i bought Social Farmer Collective.
I slightly taste the nutty flavor, dose is at 15g

How can I increase this taste? Lower the temp?

How to accentuate the chocolate taste from a blend?

Thank you,

BigBlaze

Big dose, slow flow, high extraction ratio(100%, or more to taste)/low volume yield.

You have a triple basket? Use it. If you want to use the double, pack as much in as you can, should be able to do 18-19grams. Set the grind so you get like, 1oz-1.25oz in 40-45seconds. Tweak it from there to balance the sweet chocolate/carmel, against the salty overextracted-ness. As for temp, you'll need to see what the blend wants. Im gonna suggest you simply start at 198F, and work up to 202F in 1F increments.

You'll have an easier time with the triple, if you can dose 20grams or more, but you can definitely achieve this with a double basket. This was my go to shot prep for a long time before I discovered there was other flavors in espresso besides chocolate. But lately Ive been on a chocolate bomb binge, and the best way to accentuate it, is high dose/slow flow/low yield

I do apologize for using ounces.. I dont weigh my output a whole lot because my scale doesn't fit on my drip tray.

I was doing the opposite.
Using a vst 15g, and using low dose 14/15g at low temp!

I thought low dose will make the shot more sweet, chocolate is sweet?

Just reading your recommendation, I imagine this shot very bitter...


Thank you

I dont neccesarily equate chocolate, with sweet, when it comes to espresso. But they do go together sometimes as well. Depends on the blend. And even depends on the type of chocolate coming through. Could be sweet and creamy, could be rich and bittersweet.

If your using a lighter roast and your trying to maximize sweetness, lower dose/finger grind should get you there. But if your using a more medium/full city+ roast, on a blend that isn't really light and bright to begin with, big dose/slow flow is where Id start to find chocolates.

With the right blend/bean, my suggestion will produce a very rich, chocolate heavy shot. Its a heavy ristretto so its amazingly one-noted and gets boring after a while, but pulled with the right dose/extractio ratio I wouldn't call it "bitter".

BigBlaze wrote:I was doing the opposite.
Using a vst 15g, and using low dose 14/15g at low temp!

If you want to bend the balance to accentuate a blend's the chocolate/nut/caramel side and de-emphasize the brighter flavors, you are on the right track by slowing the flow with a finer grind - and the VST will help you by accelerating that direction since it encourages a finer grind with the same dose. You will probably need to accept a shot more to the ristretto dimension to achieve the result you seek.

If you start increasing the dose, this will also slow the flow, but the shot will be commensurately "louder." Remember that increasing the dose will require opening the grind too, so the characteristics of the extraction will be changed across an extra dimension and you can end up with a real "smash-mouth" cup that will likely have a good bit more aggressiveness than your current 15g dose.

If you like that, then great and mark it up as a success. But if not, stay closer to your 15g dose and work your grind-versus-shot volume from there. And, of course, if that flavor is your target, you can choose blends or beans that accentuate those characteristics.

In general, most coffees show more citrus/fruit as you reduce temperature. So I would recommend you reverse course and try brewing at a higher temperature - not lower - if you want to nudge the results toward the profile you suggest. My experience tells me that yes, of course, temperature matters, but the dose/grind/brew-ratio parameter effects overwhelm the temperature choice, at least within the generally accepted espresso-brewing range. Also, temperature is not working on the same axis as dose/grind - we're always confusing a hypothetical "fruit/chocolate" continuum with a "sour/bitter" range, but they are not the same thing even though most discussions seem to overlay - or outright convolute - the two.

R58 temp range from 95 to 115 celsius. I will test higher temp on this blend. The R58 is was setup at 100 when I first test this blend!

But no matter what you do, if the notes do not exist in the coffee no amount of up dosing will make them appear. Chocolate in coffee is most often bitter chocolate (bakers chocolate) not sweet milk chocolate.

How about the 'nutty' taste?
Hazelnut for example?

Dave your comment really hits it on the head. I think, too often, people are seeking a sweet rich milk chocolate flavour when they read 'chocolate' as a flavour descriptor. I was once someone looking for a sweeter chocolate. Having said that, this new iteration of Old School from 49th is giving me a very nice milk chocolate finish. It's not crazy sweet, but it's there.

49th? Guess I should try it!

How about dose, ratio, temp when using it?

Thank you