Smell your puck

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
Crackazz
Posts: 26
Joined: 12 years ago

#1: Post by Crackazz »

Hi,

is there anything you can determine from the smell of the spent puck. Mine always smell a little smokey and the espresso tastes bitter, but always look great with tons of crema and deep brown with tiger flecks.

18 in 36 out, Mignon eureka + Rocket Cellini evo

Too fine or too much coffee? Looking for a sweeter extraction and (from what I have read) need more of the caramels to balance out the bitter, or is the water too hot?

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Randy G.
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#2: Post by Randy G. »

Crackazz wrote:Hi,

...is there anything you can determine from the smell of the spent puck?
Other than to not smell the puck I cannot think of anything.
Smell the espresso and taste the espresso.
What coffee are you using? Blend? Roast? Age?
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Crackazz (original poster)
Posts: 26
Joined: 12 years ago

#3: Post by Crackazz (original poster) »

:) thought this might be an odd thing to ask

SO - El Salvador Finca Santa Petrona Washed Red Bourbon from Has Bean, 10 days rested.

was wondering if the puck smell would help unlock what I might be doing wrong to be unable to get a balanced espresso.

EspressoForge
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#4: Post by EspressoForge »

Crackazz wrote: was wondering if the puck smell would help unlock what I might be doing wrong to be unable to get a balanced espresso.
I highly doubt it. You're better off IMO going with the standard grind/dose suggestions in the sticky in this forum:
Espresso 101: How to Adjust Dose and Grind Setting by Taste

Too often I feel it's easy to get stuck with a single dose (say your stated 18g) and never see what the coffee has to offer at other extraction levels. My suggestion is to explore the extraction space, then explore lungo/normale/ristretto ratios. Eventually I think you should get something you prefer.

Relying on a visual perfection, or puckology is really after the fact examination, rather than using your taste buds and adjusting. Of course if a pour is visually terrible it usually tastes bad too.

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weebit_nutty
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#5: Post by weebit_nutty »

I smell the puck occasionally and it always smells the same. Kind of a peppery smell, nothing like the resulting cup, the coffee or the grounds prior to brewing.
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jwCrema
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#6: Post by jwCrema »

With Redbird my puck smells like dark chocolate and I want to eat it. But, I don't because that wouldn't be right.

Crackazz (original poster)
Posts: 26
Joined: 12 years ago

#7: Post by Crackazz (original poster) »

will re-read the link, sure it will come and as stated, its sometimes all to easy to get stuck in numbers routines etc... and forget about what it is we are all trying to do.... make great tasting coffee!

thanks all