bobroseman wrote:Very good exposition of what I suspected. I am off to try 3:1.

Thanks

Or 1:3.....
3:1 that would be a very strong coffee.

I think you were probably doing fine measuring your water by volume. I do it by weight because it turns out to be easier and more accurate. Measuring the coffee by weight is more important because the density can vary enough with variety, processing and roast level to make a difference.

bobroseman wrote:I am off to try 3:1.

I tried it and confirm Scott's observation that at least for today's coffee, "Such a shot may ...optimize flavor and clarity at the expense of strength and body."

samuellaw178 wrote:The blog post was to urge people to experiment as more often than not, the coffee (presumably lighter roasted coffee prevalent in his circle, context is equally important) are underextracted by sticking to a fixed recipe.

His quick test ("Set your grinder one small notch coarser. Purge a couple of doses from the grinder. Pull a 3:1 ratio shot in 30-35 seconds.") is a good suggestion. I think your observation about lighter roasted coffees applies here, i.e., those who favor rich, heavy bodied espresso will be disappointed and those who prize clarity/balance will be pleased.

HB wrote:I tried it and confirm Scott's observation that at least for today's coffee, "Such a shot may ...optimize flavor and clarity at the expense of strength and body."

Hi Dan,

Would you try that test on a milk drink as well?

My partner has a more acute palate than I am. For reasons completely counter-intuitive to me, a milk drink from a lower ratio (1:2) tend to taste more flavorful compared to a milk drink built with an espresso shot (1:3) that has more 'clarity' and higher EY%. Same final drink volume so the higher brew ratio should have a higher concentration of soluble coffee. According to her (she obviously didn't know what prep was involved), the flavor from the lower brew ratio tend to be more 'sticky'/leaving a longer lasting impression. This wasn't an one-off observation and it held true for many 'tests'.

Ristretto ratio is 1:1; normale ratio is 1:2; lungo ratio is 1:3; and Americano is 1:>3.

I think strict adherence to these nominal ratios are not really what most people would use to define the first three Italian terms. More likely acceptable would be a range, such as 1:1 to 1:2 for ristretto, 1:2 to 1:3 for normale, and 1:3 to 1:4 for lungo. Also, I don't agree with the Americano reference. A proper Americano in my mind is a normale with hot water added; at least, that's how I make it. That's quite different from just letting the machine run for a much longer shot and higher ratio. I agree with the posters who point out that liquid coffee is not at all like water, the former being highly variable in density (especially if one includes the crema), and the latter being linked as part of the SI definitions. I always weigh my grinds and usually weigh my shots, especially when switching to a new batch of beans...thereafter, I often get a bit complacent and just pull the shot by watching for blonding.

I'm on board with describing the shot categories as ranges. I said that they were supposed to be just be rough guides anyway, so it's six of one half a dozen in the other.

As far as what I meant for Americano, I wasn't implying that you'd just let the shot run. That would indeed be gross and overextracted. I was intending that you'd get the right ratio by adding hot water as you described after you finished the shot. I think that an Americano can be made with any type of shot; it all depends on your taste.

Just wanted to clarify lest my esteemed colleagues think that I don't know what I'm talking about :p

I realized I have been measuring my espresso shots incorrectly for years. I always do double shots and target the 2 oz mark on my measuring cup but today I decided to weight the actual coffee and found that due to the crema/air in the espresso extraction using a volume-metric method (using a cup with a 2 oz mark) is completely inaccurate. The 2 oz mark on my measurement cup weights about 1.2 oz. I really need to extract about 3 oz using the volume metric cup. Of course, this depends on the the extraction, grind size, bean freshness, roast, etc. so if you want to target an specific ration (1:2, 1:1.5, etc) it's best to use a scale

Mass is a more reliable measure of beverage output than volume. I use a small scale on the drip tray and pull to beverage weight, and use the shot timer as a quality control for how fine my grind is. Measuring volume is unreliable with espresso because the dissolved carbon dioxide significantly changes the apparent size of the shot. Mass (weight) is not so easily fooled. Sort of like kosher salt vs. table salt - a gram of salt is always a gram of salt, but a gram of kosher salt is twice the volume of a gram of table salt.

The weight of coffee dose to beverage output is called the brew ratio. There are many interpretations of brew ratio around the world. LaMarzocco has a great paper on how this number is viewed around the world in defining a short, regular or long shot. (ristretto, normale or lungo if you prefer the Italian terms). If you put in 18g of coffee and pulled 36g of espresso, that's 1:2.

There is considerable variability between coffees as to what is ideal. Some coffees, like Blue Bottle Hayes Valley, are best when pulled quite short. Others will do their best when pulled quite long. Generally, we hold the dose the same and adjust the grind so that a desired pull weight is produced in about 30 seconds for the dial-in process. I usually start with 18g dose and 34g out as a starting point and adjust as necessary by taste.

The idea is to change the balance of components extracted from the coffee. Short fast extractions tend to bring out more acidity and less of the sweet and bitter components, longer extractions get more of the residual sugars and bitter components. The sweet spot is when the balance and concentration of these components in the shot reach a point where the flavor is the most pleasant.

Suppose you pulled a 1:2 shot at 200F in 27 seconds with new beans that was slightly sour, how would you adjust? Longer/ shorter, hotter/cooler, ristretto /lungo? What's the first move?

You could bump up the temp a degree or two and/or grind finer and adjust the dose as necessary. You can also try to preinfuse a bit if your machine can do it. These are ways of moving away from sour.