otb wrote:The date is in US format (September 7th).

ah ..... thanks

As I mentioned earlier, even if not stale I still think the beans look very dark. The tamped puck is very dark brown. And the extraction was too fast, but also went on for too long.

First thing is I'd recommend different beans.

However, with the beans you have, you need to grind finer and stop the shot earlier. Better to weigh your brew output. Measuring by volume is wildly inaccurate. Espresso has varying amounts of crema which affects volume. So get a 0.1g scale to measure your brew weight. For a 20g to 21g dose, aim for 40g brew weight in the cup in about 25 to 30 ish seconds. Then you can tweak from there. But I still think it's worth trying different beans.

Be more specific about your location in USA and people can recommend good roasters to try. And you can order from many great roasters online with fast delivery.

Grind finer. Do you have the Breville grinder? Hey I'm friendly and do not want to intimidate you. People will wolf-down on a problem they can wrap their heads 10x over, i.e., those that are easy and uncomplicated to solve -- but they manage to complicate for you.

A common problem sometimes is that roasts are too light, which isn't your case. Hopefully you have a capable grinder that can grind fine enough to restrict that flow and create pressure, before water starts rushing through it.

canuckcoffeeguy wrote:As I mentioned earlier, even if not stale I still think the beans look very dark. The tamped puck is very dark brown. And the extraction was too fast, but also went on for too long.

First thing is I'd recommend different beans.

thanks (all) for the thoughtful replies. I ordered some Blue Bottle and should have them today or tomorrow. I will start there and see how I do, and then come back.

Personally for espresso I would be resting em for at least 4-7 days but again this is personal preference only

Ok. Blue bottle sent me their Hayes Valley Espresso blend. Roasted 9/11/16. I will let them sit a couple more days and then give them a whirl.

Also got a scale. Looks like I'm going to have to adjust for the Oracle's overdose though.

HoyaZot wrote:Ok. Blue bottle sent me their Hayes Valley Espresso blend. Roasted 9/11/16. I will let them sit a couple more days and then give them a whirl.

In the meantime, did you try grinding finer with your other beans to slow the flow rate, and stop the shot sooner? As we suggested?

I have burned through a ton of coffee, so I am taking it easy for a couple days. I ordered a Jennings food scale. I'll have to account for the Oracle's over dosing but once I can weigh my output things should be a little better.

Before I stopped tinkering I noticed that finer grind plus a shorter extraction was only yielding about 30ml. I will try with a food scale and see what I come up with, and then I'm going to try with blue bottle and a food scale. BB actually sent some suggested dosing and yield weights, although those will need to be modified because of the dose, I'm guessing.

Can you single dose? I.e. Put in a specific amount of beans only (say 18g) therefore forcing your desired dose?

HoyaZot wrote:Ok. Blue bottle sent me their Hayes Valley Espresso blend. Roasted 9/11/16. I will let them sit a couple more days and then give them a whirl.

Also got a scale. Looks like I'm going to have to adjust for the Oracle's overdose though.

It's not overdosing , 21-22 it ok for that basket ( its close to a 22g vst size )