I know! I know! It's bad form. But is anyone else not doing this? As odd is it might sound, I am getting better shots with a cold PF. Just wondering if I'm the only odd person here or if someone can suggest a correction.

Here is the back story of how I got here.

I had an issue with bad shots many months ago. I adjusted grind setting... made it worse. Double checked my bean freshness. Good here. Cleaned machine, good here. So I started messing around with temp setting ( I have dual boiler with digital setting). This just caused me more headaches, so set it back to where it was.

One morning I forgot to pop the PF in to warm, so I decided to give it ago. Took a sip and it tasted like it should. My logic told me that means my machine is running hot, but tap down the temp a degree or two and it tastes bad again...

All and all, this is a non issue since I am enjoying what's in my cup. I just find this situation odd and wondering if I am alone.

What's that song by Pilot?...oh that's right Magic

So, while everyone keeps trying to be all scientific around here. I do have to say that we are still doing food preparation and those that are best at it are artists.

If you have found a way to make your espresso taste the way you want and it is repeatable with various beans, I'd say keep at it. But, I think you were on the right track with adjusting the temp. However it sounds as if your group is getting too hot before your shot is pulled, and it is overheating the water. Putting a cold portafilter into the group would lower the group temp. As I don't know your machine I can't say the best way to fine tune it. However if there is a way to adjust the group temp I'd look into that.

On my machine a BZ07 HX with heaters in the group I would do a cooling flush in your situation.

IntrepidQ3 wrote:I just find this situation odd and wondering if I am alone.

You are not alone. At the 2016 Dublin WBC, winner Berg Wu from Taiwan put his spouted portafilters in an ice water bath before dosing and brewing.

You also see a recent trend of trying to cool the espresso before the judges taste it - cold cups, frozen stirrers, or simply making judges wait a few minutes before tasting has been used in the last few years' WBC championships.

Berg Wu used his cooled PF trick for cappuccinos as well as espressos, so he may have done this to affect the extraction temp profile and not just the drinking temp.

Interesting, I have not considered this.

When it comes to bottomless portafilters, I don't suspect this would have much impact on the espresso as it never touches a mass of brass like on a standard PF? thoughts..

I always heat mine out of habit but since I use two different PFs most sessions, not bothering to heat them would add value in improving workflow but taste??? TBD.

homeburrero wrote:You are not alone. At the 2016 Dublin WBC, winner Berg Wu from Taiwan put his spouted portafilters in an ice water bath before dosing and brewing.

Well it sounds like I need to work on getting a spot at the WBC. I am on to something

mohninme wrote:Interesting, I have not considered this.

When it comes to bottomless portafilters, I don't suspect this would have much impact on the espresso as it never touches a mass of brass like on a standard PF? thoughts..

I always heat mine out of habit but since I use two different PFs most sessions, not bothering to heat them would add value in improving workflow but taste??? TBD.

I should have mentioned that I am using a bottomless portafilter. You would think the minimal heat mass here would not have the much impact. I am by no means a super taster, but both my wife and I have noticed it. What's more impressive is my wife noticed, since she does not pay attention to what I change in prep routine.

mohninme wrote:Interesting, I have not considered this.

When it comes to bottomless portafilters, I don't suspect this would have much impact on the espresso as it never touches a mass of brass like on a standard PF? thoughts..

We are talking about the group itself. When its locked in, it will suck out heat before you even start the shot.

It is probably very group specific. Some groups have a very low thermal memory. Years ago I was playing around with the impact of a cold portafilter. With a group thermocouple installed once the cold portafilter was locked in, in a matter of seconds the group head temperature started to plummet. As I recall with a room temperature spouted portafilter on a E61 group I was getting 10-15 degree drops. It has also been a long standing trick with lever machines that like to overheat. Use a cold portafilter to suck the excess heat out of the group.