What would cause my crema to appear sudsy on top?

by **srossnz** on Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:05 pm

Still struggling with my Silvia/Rocky/PID kit. 2,000gms of award winning fresh roasted beans and not a single decent coffee. I am booking in for home training (the girls sounds to know her stuff and is a barista champs judge so...). Anyway, maybe until then you can tell me why my crema is appearing sudsy on top. Is this a sign that my pressure is too high or low?

by **Bob_McBob** on Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:15 pm

How fresh is your coffee? Unrested beans often produce extremely bubbly crema that dissipates quickly.

by **srossnz** on Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:21 pm

i have had this bag of 500gms on day 3 now..

by **another_jim** on Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:27 pm

It's a sign that your shots are flowing too fast. As a beginner, you should start with ristretto shots; they are more fault tolerant.

On a Silvia, you should see five seconds of nothing, then a second or two of drips, then a steam that is just one step above drips, and it should only become steady stream near the end of the shot. Anything faster than that, and you need to grind finer.

Get yourself dialed in on dose and temperature making shots at this pace, and you're more likely to get consistent shots

by **srossnz** on Sun Oct 03, 2010 4:14 pm

Yeah I need to get that bottomless portafilter, i think I am having dosing issues. The shot does start out very slow and looks perfect then the flow really kicks in fast so maybe I am getting channeling or something..

by **another_jim** on Sun Oct 03, 2010 4:32 pm

End the shot when the stream goes pale or if it starts gushing.

by **cannonfodder** on Sun Oct 03, 2010 4:57 pm

The starts slow then go gushing sounds like one of two things. I could be channeling developing as the shot starts or beans that need more rest time. A blend with robusta or monsooned beans will produce large amounts crema. Robusta crema tends to have a larger bubble but the volume will persist. Crema from to fresh a bean will go flat in just a few seconds.

by **srossnz** on Sun Oct 03, 2010 7:14 pm

ok, here is a pic. I get this no matter what i do, looks the same on different grind settings and shot times. The below image is about a 22sec shot almost 2oz. My wife is spitting and chucking the drinks down the sink. About to give up until professional help arrives unless this image shows something blatantly obvious. Maybe I should not have screwed with the bar pressure valve, iirc i am getting 300mls a minute flow rate.

by **fwtechwiz** on Mon Oct 04, 2010 5:24 am

+1 on the beans being too fresh. If by 3 days, you mean 3 days post roast, that's your problem. Also, taste is an important factor in determining what's wrong. If your shot is tasting bitter, your water is too hot, causing over extraction and steam that foams the crema. Too sour would mean channeling, causing small streams that under extract and foam the crema.

by **srossnz** on Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:08 am

Thanks, I have a PID and no idea what to set it on. I've pretty much tried 108c to 99c without much luck. The beans might be 3 days post roast, I thought 2 was enough re: over fresh?


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