I've had my Bricc for about 2 ½ weeks now and have primarily been using Black Cat beans and have been able to pull some very good shots. They start off bright, then get chocolately and finish a little sweet. I usually am able to pull shots in about the 25 second range. I'm definitely not perfect but have been pulling more good shots then bad.
My problem is I didn't reorder the Black Cat in time and had to buy beans from a local high end grocery store . They claim they roast their beans themselves so I'm sure they are only about 2 months old. I've had to use the beans since Saturday and have found the extraction takes about 15 seconds and turns blonde quickly. I initially thought I had a distribution and tamp problem but every shot comes out the same way. The first part of the shot is quick and it's not a thin string like I was getting, it's a fat string that starts off the right color then quickly moves to a thin blonde. I've pulled about 7 doubles all with the same result. Is this a channeling issue caused by bad distribution and tamping on my part or could the beans be too dry (old) causing the quick extraction? Fortunately I expect delivery of the black cat by Wednesday so I won't have to drink this swill much longer!

Also, could someone recommend a decent decaf. With the holidays here I would like to have something available to people.

Michael.

mrosco wrote:They claim they roast their beans themselves so I'm sure they are only about 2 months old.

The horror the horror!!!!

In general, with very (very) few exceptions coffees become pretty much unusable for espresso after 1.5 weeks.
2 month old coffee is a decent soil additive for certain Ph needs.

Classic example of older beans. It is a common thing to change you normal "espresso" parameters as beans age. Usually in grind or dosage. Make the changes to get back to something usable until fresh stuff arrives. Just remember to change only one thing at a time.

Anyone who is into espresso does not consider Starbuck's, or any other pre-bagged brand, to be fresh coffee. Starbuck's will give you a "use by" date which can be a few months. Folks do like them, however, you have no idea whatsoever as to when it was roasted. This may also be why Starbuck's does great milk-based drink business but not a straight espresso business.

Your pictures are a perfect example of the crema difference between fresh roasted and older beans.

cannonfodder wrote:Fresh coffee, good grind and proper tamp make up 90% of the skill set IMHO.

I would humbly suggest that simply being fresh does not guarantee the results will be excellent.
And, of course, would also suggest that tamping is over-rated (but distribution is under-appreciated and mis-understood).