WHY - Short STOP Has Better Taste ?

#1: Post by **BigBlaze** » February 1st, 2014, 11:18 am

Most of the time ( no matter the blend ) I get better espresso taste when I "short stop"

stopping the pump 1 or 2 before produce a way better espresso.

Blonding in the cup has a unpleasant taste.

is this normal? How about water temp or pump pressure, can it be the reason?

Thank you

#2: Post by HB » February 1st, 2014, 12:52 pm

You don't say how the espresso is improved, but extraction stop tricks are covered in the Home Barista's Guide to Espresso. For example:

Diagnosis of Extraction Problems wrote:Overly bitter: Lower the temperature. Short term, try stopping darker and coarsening the grind to keep the volume the same.

It offers several other short-term solutions for various taste defects like light/dark/normal/dump/center cut shots. The better long-term solution is Adjusting Dose and Grind Setting by Taste and tweaking the temperature to control the acidity balance (higher temperature -> lower acidity with eventual bitterness, lower temperature -> more acidity with eventual sourness). Pump pressure isn't as likely to cause significant taste defects, unless it's way outside the norms (i.e., 7 bar and lower or 11 bar and higher).

If you want to further diagnosis the cause, consider the test of thirds as explained in this video:

From Newbie Introduction to Espresso

February 1st, 2014, 7:13 pm

I'm guessing you are hitting the "little hump" of espresso extraction by cutting short.

http://www.jimseven.com/2010/11/08/the-double-hump/

#4: Post by **boar_d_laze** » February 2nd, 2014, 9:52 am

The post is slightly garbled (composed on a phone perhaps) and too difficult to understand for me to offer much in the way of advice.

BigBlaze wrote:stopping the pump 1 or 2 before produce a way better espresso.

Stopping the pump 1 or 2... 1 or 2 WHAT? I'm guessing
"seconds." Am I right?
before... Before WHAT? Before some ideal time like 27seconds? Or before some ideal time and volume like "the golden rule" of 2oz in 25sec to 30sec?

Let's nail down what you're actually trying to say so we can move forward with confidence that we're all on the same page.

Blonding in the cup has a unpleasant taste.

A very light stream is a sign of over-extraction and over-extracted coffee IS unpleasant. Stopping the shot short of unpleasant over-extraction is necessary to avoid the unpleasantness. There may be other strategies as well. Over-extraction can result from a number of things, including temperature, distribution, dose and grind.

Is this normal? How about water temp or pump pressure, can it be the reason?

Normal? Happens to everyone, but it's resolvable.

Almost certainly not pump pressure; but water temp could be playing a part. However, since you seem to be able to resolve the problem by cutting the shot short (short of something) temperature probably isn't the sole basis of the problem.

Give us a little more to go on.

BDL