Help battling metallic tasting espresso

[davidmigl]

I had a gaggia espresso that put out shots and water with an extreme metallic tinge. Taking apart the machine and looking inside the boiler I saw corrosion, so I ordered a new boiler. Replaced it, had less metal taste but it remained nevertheless. Flushed it out with plenty of water and then some descaler; it seemed to get worse.

I bought a cheap GE espresso maker today in hopes of finding some relief from the metal taste (that has been going on in the gaggia for several weeks now) but it still persists! Here's the twist: in the gaggia, I used Lavazza pods and distilled water. In the GE I used various different ground coffees and tap water. So, two different machines, waters, and coffees later, I still have a metallic taste in my espresso. There's nothing the two machines have in common. Could it be me?

Thinking so, I smell of one of the coffee blends (a Peruvian coffee); smells like metal. I take the lid off the (gasp) folger's container; that smells like metal. I find a forgotten bag of unknown coffee grounds in a dark corner of the cabinet; they smell more like coffee, so I run them through the espresso machine and take a sip. Metal.

Perhaps it is my senses; I am going to get some rest now and perhaps return to this saga in a few days to see if my taste buds haven't been affected . In the mean time, is there anything I can do to combat this metallic taste?

[DavidMLewis]

We occasionally get a post like this, and it's often followed a few days later by another post saying that the poster had developed a cold. Any chance you're coming down with something, or that you've started taking a new prescription medicine, particularly an antibiotic? Even without the medicine, an infection will often cause a taste change like this.

Best,
David

[HB]

David, you're not joking about antibiotics. I had the same experience during the treatment of a sinus infection. Espresso and coffee in general tasted like salty grapefruit juice stored for months in an aluminum container. Bleech. I gave it up. See Help: salty espresso on coffeed for more.

[Jasonian]

So, have you been getting enough iron in your diet?

[davidmigl]

I was, in fact, coming down with cold-like symptoms - for the last few days I've had a runny/stopped up nose and a sore throat. I knew something was up when I had another family member try the espresso, asked him if it tasted metallic, and he replied, "no, it just tastes like strong coffee." I also tried drip coffee from a completely different source and Starbucks (yes I was getting desperate) and they all tasted metallic. In the last day or so I've been getting better and coffee has started to taste normal again.

Nice to know the cause! Thanks for the help!

[Beezer]

Interesting. I've actually had the same experience with metallic tasting espresso from my office Gaggia Coffee machine. The shots from my home machine taste fine, but the Gaggia shots are metallic. And no, I wasn't coming down with a cold at the time.

I'm thinking the boiler is corroded and adding some metal to my coffee. I looked for replacement boilers on line, but haven't found one yet. Any suggestions.

[davidmigl]

I actually had to replace the boiler on the espresso once because it was corroded and releasing aluminum into the water. After almost giving up the search for a new boiler, I found one at http://www.partsguru.com (and haven't found one anywhere else).