Part 5 Gaggiuino - wiring

   Part 6 Gaggiuino boiler & pump removal & first tests