Don't get me started.
Back on topic...whatever it is>
Oh Yeah, Lucio's "less than 25 second by-the-book" espresso shot.
My guess would be a little underdosed basket gave him the shorter timing, but his blend loved it.
A guess, for sure.

Many people, including coffee shops that use La Forza as their house espresso, have found great shots in the lower time range. One coffee shop owner very shyly said to me "I get really good shots at 19 seconds!". She was almost afraid that someone would over hear her comments, and that the espresso police would come and get her.

It was not that long ago that the common rule of thumb, and golden rule passed from one Barista to the other, was the 18 to 23 second rule. If you have enough coffee in the basket, and a little bit coarse grind, you can extract enough sweetness to balance acidity. The result is a juicy sweet shot, even if it's a little thin in body.

So your findings are in no way out of the ordinary for this particular blend. Some Baristas get the idea drilled into their head that shots should be short and long to be sweet. It just goes to show you, there's what's right, and then there's what's right.

I knew I wasnt crazy, I have to say that I am very impressed with both CCC's la forza and toscano. La forza seems to be the most forgiving of all coffees I have ever brewed. I tried 3 different doses, 2 different temps (93 and 94) different grind settings and I did not have one shot I couldnt (or wouldnt) drink. My two bags of toscano have been resting for 7 days now, I am excited to dive right in tomorrow. Toscano makes one heck of a ristretto.

cannonfodder wrote:I have noticed that many coffees will have two sweet spots, often very far apart in temperature and/or dose.

I thought that was the case for ALL coffees, but maybe I am being too selective in what I choose to drink. Usually a higher temperature, higher volume sweet spot and a lower temperature ristretto sweet spot, in my experience.

Most do, but I have had quite a few that are very picky. Miss it by a couple of seconds or a degree and it goes to pot.