macap m4 : day 2, shot 2

whelp, there it is: the god shot.

usually the term "god shot" is prefixed with "elusive", but i suspect that with my new hardware, i'll frequently be using the term unadorned. it was a 45 second pull for less than two ounces -- yes, that's a no-no. no, i don't care. my best shots seem to come in beyond the 30 second mark. i got nothing until about 15 seconds (instead of the usual 7), and if i'd stopped at 30 i'd have had a fine ristretto, without the fullness that i got with those extra 15 seconds.

i cleaned silvia yesterday, with much gusto. i replaced the group head gasket, since, while rummaging through my supplies, i found that i had two spares. also, it's been well over 2 years since i got her and i've never replaced it. once it was out and well destroyed by my extraction technique, it was plain that gasket replacement was unwarranted. nuts. still, removing the gasket allowed me to give silvia a much more thorough cleaning than i'd ever managed before -- the gasket seems to hold on to gunk much more readily than the brass, which itself is a tenacious gunkhoarder. i innovated a bit and blasted the brass with compressed air, of which i have more than any person needs, due to gifts from people who don't know i have (had!) no use for such things, or at least, not so much of such things.

anyhow, with a freshly cleaned silvia and a new grinder, my first shot was good but not fantastic. without changing the grind (meaning: my dosing is inconsistent, as is my distribution and tamp -- hey, at least i've got temp and grind under control!) i pulled a second shot many minutes later, and there it was. viscous, creamy, deep chocolate (from a bean that i had thought i'd underroasted to the point of no chocolate), coffee grounds, and a hint of bitterness. not too little, not too much. this may not be your god shot, but it's mine.

perhaps i can make a habit of this.