The S1 Cafe - Helping Your Espresso Dreams Become Reality

Hey everyone!

Just got my dream espresso machine when i purchased the Mini Vivaldi II last weekend. Could not be happier. I have a couple questions for you all since i am far away from being great at using this machine yet. I'm coming from a Silvia V3 and was curious if the Mini prefers a finer grind/softer tamp, coarser grind/harder tamp, and if i should be seeing the screen bolt in my puck? Sadly, i do not have a bottomless portafilter yet (working on that).

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

-Troy

You've touched on a much debated topic. IME, it totally depends on your grinder and the mantra is true: grinder, grinder, grinder.

To avoid the screen bolt touching the puck, you can swap the hex bolt for a button head bolt to gain a little head space.

The grind really depends on the coffee and your typical roast level. My medium to darker roasts max out about 16g, and my preferred dose is 14.5 - 15g. However, I've easily fit 18g+ with lighter roasts. (I think) many users feel that slightly longer shots (30-35s) can yield good results with this group, but specific flow rate and yield is really up to your palate.

Thank you for your replies! I bought a bottomless portafilter to better dial in my grind, and i'm still searching for that great shot. I can get close, but just not there yet despite grind size. Its either too fast, or just a bit fast than a ristretto. It seems for a 20g dose, it takes 30s for me to get a little over 1.5oz (and thats on a good day). I have a Eureka Mignon and i'm currently doing a coarser grind with a hard tamp. Perhaps since i've changed beans i'll try a finer grind with a slightly lighter tamp.

What are you shooting for? 1.5oz in 30s sounds pretty good to me.

Ideally, weigh your output espresso so you know what your extraction ratio is. 20g espresso (1:1 or 100%) is going to taste very different from 40g (2:1 or 50%) espresso extracted in the same amount of time. Both (or anywhere in between) are fine depending on your taste.

I prefer 14 to 14.5 grams and a 40 second shot. So, I'm grinding pretty fine. 30# tamp.

I think i will definitely have to weigh it. Visually, it looks thin the entire shot. I've tried coarser and finer grinds, and hard/lighter tamps with the same results.

*also, where do you guys like your OPV at? right now, i'm at ~9-9.5 bars. Are you finding better results with more or less pressure?