I have been going totally bonkers trying to get this decaf blend to work. No matter what I do, it just comes gushing out like water. Very little crema, and somewhat sour. I have no problems brewing two regular espresso blends.

I'm using a Quick Mill La Certa (E61 single boiler) with Eric's Thermometer such that the brew temperature ranges between about 195 and 202 F. If I go to the finest setting on a Breville Smart Grinder Pro, I get the same results as high as setting 13. If I switch over to my Quick Mill Emilia (stepless), same thing, just comes gushing out.

I just bought what my local roaster claimed were fresh beans. Could it just be that the beans are in fact stale? Or could I possibly try something different?

You can try putting more coffee in the PF. For whatever reason my decaf blends fit 19g where my other roasts are 18g.

STILL, you should be able to tighten the grind down enough to choke your machine with any bean. What does it look like when ground? Is it stupid dark?

I guess in the mean time you can take the top burr off and give it a good cleaning.

Grinded, it actually has a reddish-brown colour to it. I have to admit that a couple of weeks ago I was overdosing probably to the effect of 18g and think I got decent results. It's only recently after getting a scale that I've been trying to standardize to 14g.

I also cleaned the Breville. Was surprised that I couldn't choke my machine at the finest setting.

I have the same experience with decaf beans. I normally grind at a setting of 6-14 on the BSGP as well, but with decaf even at the finest setting it comes gushing out, exactly like you said. Coffee shops might be able to grind fine/consistent enough with their Mazzers and Mahlkonigs, but given my equipment/budget I think I'll just stick to non-espresso brew methods for decaf for the time being.

I'm no coffee scientist, but I'd wager the process the decaf beans go through plays a factor in this. If it's getting rid of some of the gasses, solubles, etc. the would otherwise slow the water down while passing through the puck, then I'd guess most people with entry-level equipment like me are probably out of luck.

Get this:

Just got back from the roaster. I made them try the decaf blend on their machine; came pissing out like water. Two people couldn't explain it. Then saw the owner a few hours later who basically admitted to me that his decaf blend was poop. Apparently only two countries supply him decaffeinated beans and recent batches haven't been that good, hence the results I was getting.

Another classic case of garbage in, garbage out, and importance of quality beans. Nothing wrong with technique and all the expensive equipment.

I have played with a couple decaf blends before and even fresh they tend to flow fast and the taste is bland. It is just the nature of the decaf. The Swiss Water Decaffeinate method is the better of the decaf methods but you still loose quality. You can look for blends that are decaffeinated using this method but they tend to be more expensive than their non decaf counterparts.

Garbage in, garbage out really applies in the case of decaf. I hate to admit that our shop had terrible decaf when we bought coffee from other roasters. Once we started buying decaf greens from Coffee Shrub/Sweet Maria's, roasting it ourselves, and having control over freshness, we ended up with some really good decaf, both for espresso and pour over.

cannonfodder wrote:I have played with a couple decaf blends before and even fresh they tend to flow fast and the taste is bland. It is just the nature of the decaf. The Swiss Water Decaffeinate method is the better of the decaf methods but you still loose quality. You can look for blends that are decaffeinated using this method but they tend to be more expensive than their non decaf counterparts.

This.

The processes the bean undergoes to remove caffeine also takes away from the beans flavor and quality. It is unfortunate, if there was a decaf that was just as good as its natural counterpart, I'd be drinking it all day long.

you'll also notice that latte art comes out very different. The texture of the espresso is just very different.

Our decaf at the shop will start off fast then slow down into a thin center stream(bottomless) and then when the shot is cut, there will be less drips at the end.

Actually tastes very good but definitely behaves very differently than the regular caffeinated stuff.

*oh and this is with swiss water process beans.

For giggles, if interested, this is what the bad decaf looked like:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/silverdro ... 424411789/