Is the coffee being burnt?

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emilesilvis
Posts: 1
Joined: 3 years ago

#1: Post by emilesilvis »

I have recently gotten myself a Bianca Lelit machine. I come from a Flair PRO2. Until now, on the Bianca, I've been brewing mostly light roasted Ethiopian coffees, and I get great shots (despite some deadspots on the extraction with a VST basket).

Last night I tried doing a darker roast (decaf) coffee. I guessed the grind setting, and got a beautiful full (no deadspots) extraction, 18g in, 36g out. I thought that it was going to taste just as beautiful. Nope :shock:. It was either super bitter or super sour (at that level of intensity, I couldn't tell).

What I immediately noticed when knocking out the puck is that the puck seemed burnt (I remember imagine smelling burning coffee too, but not sure). I don't have a photo of the darker decaf puck (I will make one tonight).

But this made me wonder if I'm not brewing too hot, so this morning when I did my regular light roasted Ethiopian, I also noticed what seems to be burn marks on the puck. See the attached photo.

Is this to be expected, or am I brewing too hot? The Bianca is set by default to 95 degrees Celsius (with the Flair PRO2, I managed to get up to maximum 85 degrees Celsius).


User avatar
guijan12
Posts: 586
Joined: 6 years ago

#2: Post by guijan12 »

Hi Emile,

Welcome to he forum. :D
It looks like a very nice puck to me (fwiw reading the puck).

I had the same question in the past (I think), see here:
What are the black spots on the bottom side of the puck?

:idea:
Regards,

Guido

ojt
Posts: 837
Joined: 6 years ago

#3: Post by ojt »

95 degrees for a dark roast may well be too much. I would also pull shorter and in less time, with little to no preinfusion. I don't believe in puckology though :) Just go by taste.
Osku