By way of background I drink lattes almost exclusively. I have never really cared for the taste of straight espresso. I have always found it to be too in-my-face and astringent.

I've been watching some videos of making cortados and thought it was worth a go as I like the idea of cutting the milk quantity down some.

I am working from a bag of CC hologram. I've made quite a few lattes from it in the past week and enjoyed it. It was fairly smooth with a caramel flavor to it.

This morning I pulled a shot and added just enough milk to hit a 1:1 coffee to milk ratio and . . . . blech. To me it tasted really quite sour (suggesting temp too low). However, when I added more milk to it to bring it up to a latte ratio, the sour taste transformed back into more of a caramel type flavor. I am pulling the Hologram at 198, though CC suggested 196 back when it was called Rustico. I can't image going even cooler is the answer.

Is this an expected flavor change when reducing the milk quantity? Am i just not cut out for cortados or is there an underlying problem with the way I am pulling the hologram?

I'd try the espresso by itself and see how it tastes? I find that for me, drinks with just a little milk do often bring out the sour/bitter flavors. And then with more, the milk's natural sweetness starts to balance things out. So I end up preferring my espressos and cappuccinos without sugar, but like a little sugar in machiattos and cortados.

TrlstanC wrote:I'd try the espresso by itself and see how it tastes? I find that for me , drinks with just a little milk do often bring out the sour/bitter flavors. And then with more, the milk's natural sweetness starts to balance things out. So I end up preferring my espressos and cappuccinos without sugar, but like a little sugar in machiattos and cortados.

Your reply suggests my experience is not necessarily unexpected then.

I prefer cortados, l also drank flat whites for years, and now drink mostly straight espresso. My experience is that the coffee you use and the shot parameters you use need to be chosen for the drink you are making.

How are you preparing the milk for the cortado and your lattes?

The Spanish method for cortados is to warm the milk but not texture it. The standard method for lattes is to texture the milk. Texturing brings out more sweetness in the milk, so if you're not texturing the cortado milk it's not providing sweetness to cover up the bitter/sour flavor of your espresso. You could try texturing the cortado milk, though it'll be more like a flat white than a cortado.

But the fundamental problem here is your espresso. Although you may not like the intensity of straight espresso, it shouldn't be bitter, sour or astringent. It may be strong, but the bitter/sour notes should be balanced and you should taste some sweetness.

I suspect the difference is that you need a lot of milk to cover up the defects in your espresso. If the espresso is good, then the cortado will taste good no matter how you prepare the milk or how much you use.

In order to prepare a good cup of espresso you need high-quality beans properly roasted and prepared. If you're not buying great coffee, you won't get great espresso. If you're buying good beans, then it's probable that you're not dialing in properly, your preparation is faulty, your grinder is inconsistent or your machine temperature or pressure aren't stable.

If you work on identifying and curing the cause(s) of your astringent espresso, you'll find that your milk drinks taste way better than they did before.

A video I watched suggested texturing the milk, but steaming to only 130f, which is what I did.

I've been at this for a pretty good while now and have made some pretty good cups of coffee over the years. Flavors I was getting in the latte were caramel and nut. I suppose I can't rule out that I don't have the Hologram dialed in, though in my experience a bad shot doesn't become a very good latte either. When the coffee was bitter or sour, in the past I can usually detect those flavors in the aftertaste of the latte. I feel both the Sette grinder and the Bianca are pretty consistent for me.

I guess the next step would be to give it a try with different coffee. I have some Lusso GMC to try it with.

Peppersass wrote: ...
But the fundamental problem here is your espresso. Although you may not like the intensity of straight espresso, it shouldn't be bitter, sour or astringent. It may be strong, but the bitter/sour notes should be balanced and you should taste some sweetness.

I suspect the difference is that you need a lot of milk to cover up the defects in your espresso. If the espresso is good, then the cortado will taste good no matter how you prepare the milk or how much you use.

If you work on identifying and curing the cause(s) of your astringent espresso, you'll find that your milk drinks taste way better than they did before.

this!

I agree mostly with what Peppersass said about you aren't dialing the espresso well enough. But also when you start the dilute the espresso you are also going to be changing the ratios that flavors are preceptive on the palate. So if you pull a tight shot with proteins/fats masking the acid and add a little volume after and those acids will become noticeable.
However texture and sweetness are two different things. Sweetness has to do with heat and texture has to do with air. Although heat will end up effecting the texture/sweetness sweet spot. It's mostly just about practicing, machine and milk used. I'd say for a good cortado, chirp it (that air sound) for two sounds then dip the wand in and get it to roll fast until it comes to about 160F or hot to touch.

crunchybean wrote: I'd say for a good cortado, chirp it (that air sound) for two sounds then dip the wand in and get it to roll fast until it comes to about 160F or hot to touch.

Interesting. I typically steam 4 oz of milk at a time, and stop when it's too hot to touch. When I've measured it with a calibrated thermometer it's pretty much always right at 135º F (FWIW this is with a thick walled Cafelat 8 oz pitcher). I've never felt any need for a higher temp for the milk, especially if the cup is pre-heated with hot water prior to pulling the shot.

Isn't 135º-140º more than hot enough?