I ordered a kilo bag of the Cartapani Cinquestelle. I've been trying now for a while to get a shot that makes me smile. I guess I've pulled about twenty shots, varying grind, ratio, temperature. I can't seem to figure out how to make this coffee sing. It's creamy. It's chocolatey. But it has a bite to it that I can't get rid of. The best by date on the back is December 2022 so I think that means it's 9 months post roast. Supposedly this coffee doesn't get old.

All I can figure is that I'm just a crummy barista. I was hoping for a forgiving comfort blend, something I could pull without trying too hard, not a project just to get decent shot. Oh well. To the grocery store yesterday and my first shots of a coffee that has never been my favorite were wonderful in comparison. I'm not sure the remaining Cartapani deserves the space it is taking up in my freezer.

Wish I knew what I've been doing wrong.

jpender wrote:I ordered a kilo bag of the Cartapani Cinquestelle.

I also recently got a bag of this (off Amazon). It wasn't my favorite, but I have gotten some good shots out of it, my favorite are those with a nutty aftertaste.

I usually pull darker coffees, and I raised the temperature a couple degrees for this one. I've also been pulling very short shots, around 1.5:1 all the way to 1:1. For 16g in that is 24-16g out. I think pulling shorter will help get rid of some astringency, if that's the bite that you describe.

jpender wrote:I ordered a kilo bag of the Cartapani Cinquestelle. I've been trying now for a while to get a shot that makes me smile. I guess I've pulled about twenty shots, varying grind, ratio, temperature. I can't seem to figure out how to make this coffee sing. It's creamy. It's chocolatey. But it has a bite to it that I can't get rid of. The best by date on the back is December 2022 so I think that means it's 9 months post roast. Supposedly this coffee doesn't get old.

All I can figure is that I'm just a crummy barista. I was hoping for a forgiving comfort blend, something I could pull without trying too hard, not a project just to get decent shot. Oh well. To the grocery store yesterday and my first shots of a coffee that has never been my favorite were wonderful in comparison. I'm not sure the remaining Cartapani deserves the space it is taking up in my freezer.

Wish I knew what I've been doing wrong.

Sorry to hear that! Also don't be so quick to blame yourself. I've often had coffees that others rave about that I found to be meh, so we all have different tastes.

I liked the Cartapani. It was probably the lightest more modern tasting Italian blend I've had.

What parameters are you using?

I used a 14g dose on my stock basket (though up to 16g could work depending on the basket of course), 5 second preinfusion, 25 second extraction on my lever for a 28g output (1:2 normale). No idea on the temp since I have an HX.

Often times if you use American dosing and long preinfusion times these Italian blends don't come out as well as they could.

GregoryJ wrote:I also recently got a bag of this (off Amazon). It wasn't my favorite, but I have gotten some good shots out of it, my favorite are those with a nutty aftertaste.

I usually pull darker coffees, and I raised the temperature a couple degrees for this one. I've also been pulling very short shots, around 1.5:1 all the way to 1:1. For 16g in that 24-16g out. I think pulling shorter will help get rid of some astringency, if that's the bite that you describe.

Agreed, I quite like a lot of Italian blends pulled shorter in the ristretto range.

GregoryJ wrote:I usually pull darker coffees, and I raised the temperature a couple degrees for this one. I've also been pulling very short shots, around 1.5:1 all the way to 1:1. For 16g in that is 24-16g out. I think pulling shorter will help get rid of some astringency, if that's the bite that you describe.

I didn't go as low as 1:1. Worth a try.
What temperature did you raise up to?

cskorton wrote:Often times if you use American dosing and long preinfusion times these Italian blends don't come out as well as they could.

What is American dosing?

The dose is one thing I didn't vary. I was using 18g in tried as little as 24g and as much as 40g out. I didn't do any preinfusion. My best shots were a little short of 1:2 but at 1:1.3 it was sour. Maybe I needed reduce the dose, shorten the ratio, and increase the temperature?

Wish I knew what I've been doing wrong.

Probably forgetting to toss a full demitasse spoon of sugar in Many people in Italy habitually use sugar in espresso and I think some Italian roasts simply require it, like 100% dark chocolate. Still might not be your favorite but at least it might justify the space until its used up.

Maybe. But there were multiple people who said it was like a pure shot of Nutella. That actually would be gross to me as I think Nutella is a junk product. But I get the idea, that it was like a chocolatey, nutty, syrupy shot. No mention of adding sugar or milk.

I didn't get pure nutella at all. I remember it being distinctly floral for me. Maybe I was using a different blend?

Regardless, I consider American dosing 18g+. Italians use smaller doses: 14g is the standard but I've found I can go up 16g for more medium roasted Italian blends.

Robusta tends to like cooler temps, so adjust grind and dose there first and see how that goes.

You can try pulling it shorter too, like 1:1.25 - 1:1.5.

Also, I found I couldn't push the extraction out further than 25 seconds. Even at 28 seconds I thought it was blonding already but regardless that's of lesser concern.

And don't stress man if it doesn't work for you. Everyone has different tastes and tongues interpret tastes differently in different people. Different strokes for different folks.