I just visited a coffee house in the area and they pulled only ristrettos saying that once the shot starts blonding all you get is more bitterness? I know about time etc in pulling a good shot but was a bit puzzled by the barista's instance on only pulling ristrettos what do you all think? I have always tried for 25 to 27 second shots. I even took some of his coffee home and like it pulled on my machine.

He did pull me a regular though it stilled looked short to me, and it was definitely more bitter than his double ristretto. I just wanted some more input on this to see how valid his argument is.

Thanks
Pat

IMHO, shot timing is useful, but only as a tertiary measure, preceded by volume and color. The H-B FAQs contain links to threads about shot timing, shot blonding, and even basic diagnosis and discussions about what constitutes a 'ristretto', 'normale' and 'lungo'. These aren't the whimsical fancy of a single member, but rather the collective input and knowledge of site contributors that address what appear to be your core questions.

The general consensus appears to be that, yes, blonding can represent the extraction of compounds that may be less than desirable. However, [you | PBTC] appear to be confusing volume (ristretto/normale/lungo) & timing. These variables are related, but not the same. One can pull a 50sec ristretto, or a 15sec ristretto ending on the same color, depending on dose & grind. Whether they taste the same... well.. that's another story.

-s.

Sherman,
That is what I needed to hear just could not verbalize it. Thank you for your clearing it up for me. I believe the barista at the coffee house was grinding or tamping so his ristrettos worked and a regular once did not.

What you say makes perfect sense, I will also read those links you posted thanks for your reply.

Pat

It depends on the coffee and the machine and the grinder.

malachi wrote:It depends on the coffee and the machine and the grinder.

+1.

Not all coffees do better as a ristretto, some do fine or even better with longer pulls, and the flavors that come out later in the extraction, even at the blonding phase, are not always unpleasant. You really do need to try each coffee at a range of doses, extraction temperatures, volumes, and grind settings to see.

Couldn't agree more. Ive had many coffees which shined as a normale type pull, and many coffees which did terribly pulled the exact same way.

Add to that, that everyones idea of what constitutes a ristretto is different, and all you are left with, is experimenting with each coffee, to see how you like it best.

A little bit of blonding at the end might even be necessary. I found Adrian's post on this very insightful:
Blonding Point: Meaningless?