One of the features I was keen to enjoy is the option to 'tame' the modern light roasts, extracting them at higher pre-infusion pressure which enables the group to fill more, and start the extraction with a more compressed spring on the lever as the lever 'catches' at horizontal or even a little below that.
I went out and bought a few bags of beans from a roastery that's well known for their very light roasts and tried a first bag, getting a lovely full bodied shot, spicy, with none of the nasty acidity that a low-pressure pre infusion would yield.
Before, I would only drink that coffee at the cafe where I got the beans as they have adjusted their machine to compensate well for the light roast.
Now I can easily adjust my own system to accommodate that light roast. I will next (today or tomorrow) try the even lighter ones roasted for filter.
I had expected to have to grind (much) finer but as it happens, the high pre-infusion pressure and the much higher initial extraction spring pressure compresses the puck more which also proportionally helps to restrict flow.
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| Got 3 light roasts |
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| Tried this one first at Tonino #107 |
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| Set pre-infusion pressure to 6 bar (static pressure measured 7.5 bar at that moment) |
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| Lever 'catches' a little below horizontal |
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| No one would guess this was a 'light' roast ;-) |
