GC E24 (European version) upgraded with GM Pro + Alba. So now what?
With a bit more sweat than anticipated, and thanks to the amazing support of community at Discord, here we are, relearning how to brew good espressos with this coffee machine, that I already liked, and now I'm really enjoying. Some promising shots already!
As expected, no more temp surf nor spraying when I brew at 9 bars (standard EU spring is the 12 bars one), which is really cool in terms of consistency.
But now I have to dial again all my beans, and I am a bit lost. Are there any structured learning resources I could use? Or is it basically Discord? Any advice or hint you could share?
With a non-bluetooth Wacaco Exagram scale and bottomless IMS basket, I was used to start my dialling by adjusting grinder so as to have flow start around 5-6 seconds, adjusting time between 25-35 seconds, adjusting yield depending on the bean, taste, etc.
But now it is not easy to do that as standard 9 bar brew profiles I've used so far have an initial phase of adjusting pressure, with some minor dripping, then it gets a bit stuck, then incremental flow, etc.
So at the moment - I get I am now a beginner again with GM Pro in place and I'll hopefully learn - it is a bit complicated to try and get shots the traditional way, controlling ratios, times, yield, body, etc.
I've - by now - tweaked some standard profiles, brewing by output weight - I guess GM Pro estimates by flow? - and adjusting that profile value depending on what I get on my humble scale. So far so good, but I obviously want more from this setup.
How did you handle that transition? Did you have to change the basic approach? I've seen people are installing Bluetooth enabled scales, and brewing by weight, but I'm not sure if that is a need or just a nice to have gadget.
Thanks in advance!