Rough espresso night

We've got some crazy storms coming through the area tonight which usually means power outages in my neighborhood. So I figured, no better time to try  out the Lido with the Mypressi Twist just in case the power went out. I've had a first generation Twist for a few years now and used it as my primary espresso maker for about six months. I've since moved up to a Gaggia Classic and then a La Peppina. Needless to say, the Twist has been collecting dust in a drawer for a long time. Regardless, I found the Twist worked great for certain coffees, Metropolis Redline comes to mind. But at the time I was eager to move up the equipment food chain. I think the Twist is a great concept that makes very nice espresso. The only impracticality that really got to me was the need for nitrogen cartridges which lasted four double shots.

 

So I went ahead and ground up some of my FTO Guatemala Cafe Femenino, which is about two weeks from roast date, in the Lido and pulled the shot. First time with the Lido for espresso so I went with a conservative 3/8 turn from zero. First impressions with using the Lido at this grind setting were positive. Surprisingly easy compared to espresso grinding in a Hario Slim hand grinder. So I went through the standard Twist routine of warming everything up and then pulled the shot. The result was a massive gusher with 16g at this grind setting. Didn't even bother to taste what actually landed in the cup. I wanted to try and get this coffee dialed in with the Lido but only had about 20g left. So instead of trying again with the Lido I ground the rest in my Quamar and proceeded to pull another shot at 18g, my standard dose for the Twist. This shot ran fast but was much better looking than the first. It tasted… not so good. And unfortunately that was the last of the coffee so no more experimenting tonight. I must admit that I've been extremely spoiled using the La Peppina and Quamar grinder combo. Everytime I try a new coffee it takes only one or two shots to have everything dialed in. 

Luckily, the Sumatra - WAHANA ESTATE - Natural from PTs arrived today and perhaps I'll have a chance to try the Lido at espresso range again sometime soon. Probably with the La Peppina next time since I can pull consecutive shot much easier on it than the Twist. I think I'll put the Twist back in its drawer until I find time to finish designing my constant air mod for it.