Oily stains in my espresso - no crema - Page 2

October 21st, 2016, 10:47 am

dominico wrote:You should be getting crema from Lavazza or other espresso blends that contain robusta even if they are old. Even though its not my preferred Italian blend it just so happens that I have some Lavazza Qualità Oro right now; it is at least a few months old but still produces crema. You do need to preserve them well after you open the bag or they will stale quickly however. I open a bag and split the coffee into glass jar portions, seal them, and put them in the freezer. This keeps them fresher longer. When I pull a jar out of the freezer I leave it out overnight to thaw so moisture doesn't get to the coffee when I open it the next day.

What you are seeing there looks like coffee that was ground very very fine (seeing coffee grounds in your cup can be a sign of this), extracted very very hot, or both.

What dose are you using? I have found that while American blends tend to taste better at higher doses, Italian blends usually taste best at about 7g, or 14g for a double.

In bocca al lupo.

I just saw the picture and agree with this, the grind is way too fine for that coffee and your extraction parameters.

If the built in grinder is stepped and you're not able to get the resolution you need, try looking up a step-less mod, usually by wrapping the burr carrier threads with Teflon tape.

As Dominick mentioned, Italian blends should work and are designed to give loads of crema even when not fresh. When overseas I've had to use when nothing else was available. For me they work almost like fresh coffee when you first open the tin, but the next day it's about like a month old coffee!

Since you're in the US, ordering online would be a preferred method, sample packs from good roasters are a good way to start, once you find something you really like a good way to save on shipping is usually buying 5lb bulk packs and splitting them up into 1/2lb bags and freezing.