Smooth and flavoursome coffee from a De'Longhi Magnifica.
Hi James
Do you have any tips for the setting on the coffee machine for these beans to extract the optimum brew.
As mentioned we like the coffee to be smooth and flavorsome.
The coffee machine is a De'Longhi Magnifica.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Look forward to tasting!
Cheers Robyn
Hi Robyn
You're fortunate with the machine that you have, while it is a semi automatic bean to cup machine, it provides you will lots of input if you want to take advantage of it. Please forgive me if I am telling you information that you already know, but just incase;
1. your machine has a dial on the front - that is used to increase (or decrease) the amount of coffee beans used for each shot. more beans will result in a stronger flavour
2. you also have a bean grind adjustment located in the bean hopper. A finer grind will result in a more intense flavour
3. you can adjust the amount of water used for each button press on the front panel. Ideally, standardise on one button for your most favorite. You can adjust the amount of water used per button press by programming the machine - hold down the button to start the extraction, and release to stop the extraction. the time you've held the button down will be stored in memory for future button presses.
So, now that explains the advanced features of tyour Delonghi Magnifica, its time to think about how these adjustments can be used to create the flavour of coffee you are looking for. You say smooth and flavoursome, so we want to focus on bringing that out, and I recommend what is known as a Ristretto base. It uses the first part of the coffee extraction, leavig the second part behind. It is the second part of coffee extraction (and anything beyond that second half) that introduces bitterness, which we want to avoid for your flavour preference.
Ristretto is just the first half of the coffee extraction, so we need to determine what is the correct normal extraction, so park the idea of Ristretto for now. You want to aim for a coffee extraction that lasts for 30 seconds, creates 60ml of coffee, from approx 16grams of coffee (you wont be able to measure the grams with your machine, so just adjust your front dial to 75% and leave it there. The only adjustment you will make from here is the dial in the hopper - make it finer if youd like to decrease the extraction time, or coarser if we need to increase the extraction time. You'd adjust this if it takes less than or more than 30 seconds to make 60 ml in the cup, or with the Delonghi, if the machine appears to struggle to create coffee (or gushes coffee, which is too coarse).
For these tests, you'd be using the bottom right button for extraction - that's a regular coffee extraction using a double shot. (the button above is a single shot (weaker). The buttons on the left side are Ristretto, both single and double shot, but with less water and less time, to create that ristretto we were talking about.
I know this may seem like a lot to take in, but take your time. Once you have your machine dialed in to your preference, it will be an easy process. It's really just science, so it is repeatable.
I hope this helps, get in touch anytime and I can go over anything in more detail or explain further.
James Axisa.
Do you have any tips for the setting on the coffee machine for these beans to extract the optimum brew.
As mentioned we like the coffee to be smooth and flavorsome.
The coffee machine is a De'Longhi Magnifica.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Look forward to tasting!
Cheers Robyn
Hi Robyn
You're fortunate with the machine that you have, while it is a semi automatic bean to cup machine, it provides you will lots of input if you want to take advantage of it. Please forgive me if I am telling you information that you already know, but just incase;
1. your machine has a dial on the front - that is used to increase (or decrease) the amount of coffee beans used for each shot. more beans will result in a stronger flavour
2. you also have a bean grind adjustment located in the bean hopper. A finer grind will result in a more intense flavour
3. you can adjust the amount of water used for each button press on the front panel. Ideally, standardise on one button for your most favorite. You can adjust the amount of water used per button press by programming the machine - hold down the button to start the extraction, and release to stop the extraction. the time you've held the button down will be stored in memory for future button presses.
So, now that explains the advanced features of tyour Delonghi Magnifica, its time to think about how these adjustments can be used to create the flavour of coffee you are looking for. You say smooth and flavoursome, so we want to focus on bringing that out, and I recommend what is known as a Ristretto base. It uses the first part of the coffee extraction, leavig the second part behind. It is the second part of coffee extraction (and anything beyond that second half) that introduces bitterness, which we want to avoid for your flavour preference.
Ristretto is just the first half of the coffee extraction, so we need to determine what is the correct normal extraction, so park the idea of Ristretto for now. You want to aim for a coffee extraction that lasts for 30 seconds, creates 60ml of coffee, from approx 16grams of coffee (you wont be able to measure the grams with your machine, so just adjust your front dial to 75% and leave it there. The only adjustment you will make from here is the dial in the hopper - make it finer if youd like to decrease the extraction time, or coarser if we need to increase the extraction time. You'd adjust this if it takes less than or more than 30 seconds to make 60 ml in the cup, or with the Delonghi, if the machine appears to struggle to create coffee (or gushes coffee, which is too coarse).
For these tests, you'd be using the bottom right button for extraction - that's a regular coffee extraction using a double shot. (the button above is a single shot (weaker). The buttons on the left side are Ristretto, both single and double shot, but with less water and less time, to create that ristretto we were talking about.
I know this may seem like a lot to take in, but take your time. Once you have your machine dialed in to your preference, it will be an easy process. It's really just science, so it is repeatable.
I hope this helps, get in touch anytime and I can go over anything in more detail or explain further.
James Axisa.
