Clumpy crema

#1: Post by **espressomonkey** » June 23rd, 2022, 9:00 pm

I've attached a photo -- excuse the latte art. the dark spots are clumpy bits of crema. Anyone ran into this before? Making espresso on a Pasquini Livia 90.

- espressomonkey

#2: Post by **Pressino** » June 24th, 2022, 1:03 am

It's hard to say because we're looking at milk foam rather than just the layer of crema on a shot. I'm not sure what you mean by clumpy crema, but I've noticed that when I make espresso from very freshly roasted beans, before they have fully outgassed, the crema (which is mostly CO2 coming out of solution) tends to be rather frothy looking. Could that be what you're experiencing?

#3: Post by **Kaffee Bitte** » June 24th, 2022, 9:37 am

Could be those darker spots have a higher amount of dissolved solids. Fines making it through the filter.

#4: Post by **kris772** » June 24th, 2022, 3:40 pm

My vote would be super fresh beans.

Nice art... What steam tip do you use?

June 27th, 2022, 1:10 pm

I use a two hole steam tip!

June 27th, 2022, 1:38 pm

Pressino wrote:It's hard to say because we're looking at milk foam rather than just the layer of crema on a shot. I'm not sure what you mean by clumpy crema, but I've noticed that when I make espresso from very freshly roasted beans, before they have fully outgassed, the crema (which is mostly CO2 coming out of solution) tends to be rather frothy looking. Could that be what you're experiencing?

I'll post a photo tomorrow morning without any milk!

#7: Post by **kris772** » June 27th, 2022, 3:07 pm

espressomonkey wrote:I use a two hole steam tip!

thanks!

#8: Post by **Ken5** » June 27th, 2022, 3:21 pm

I am curious, what beans are you using, and how close to roast date?

I recently finished a bunch of Saka beans and they had an amazingly huge amount of crema, with bigger bubbles than any of the arabica medium roasted beans that I typically use. Sort of reminds me of the texture in your photo.

June 27th, 2022, 4:24 pm

these are the beans I'm using: https://www.fourbarrelcoffee.com/collec ... ya-githiru roasted on june 14th so 13 days old

June 28th, 2022, 2:11 pm

Here is a photo of just my espresso shot