BillBurrGrinder wrote:Right....I think I was picturing my original 15.5 up to 18g and grind up to 5 or 6, whichever gets me around 25-30s after preinfusion.


So does more preinfusion=more TDS? Maybe in return a shorter shot to keep at 1:2 Brew ratio?

So the way I understand preinfusion is that it is a good way to help with consistency and it gives a more even extraction. To be honest I just played around to find what I liked best and that's what I stuck with

Chris65 wrote: To be honest I just played around to find what I liked best and that's what I stuck with

And that's where the "CHEMISTRY" turns into "ART"

It's weird...the first pound of beans I got nothing but bitter shots. (Local fresh)
Second pound of beans I'm getting nothing but sour shots. (Lavazza)

Hoping that the third pound of beans will give me right in the middle. (Klatch WBC)

I'll find out this weekend.

Well I wish you luck. Hopefully you will be drinking great espresso soon!

Wait a second...who likes Lavazza Super Crema?

Is it old school Italians or "3rd wave" Americans?

For the record...I'm seeking old school Italian style

I haven't tried either of those I'm afraid, so can't comment on flavour profiles... how are the shots going this weekend? Any joy?

I guess I'm learning to get past the tart flavor of the shot but as it cools it gets quite sourish. Still not what I'm looking for and puzzled a bit. I think I've exhausted everything but pulling a super concentrated 1:1 shot. should I be using less water for the 1:1? Or pull the same shot but stop it early?

Thanks

Hey Chris,
So a 1:1 shot would end up with the same amount of grams of coffee in the cup as you used to brew. The amount of water used isn't something I would worry about, I would just focus on the amount of coffee you get in the cup. For example, with my typical 18g dose, I would stop the flow of coffee when I reached the following weight of coffee in the cup:

1:1 18g
1:1.5 27g
1:2. 36g

I have found when I brew that I'm not such a fan of the intensity of shorter brew ratios than about 1:1.5. I get far more sourness/bitterness than I can handle at lower doses (but it may be just highlighting my poor technique!).

You mentioned doing a salami shot in one of your earlier posts and it might be good to do this to see which part of the shot you find tastes the best to you, and where it starts to go downhill.

SOLVED!!!

Tried different beans!

Hooray!
Excellent news - glad you fixed it! Which beans did you try? I probably won't be familiar with them but maybe some members here can suggest others with a similar flavour profile.

Tried a different local roaster and Essse Masisni both classic Italian roasts.

Anything that's not 3rd wave, while working great for milk drinks, the stuff is horrible for straight shots. It tasted the same as sour stale Lavazza, not the same but equally as bad.

Leave it to Americans to ruin a perfectly good thing while trying to reinvent coffee

Next one up is Lusso Lionshare, then Vivace Dolce, Nicoletti, 49th Parallel Old School, Malabar Gold... I might try Redbird Blue Jaguar...so I have a nice list going I think.