Hello everyone,


I was just wondering how one should lengthen a pour from a normal 25-30 second shot to about 35-38? I'm looking at the Roman Espresso from Blue Bottle right now that I'm going to purchase soon after I finish the beans I have (Brazil+Guatemala I mixed, it's an alright mix). My guess would be to make the grind a bit finer and the tamp more than the regular tamp in order to make the flow slower, but wouldn't that make the shot bitter? Not sure, which is why I'm asking you experienced HB'ers for help. Sorry if this has been asked before, I searched to no avail.

Love the La Peppina!

Espresso 101: How to Adjust Dose and Grind Setting by Taste
Have you read that? It's a great primer on adjustments.

But yeah, you should grind finer. Varying tamping pressure doesn't do much and can only introduce errors like uneven tamping. However, the Blue Bottle brewing instructions need not apply to your La Peppina, I sometines find completely different sweet spots from the roaster recommendations because La Peppina is wildly different from a commercial double boiler machine.

Increasing the dose will also slow down your extraction, and the effect will be different than grinding the same dose finer. Given you want to lengthen the shot, you must already have in mind some desired change in the outcome, but depending upon what that change is, the method to achieve it could be either dose, grind or a combination of both.

Also, sometimes just letting the shot run longer can give you what you're looking for if experimentation and tasting demonstrates to you that you've been cutting off a little early. The interpretation of exact point at which "blonding" takes place varies widely.

+1 to Bluecold's comments on roasters' recommendations and how they relate to differing machines. Those recommendations often come from the context of the roaster's or cafe's own equipment, and what works on their Linea or Mirage is not going to translate universally to your home gear. Even your basket dimensions and depth ratio alone will require re-interpretations, as will lever-versus-pump differences, and on and on it goes. The direction of differences is always therefore the most useful advice: do they brew this blend or SO hotter or cooler than others, does it respond better when overdosed - that sort of thing.

In the mean time, print yourself a poster-sized copy of "Espresso 101..." and hang it next to your grinder for reference until it becomes second nature.