Hey all,

I sometimes get a dry or chalky aftertaste from my espresso which feels like my mouth is dry. Not so much flavor, but a sensation that I need a glass of water afterwards to try to rehydrate my mouth.

It doesn't happen all the time.

What could be causing this in my espresso brewing method?

Thanks!

You've defined "astringency" pretty well.

Try a slightly coarser grind (or lower temperature)

Thanks Jeff.

Jeff wrote:Try a slightly coarser grind (or lower temperature)

Ok. My concern would be having a faster flow rate.

I haven't tried changing the temperature yet.

Could it be the coffee itself or the acidity? I have this happen with teas sometimes as well.

It's almost like if you bite into a plant or leaf and it's sort of bitter, but leaves your tongue dry. It's hard to explain.

Even though this is tea, this describes the sensation pretty well.

https://www.japanesegreenteain.com/blo ... a-drinking

[Edit]: This article has the best description of what I mean: biting into a green banana peel:

https://www.myjapanesegreentea.com/astr ... -green-tea

It sounds like it could be the coffee itself. I am planning to try another kind of coffee, so it will be interesting to see the difference if any.

I'm slowly getting into this world and am having fun so far.

(You can edit your posts, rather than adding two in a row)

You can taste sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and many argue umami. Astringency and sourness (acidity) are different things. Learning to recognize the difference between sourness/acidity and bitterness and astringency is important. The "cure" for them is often very different.

Coffee almost always is a bit acidic. Some more so than others. Astringency can either or both be either a problem with extraction or a roast defect that the best you can do is to tone down.

Jeff wrote:(You can edit your posts, rather than adding two in a row)

I'm sorry. I will keep that in mind. Thank you.

I see.

I am going to try a new coffee in a few days just for something different. My palate is expanding. I chose Intelligentsia Black Cat espresso. It looked good on paper and I am curious how it tastes.

Stumptown Hairbender will remain my staple, at least for now.

You might want to consider looking into a smaller roaster. You're still buying from the Peet's Coffee conglomerate. Many, many threads in the Coffee and Bench section.

Good point. Ok.

What about Counter Culture? It seems like people like their coffee on here.

ArtofEspresso wrote:Thanks Jeff.



Ok. My concern would be having a faster flow rate.

I haven't tried changing the temperature yet.

Could it be the coffee itself or the acidity? I have this happen with teas sometimes as well.

It's almost like if you bite into a plant or leaf and it's sort of bitter, but leaves your tongue dry. It's hard to explain.

astringency is what you're describing and this be from a few things but it often is the result of over-extracted coffee. There is an extraction ceiling in coffee and when you go over it you get that dry astringency that you're describing. if the coffee is channeling it effectively lowers the extraction ceiling you can't push it as far so you want to try and extract less to get it in the zone. Every coffee is different and some of them you have to spend more time with. Common ways to reduce extraction is grind coarser, dose lower, use a lower temp or lower ratio (shorter shot). You might want to dose down and just have less yeild. Feel free to try them all but not all at once, dose down and if you don't like the results you might want to return to the orignal dose. Keep a notebook and write down the changes so you can track the impact it has on the shot and go back to the best version at any time.

if it's a channeling problem (which it might be) you can try and correct the channels which may raise the extraction ceiling and give you shots without the dryness. Don't use a wet PF, it's good if it's heated up but not wet, wet baskets will lead to side channeling. You can try stuff like WDT which is just focused on making sure the coffee isn't clumping together. before you tamp make sure the coffee is even in the PF, vertical taps will help distribute the coffee as well as some light palm taps (which takes practice to get used to). take care with the PF after the tamp, don't bump it or too agressively put it in the group because this may crack the puck or break the seal (and create channeling)

Another trick to reduce channeling is adding an Aeropress filter at the bottom of the basket and at the top. the paper filter at the bottom prevents fines from clogging up the basket holes which would cause channeling and the paper filter on the top prevents early erosion from the puck which also creates channeling at the end of the shot, it basically makes the shot more consistently extracted. this is easy to try out and often has instant results. It's kind of like a baidaid approach but it does work plus its fun to experiment with stuff like that to see how it impacts the shot. if the shots are good after that theny you can be sure it's a channeling issue.

Thanks DamianWarS!

I have tried most of what you have described above with the exception of the filters for distribution.

I think It May be over extraction as I have a bottomless portafiltee and the flow comes out fairly good (maybe a spray or two here and there, but I am learning. It isn't excessive).