i'm halfway through 1lb of this, and its weird

the barefoot site says to pull around 200°F

I'm pulling at 208-210 to get a good shot -- water needs to either be flash-boiling out of the group, or just below that.

my friend is running on a brewtus, and he's pulling at 207.

has anyone experienced this? has their blend been off lately?

anything under 207 on my machine, and its way too sour and acidic. at 208 the sour turns bright, and 209-210 it seems to be fantastic.

every other blend i've had is burnt over 202°. i can't imagine what temp i'd need to get this to taste burned.

To answer Dan's (offline) question, yes...

It really is pulling that hot-- I tried several thermometers to make sure I wasn't crazy; a friend is using a PID. For most blends, I run about 6oz through the hx -- 2-3oz to get it down from the flash boiling point ( which i assume is 212 ) and 3-4 to get it around 200.

With 114, I'm getting the best pulls within 1oz from the flash boiling point . I've even had some good pulls at the flash boiling point ( on gimme , stumptown and doubleff blends , this would taste like burnt charcoal )

One thing that I've noticed is the composition of the bean -- most blends i like have a 'dry' bean that is just around second crack ; there's not much water content in it , and their mass has expanded from steam escaping.

The barefoot blend, much like the offerings i've had from Paradise Roasters, is a bit lighter in roast. These beans aren't much larger than green beans-- they're also much more dense and there's tangible moisture content when you grind them. I never tried using water so hot with the paradise blends -- I'm beginning to think I should have.

2xlp wrote:I'm pulling at 208-210 to get a good shot -- water needs to either be flash-boiling out of the group, or just below that.

Hard to believe that temperature is accurate. You mentioned it was sour at their recommended temperature; what's the predominant flavors at 208-210?

there's an intense sweetness, the kind that hits you in the roof/back of your mouth, with something that I can only say reminds me of butter. the only other time i've tasted this was a god shot off the old mistral at gimme - which tasted like a square of unsweetended cocoa melted with a pat of butter. the beans aren't that darkly roasted, but the taste shows an incredible caramelization of the sugars during the roasting process -- the beans themselves taste/smell sweet. there's is indeed a subtle note of dry cocoa in there, but there's a slight tartness of fruit. i can't place the fruit though. there's a bit of earthiness and moss , kind of like a good yirgacheffee , but without as much of the 'dirt' taste to it.

2xlp wrote:i'm halfway through 1lb of this, and its weird

the barefoot site says to pull around 200°F

I'm pulling at 208-210 to get a good shot -- water needs to either be flash-boiling out of the group, or just below that.

my friend is running on a brewtus, and he's pulling at 207.

has anyone experienced this? has their blend been off lately?

anything under 207 on my machine, and its way too sour and acidic. at 208 the sour turns bright, and 209-210 it seems to be fantastic.

every other blend i've had is burnt over 202°. i can't imagine what temp i'd need to get this to taste burned.

Similar experience with Barefoot Redwood late in 2006:

http://www.home-barista.com/forum...o-t2429.html#23554

Barefoot Redwood Espresso
roasted Nov 6th, 10 days ago
This is a light northern style roast that stands up beautifully to hot water.
Highly recommended for leverites with pressurized boilers.
I pulled three singles after my Cremina had been on for several hours, third shot the best.

Regards
Timo

I normally use Blue Bottle's Hayes Valley Espresso (and sometimes the Roman Espresso), I was over at Barefoot the other day, so picked up a pound of Sweetness.

I've had the same "issues" (in quotes, because it's more likely something I'm doing) where I'm going pretty hot to get rid of a sour taste.

After going back and reading some of the notes, I am shorting my pulls to 23-24 seconds and grinding finer.

I'm measuring ~204* at the group, though it'll be just a few more days before I have Eric Svendson's TC/E61 adapter, which I'm sure will be more accurate.

Any hints?