Watery Espresso

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
TxHr
Posts: 152
Joined: 8 years ago

#1: Post by TxHr »

Hello Everyone,

While I'm not new to espresso, I am new to the forum. I finally broke down and purchased a new Rocket R58 and I'm trying to dial in my shots and I'm in need of some advice since my espresso is dark brown water with a nasty taste of drip coffee :shock:

I purchased my bag of beans after sampling an espresso at my local coffee shop. I received a spec sheet as to how they pulled the shot, came home and began to dial-in my grinder to the same settings to no avail.

My setup:
Mazzer Mini (cleaned before a new bag of beans enters it)
Rocket R58 v2
Scale for grind and extraction
Tamper
18g VST basket

Specs provided:
17.6g in
38g out
25 seconds

After achieving these specs my espresso is watery with no creama. The extraction is blonde in color and the puck is soft and watery after extraction.

Roast date of beans was 12/28, bag opened today, 1/9.

Any suggestions?


Thanks in advance,

Brandon

F1
Posts: 699
Joined: 13 years ago

#2: Post by F1 »

Many times the PID in these machines are not properly set from factory. That is not to say that the numbers are wrong. They all probably match the recommended factory settings, but that is not always enough. Even if you set your PID to give you 200F at the group chances are you are never going to really have 200F at the group. There are a few reason why this happens.

Anyway, one of the reasons for watery shots is too high of a brewing temperature. Try lowering your PID temperature several degrees. Not one degree, but several. Dont change any other parameter and see if the consistency of the shot changes.

F1
Posts: 699
Joined: 13 years ago

#3: Post by F1 »

Also, 38g out of 17.6g is probably not helping. Try to grind just a bit finer after you experiment with the temperature.

spearfish25
Posts: 806
Joined: 9 years ago

#4: Post by spearfish25 »

How old are the beans? The times I've desperately had to buy Starbucks shelf beans, I sometimes got crema-less watery shots because the beans were probably months old.

***Disregard. Saw you posted the beans are about 11 days old. I prefer mine around 5-8 days though.
______________
Alex
Home-Barista.com makes me want to buy expensive stuff.

Sousvide
Posts: 12
Joined: 8 years ago

#5: Post by Sousvide »

Try using 19 grams in that VST 18 gram basket. In my experience, the VST baskets work best with the dose they are made for or +1 grams. I have never had any good results with using a lower dose than the basket size is made for. It is incredibly hard to get a good flow rate with less than 18 grams of coffee without grinding it too fine and then you are dealing with uneven extraction. Honestly, the larger baskets are easier to hit your sweet spot and much more forgiving.
Hope that helps!

User avatar
ravco
Posts: 75
Joined: 9 years ago

#6: Post by ravco »

With a brew ratio of 46% you are on the low side, which will give you a relatively watery shot. I would slow down the flow by either grinding finer or dosing higher, aiming for a brew ratio of 60% or so. Also you would want to check for even extraction. Channeling will also give you a fast flowing, watery shot without much crema. A bottomless portafilter will give you feedback on that.

TxHr (original poster)
Posts: 152
Joined: 8 years ago

#7: Post by TxHr (original poster) »

Good Morning Everyone,

Thank you for all of your input. I used 18g today and lowered the brew temp. That said, I was actually able to pull an espresso shot whereas yesterday that wasn't the case. Now it's just time to tweak the grind. I appreciate all of the help.


Brandon

F1
Posts: 699
Joined: 13 years ago

#8: Post by F1 »

Good to hear Brandon. Keep experimenting with the temperature one degree at a time. Wait at least 15 mins between changes just to be sure. Keep going lower on the temp untill the shot starts tasting bad again then go the other way. That way you can find the best temperature for that particular coffee. That's what I like about dual boiler machines.