I think it is common knowledge that you need to grind finer as a roast ages to maintain the same flow.
Are there any similar adjustments that people do to the temperature and/or dose to maintain a modicum of flavor consistency over time?

I find that after a few days, the acidity level changes I can't seem to find the parameters I need to change to deal with it. I've always just powered through it until the next order.

shawndo wrote:
I find that after a few days, the acidity level changes I can't seem to find the parameters I need to change to deal with it. I've always just powered through it until the next order.

How do you feel like the acidity changes? Increase or decrease? I've never noticed a significant difference, but I'm generally finishing my roasts within a week.

I do notice that if I start on an espresso a bit early, then the co2 decreases going forward, and there is a sense of decreasing acidity that I've always attributed to degassing.

I've used higher temps for lighter roasts, to increase solubility. If you're grinding finer to keep the flow rate constant, it seems that a corresponding decrease in temperature might help your consistency.

I'm curious to hear others' responses...

shawndo wrote:I think it is common knowledge that you need to grind finer as a roast ages to maintain the same flow.
Are there any similar adjustments that people do to the temperature and/or dose to maintain a modicum of flavor consistency over time?

I find that after a few days, the acidity level changes I can't seem to find the parameters I need to change to deal with it. I've always just powered through it until the next order.

Actually, I grind coarser and dose higher. I also use lower temperatures. The justification?

Some basic fast extracting compounds, like glucose or citric acid, are quite stable, but most also tend to be more volatile; they decrease steadily as the coffee ages. Most slow dissolving compounds remain stable or change very slowly. Therefore, to best conserve the taste, you should extract older coffee less than younger coffee.

If you think about extraction as a single grand variable, your ability to connect coffee taste to prep will be poor. If you think about fast and slow
dissolving compounds, and their balance in the cup, your ability to connect coffee taste to prep will be good.

This sounds like golden advice, thank you.

another_jim wrote:Actually, I grind coarser and dose higher. I also use lower temperatures.

When you say you dose higher, are you keeping the same brew ratio and also increasing the beverage weight or just making it more ristretto?

So far I have found that lowering the temperature helps but it didnt seem to make sense until I read this. thanks, great info as always!

shawndo wrote:When you say you dose higher, are you keeping the same brew ratio and also increasing the beverage weight or just making it more ristretto?

I monitor flow rate and color rather than shot weight, so I can't be precise; but I do go more ristretto since I keep the flow rates the same for the higher dose. My goal for aging coffee is to keep the taste constant (once its settled in properly); so the change in ratio is not meant to be noticeable, just to make up for the loss in flavenoids*.

To be really precise ... the flavors of light roasts take longer to settle in; and I'm just as much at sea about how to deal with the settling period as everyone else. Most people just don't drink the coffee at all, or brew it first, and make espresso only after a week. The early taste tends to be very cartoonish, distorted, and lacking in mellow/body flavors (I'm not even a fan of the brewed taste). I have no good way of dealing with this; and I suspect that the use of Turkish grinders and aiming for maximal extraction rates is particularly relevant to this problem.

*short hand: for compounds that have a flavor -- a useful term for talking about extraction.