Any help with extraction parameter for CC Apollo 6.0? I enjoyed 5.0 so much i bought 2 bags of 6.0 before having tried it. I'm now regretting it.
I can't get a shot that isn't overly sharp and bright. I've tried 16-20g 198-202. Above 200 it gets incredibly astringent.

# If the coffee tastes aggressive, you need more caramels and sugars, less flavors. Decrease the dose, and make the grind finer to keep the flow the same. This will increase the proportion of sugars, while keeping the acid bitter balance the same.

# If the coffee is too bright, with lemon, fruit, apple, wine and other acidic flavors, keep the dose the same, make the grind finer, to lower the flow rate. Make a slower flowing, more ristretto shot. This will reduce the acidity relative to the bitterness.

from Espresso 101: How to Adjust Dose and Grind Setting by Taste

Also try a few days more rest

tried both of those...they helped but it's still very bright and pungent. Will tyr lowering the dose even further.

what kind of brew ratios and shot times are you using?

anywhere from ristretto to normale, usually in about 25-35 seconds

I'm not sure you should down-dose. I haven't tried Apollo 6 yet, but if you're getting astringence at 200+F, you might want to stop the shot a little shorter in time and see if that mitigates it. On some coffees that late blonding does make a noticeable difference for the worse. I see on CCC's website, they recommend 6.1 be pulled as a modest ristretto in 22-24 seconds. I remember Apollo 4 needing to be pulled in that way as well.

Aging a bit as Ian said might be a good idea if you can't get a sweet spot between puckery and astringent.

Just pulled a 20g shot, stopped at 20s. Didn't weigh it but it couldn't have been more than 16g of coffee. Very nice. Thanks for the tip of stopping it shorter. SEemed to have helped.

Now, the fact that i'm getting 2 sips out of 20g is annoying in its own right, but i'll deal with it.