Bitter espresso from Bezzera BZ10

Need help with equipment usage or want to share your latest discovery?
bgnz
Posts: 6
Joined: 11 years ago

#1: Post by bgnz »

Hi, first time poster but long time reader.

I have just purchased a bezzera bz10 and bezzera bb004 as my first machine. I only ever played with my parents isomac machine otherwise am a real beginner.

When using my machine I am grinding on the finest setting (very fine grind) and tamping as hard as I possibly can. My shot is taking 16 seconds max and is so bitter it's revolting. If I reduce the grind or tamp the machine produces a watery shot in approximately 6 seconds. So far I have tried two different types of beans from coffee roasters and its no different.

Temp is 1 bar and pressure when the shot I being poured ranges from 3/6 bar when watery through to 12 when I'm getting my better bittery tasting shots. They better timed shots look in terms of how they are produced however.

Any ideas or hints from other bezzera owners would be great.

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HB
Admin
Posts: 21981
Joined: 19 years ago

#2: Post by HB »

Sounds like a combination of stale coffee and maybe not flushing the group enough.

Have you read the site's recommended reading? If not, you should definitely read Home Barista's Guide to Esprsso and HX Love. If you're more of a video person, check out the Newbie Introduction to Espresso videos. Bezzera BZ10 - early experience offers good suggestions specific to your espresso machine.
Dan Kehn

hugz
Posts: 57
Joined: 13 years ago

#3: Post by hugz »

Try some fresher beans. It could be as simple as that. If it's a brand new grinder they can cause hell for the first kg or so

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radudanutco
Posts: 147
Joined: 11 years ago

#4: Post by radudanutco »

about bitterness: do you initially flush for, say 10 plus 5 sec?
you should read as indicated, for controlling the HX extraction temperature;

16 sec with finest grind and hardest tamp... how about the dose?
do you have a 0.1 gr resolution scale?
the stock basket with untapped grind, levelled to the rim, holds about 16 gr;
in 25-30 sec you should have not more than 60 ml of extract;

bgnz (original poster)
Posts: 6
Joined: 11 years ago

#5: Post by bgnz (original poster) »

Turns out it was a mix of things

Both batches of beans I'd tried were very fresh
The grinder is a doser and I was told 1 pull = 7 grams, which it wasn't. (I don't have scales)
Grinder wasn't assembled properly and grind wasn't fine enough

Filling the basket to the top, fixing the grinder gives me a perfect shot. Not a huge amount of adjustment with the grinder though. It's either a good shot, doesn't pour at all or runs....

darilon
Posts: 145
Joined: 15 years ago

#6: Post by darilon »

Glad to hear it worked out for you. If you don't have a lot of grind adjustment to play with, you can play with the dose instead to fine tune your shots as previously mentioned. A cheap digital scale for around $20 should help with that (you want it to measure to +/- 0.05g)