Why is there some salty taste in my espresso? I use the same beans, but sometimes salty, sometimes not?

I've never had the problem, but Jim's espresso guide offers this diagnosis under Taste Flaws:

another_jim wrote:Salt or MSG: A common defect in Indonesian or slower roasted coffees, and difficult to correct. It is ameliorated by high crema content and sweet, ristretto shots, so dial-in exactly to 1.5 ounce, normal-stop color shots. If that fails, also start-dump, since the taste is slightly more concentrated there. Finally, strong flavors, particularly acidic ones, can cover the salt taste. Consider lowering the temperature to enhance these, if the blend's flavor balance permits. The best solution is to find higher quality Indonesians for the blend and/or speed up the roast finish.

The entry refers to the broth-salty taste one gets from Indo beans, particullarly PNGs, and this taste is a property of the bean itself.

One can also get a taste that comes across as harsh-salty, but which is actually one of the cutting bright-bitter tastes. When these go wrong, they mostly register as wood, lemon peel, chlorine, or general harshness and astringency, but they do occasionally also register as salt. When they go right, they register as nutty, sherry, or oak barrel aged tastes, or a pleasant astringent "structure" in the overall impression. The going wrong part is mostly a roasting or shot pulling problem, and it can happen with any bean. In terms of shot pulling, it can be a sign that the dose was a bit too much, the grind a bit too tight, or the temperature a bit too high.

I know this sounds a bit too vague; but when it occurs, it's sporadic. So I'm not sure which shot pulling fix, or combo of fixes, actually eliminates the problem over the course of a week's shots. The most reliable fix, if you home roast, is to go a bit faster before the first crack.

Sid:

Jim likely identified the culprit for you. We're talking same blend, same roast, same rest right?

Reason I'm asking is sometimes I get a bicarb or baking soda taste (kind of a salty taste) in blends that I've roasted which need more rest-

k7qz wrote:Reason I'm asking is sometimes I get a bicarb or baking soda taste (kind of a salty taste) in blends that I've roasted which need more rest-

Bicarb! -- That's a pretty good description of what I meant by bitter-salty

How long would you recommend to rest?
If you brew in a shorter time(like 25 sec to 20 sec...), would it be not so salty?

sid wrote:Why is there some salty taste in my espresso? I use the same beans, but sometimes salty, sometimes not?

The thread Help: salty espresso on coffeed reminded me of another possible cause. Since taking antibiotics for a sinus infection, coffee and espresso tastes like salty grapefruit stored in an aluminum container for months. Bleech. I skipped espresso for weeks, it wasn't worth the trouble.

Dan...sorry to resurrect this long ago thread, but I had exactly the same reaction with Zithromax.
I couldn't stand the smell of coffee...oh the pain, the pain.
I was getting a bit of salt in my Sumatra/Korate blend...shot was short, as Jim described...also too hot I bet.
That's what led me to your post.
Actually, I think this thread is worth resurrecting, as to the season, and a common problem with too short, over extracted espresso. Guilty as charged on both counts...too short for the amount of coffee in the basket, and too hot (it was my 4th shot pulled, and I forgot the cold wet towel on the group!

Hi guys,

got some very weird salty flavours from a defrosted pack of Juice from SQM, a very juicy (well duh), fruity blend that they did a while ago. The first sip was ok, but the rest of the shots were simply awful, I couldn't even finish the doubles and had enough after a few sips. The shots pulled really well, ristretto territory, mostly to fight the fruitiness a bit, brewed at around 92*C, the smell was nice at the beginning, but once I noticed the salty element I couldn't stand it, almost made me sick. Today I thought I would search the HB forums in case someone had a similar experience and I stumbled upon this thread and Dan's response:

Since taking antibiotics for a sinus infection, coffee and espresso tastes like salty grapefruit stored in an aluminum container for months.

I'm currently going through a mild sinus infection as I recently had a cold and I've been taking Sudafed Sinus&Pain tablets (it has phenylephrine, a decongestant). Dunno if it had to do anything with the salty taste, but I've also noticed a similar salty smell while grinding some very fresh (3-4 days old) Winter blend from SQM. Very strange chemical/oil/mechanical smell. Perhaps it is a good idea to put espresso away for a few days...

Funny thing is that it doesn't happen with other brewing methods, only espresso, and the beans still smell well.

Regards,
dsc.

Try taking the brew temp up.
92C is low enough that it can bring out the salty notes in certain coffees.
Try 93.5C.