Hi all,

I've been reading the various posts in the forum for a few months now and I'm grateful to the community here as I've learned a LOT about how to brew wonderful espresso. I've only just decided to take the plunge and ask for help as I've been unable to find an answer on this.

My main drink is 5oz cappuccinos which I prepare with 1-1.5oz ristretto shots. They are flavourful and taste beautifully sweet and punchy. I use fresh lightly roasted coffee (5-12 days old), downdose an 18g VST basket to 17g and pull for about 30sec using a naked portafilter. I use WDT as this was the only way to eliminate/minimise channeling that seemed to work for me with the VST. I have an Alex duetto and it's set at 92C for the grind I'm using.

The problem is that sometimes my shots (especially the crema always does) have an underlying taste of coffee grounds or puck. It's similar to the taste that you get if you ate ground coffee or similar to the taste you'd get at the bottom of a Turkish coffee cup. Hope that makes sense, not sure if there is a more 'official' way of describing this flavour.

I've had to grind pretty fine with my Vario to get to the ristretto range on the VST basket. I've also had this taste with the stock portafilter basket when grinding fine enough to produce a ristretto from a 14g dose. Problem seems to go away on the stock basket when I increase the dose and use a coarser grind but that results in a bitter and sour brew at the same time. I much prefer the sweetness and overall taste profile of either smaller doses or the VST basket.

What do you think might be the problem? Can the Vario handle fine grinds in your experience? Anyone had a similar problem?

This is one of the first things I noticed when I started preparing milk drinks like macchiatos and cappuccinos from tighter shots. I find it delightful, so long as it isn't overly bitter. You could try stirring your shots before adding in the milk if you don't like it.

Odd. Try pouring in just a dollop or so of milk, swirl to mix then pour the bulk of you milk in. That may homogenize the flavor and remove the woody layer. The other idea is rather obvious, try a different coffee or different extraction ratio.

Tried the suggestion to give it a swirl with a bit of milk this morning and it worked a treat! Smooth drink with no hints of the previous odd taste! Thanks!

One thing that occurred to me is the shower screen-have you cleaned it lately? What you are describing sounds like it could be old coffee oils.

Interesting...maybe I need to do it more often..I back flush with cafiza once a month (I prepare 2 sometimes 4 espressos a day) but haven't removed the shower screen for a more thorough wash yet...the issue certainly appears on finer grinds though which makes me think there might be am association there

The crema is mostly bitter, which is fine when balanced with the shot, but I think this can come out strongly when you make a cappa because the foam really keeps it on top if you don't stir. I've also found a similar taste when I make a cappa. You could try removing the crema before pouring your milk.

I don't think you want to mask this bad taste with milk and be okay with it, if it is a problem, say, with cleanliness of your machine.

It could be a dirty screen, and you should do a detergent backflush anyway if you haven't in ages. I clean mine regularly. It could be your grind/dose like Dave alluded to. Try increasing your dose and grinding coarser to get a better balance between bitter/sweet. So try 18 or 18.5 in the basket for the same duration and espresso weight.

Just disclosing that you pull for 30s doesn't say anything about ratio. Measure your espresso weight and test different ratios to see which eliminates that bitter taste you mention.

/Edit - I just read that you did play with updosing in a different basket. I'm not really sure how to remedy your situation without just replacing the coffee altogether.

Kosta wrote:Interesting...maybe I need to do it more often..I back flush with cafiza once a month

Should be more like once a week.

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