Why salty espresso?

[sid]

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

[HB]

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

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.

[another_jim]

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.

[k7qz]

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-

[another_jim]

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

[sid]

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?

[HB]

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.