Hello. First post here.

I've noticed something lately that's interesting and I can't figure it out. I've had an Isomac tea for about 9 years and had some pro machines prior to that. I've been home roasting for about 9 years, also.

For quite some time I've been roasting my own espresso. I've tried about everything as an SO and blend, typically try to be open minded and just kinda go for it. I don't ever keep logs, so any useful info that may be garnered from logs is not available, and likely wont be. Just prefacing.

I've noticed lately that when I let coffee used for espresso set for about 2 weeks, it's incredibly forgiving and tastes good. By forgiving, I mean it's temperament is extremely predictable ( shot time, not blonding, overall ease of pull and consistency ). It's taken me 9 years to come to this conclusion b/c I typically drink ALL of my home roasts within a week - I usually had let the coffee set for between 1 and 3 days, then down the hatch. Also as a home roaster, My batches are small, and whenever I change blends there is a period of waste where I'm getting the dose and/or grind dialed in. So - need less to say, the coffee goes rather quickly.

A few months ago I started roasting for multiple people, so I made a larger batch of Burman Coffee traders espresso blend - no idea what's in it, just figured we'd try it. After 2 or 3 days rest, it was terrible and extremely difficult to set a consistent dose/grind. It also tasted terrible as a drip. So we set it to the side, used a different coffee and forgot about it - until the other coffee ran out - 2 weeks after the Burman Blend was roasted ( i do log the roast date ). So I pulled a shot - and it was perfect. No adjustments.

As was the rest of the bag. It also tasted great as a drip. It was so good, I roasted another batch, and tried it fresh and it was terrible. 2 weeks later - great.

I ran out ( actually, ran out and had a bag that was only a week rested ) and ordered some counter culture to bridge the gap - Toscano. Can't get a consistent shot. Blondes early, plugs the portafilter, just a real pain to get a shot. It was roasted the day before I tried. So - I waited and when back to the Burman after it hit the 2 week mark. Great shots. Mouse tails. Tiger Stripes. Talking to myself excitedly at early hours while the family looks at me funny.

Does Robusta in the blend have anything to do with this? I have not tried this with a single origin.

I'm now going to wait until the Counter Culture gets to 2 weeks to see what happens. I've really never done this - literally for years I've ALWAYS cleared roasted coffee out in a week.

I usually use a 20-21 gram dose, have an Isomac tea and pull about a 1.75 oz espresso.

As general rule, the higher the dose you use, the longer you need to rest the coffee.

Or to put it in a different way: if you like a coffee at 20 grams after two weeks; after four to five days, you will probably like it more, and find it more tractable, using 14 to 16 grams doses with the correspondingly finer grind than 20 grams at the coarser grind.

Holy crap.

I will try this tomorrow morning. OOOOOHHHHHH the suspense. Maybe I should read more. This communication thing might be helpful.

I hope I don't go through all my beans trying to find the grind. Any idea how many clicks on a super jolly finer I'd need? Ball park?

Around two notches, if memory serves.

Thanks another_jim!

can't wait until mornin.

This worked pretty well. Just at 17g. Two notches back. The puck was pretty wet/muddy and loose, but it pulled nice. Took a quick sip and tasted good.

I have no idea why the logic of less coffee with a finer grind escaped me.

Doesn't explain why the Burman blend tasted like crap as drip until 2 weeks out, though.

Sorry to blow my own horn, but honk, honk

<- laughs. Nice Jim.

-C

another_jim wrote:As general rule, the higher the dose you use, the longer you need to rest the coffee.

Or to put it in a different way: if you like a coffee at 20 grams after two weeks; after four to five days, you will probably like it more, and find it more tractable, using 14 to 16 grams doses with the correspondingly finer grind than 20 grams at the coarser grind.

Very interesting, Jim. I may start having the opposite problem soon and I'm wondering how well this works in reverse.

My journey into coffee obsession started with home roasting for coffee and only recently have I entered the espresso realm--once I acquired a hand grinder capable of producing decent espresso. When I started with espresso, I would use the single origins I would roast for coffee for espresso shots, or if I'd roasted more then one bean, I'd play around with different blends, all the while using these same beans for my brewed coffee. My beans would hardly ever last more then a week, even as I increased my roast frequency and output.

I've now started roasting specifically for espresso separate from my coffee roasts, but my espresso sessions seem to only occur on the weekends for now. I split my latest roast (Liquid Amber) to freeze half, but even with that, I may not be able to finish it all in two weeks... or if I do, I'm sure I'll run into this in the future. I actually had a bout of food poisoning Tuesday night so I wasn't even drinking coffee for most of this week. (my cup of Yemeni this afternoon was almost intoxicating after the cleanse and absence of caffeine)

So, bringing this back around, would you recommend I updose a finer grind from my 12-14 gram 45 mm La Peppina dose for espresso that's entering week three? This topic is reminding me of the grind not dose thread but maybe with an added dimension.

It also might help explain why I was only successful once with the kind of extreme updosing of the La Peppina advocated by Max in his what else tastes like peppina thread. I was able to pack a hair over 19 g of Ritual Snowcone (shy of Max's 20 g) and pull a very sweet, strong double ristretto, but have found that with my own homeroasts, I'm better off sticking with a more normal (for a 45 mm lever) 12-14 g.

Anyway, thanks for the post, it's got me thinking about all sorts of other interrelated posts and topics and got my creative juices flowing.

another_jim wrote:Sorry to blow my own horn, but honk, honk

WOW. A lot to chew on in this, but THANK YOU!