I did another brew, 14g of coffee ground about 4 turns tighter on my grinder.
I got about 30g in 32 seconds.
I get the feeling the refresh rate on my scales is too slow and they are only 5kg x1g, so I'll upgrade to something slightly finer in the coming weeks I think.

This cup of coffee was very astringent.
I'm not sure what I would call the flavour, compared to the last cup, the taste was somewhat different, still very sharp and cutting but I can really feel the shot on the fore of my tongue.



You can see here the particular area.

The shot had quite a pleasant, tangible mouth feel and was quite viscous as I rolled it around my mouth.
I think in identifying the taste, it's important to note that as I rolled the shot around my mouth, I couldn't taste it, lest it was on that one particular area of my tongue. In which case the taste was akin to the pain of licking a pineapple, only more astringent and not as white.

My shots before this, 2oz @ 20g coffee for 27 seconds were a lot less astringent and I could feel them primarily at the base of my tongue and on my throat as I swallowed. As seen here.



Any thoughts?

I made a video, but it came out too dark to see the flow of coffee.

Kyle548 wrote:I use freshly roasted beans, from Has-bean

I'm going to save you a massive spend of time, money and headaches. Stop using HasBean for espresso.

Buy some coffee from Union (for example). HB roasts are extremely lightly and very acidic no matter what you do to pull a shot.

Later, when you develop your taste you can try again with HasBean beans, but I wouldn't recommend it to start.

Alas, I believe what you say may be true.
I borrowed some Starbucks beans and the acidity is all but gone.
Instead, there is a high bitterness and charcoal taste coming though, from the very dark roast I guess.
Although, if I'm to be honest, both cups are difficult to drink.

Maybe the problem is indeed that the beans are just not suited to espresso at all.
In a moka pot they taste most agreeable, however, so maybe I'll stick to the moka pot until I use them up and can get some new beans in.

Starbucks is completely the opposite but in a bad way. Overroasted & stale.

As I said, take advantage that you live in UK and order coffee from other roaster. Union Coffee produces excellent coffees IMO, James Gourmet too, or Londinium...

HasBean roasts are excellent for brewed coffee but usually for espresso are very acidic and needs an accustomed palate.

As I read through this thread I came to the same conclusion as Viernes. Good coffee from a good roaster doesn't always equal good for espresso. Schomer had a good blog about the topic:

http://espressovivace.com/schomerblog/i ... -espresso/

It's something I can demonstrate quite easily with some Nicaraguan I have. If I roast C+ or even almost FC, it tears your tongue out with citric acidity. If you roast more FC+, it tames right down and is very drinkable. That said, I find this particular bean difficult at best for espresso. You may be experiencing the same kind of issue. Try a 'comfort food' espresso blend from a (different) reputable roaster.

Thank you for you comments.

In the end I bought some Union foundation blend and I'll see how it goes. By all accounts, it seems like it makes a very good espresso.
As for the Starbucks. Yes, the coffee was awful, as I expected.
Mainly I made it just so I could see the difference.
I have a very hard time identifying the difference between acidic and bitter, but between the two brews, the difference is very obvious.
Now I can more accurately put a name to a flavour.

... and I thought it was just me and my Luddite palate. Recently bought my first two varieties of Hasbean described as good for espresso coffee and really couldn't drink them... sour beyond anything I've tasted before, very light roast, with exactly the mouth feel and taste so eloquently described by the OP.

I've seen a few recommendations for Union Roasted (foundation blend esp.) and plan on trying them, in the mean time gone back to my favourite Monsoon Malabar from Coffee-Direct.co.uk. They don't have the nice touch of 'Roasted on ... ' date like Hasbean but service/speed of delivery is great, although their espresso grind could do with a notch finer for my machine.... time to buy a grinder!

I bought some Foundation Blend and while it's waaaaaay to fresh to pull a good shot at the moment, the taste is a lot more balanced, with a bigger body and a more enjoyable quality of bitters.
After it has rested for about a week, I'm expecting actually, I might be able to pull some drinkable shots.

Like I said, the first shots I pulled were too fresh, but they were quite drinkable in comparison to the HB.

If I had to compare it, FB is kind of like a light stout to HB's dry cider.