Fresh Coffee wrote:
Oh and following on from my own last post. I only skim this stuff quickly (no disprespect intended) so may have missed it if someone else has already said: Noted you used beans bought from the supermarket to help you learn about technique and set up.....and that you are waiting on some excellent fresh roasted beans to arrive from Jeff 🙂 In that case just be aware that the fresh beans will undoubtedly have a higher density that supermarket beans (due to staling) so the grind setting that your grinder is now set to, will *probably* be too fine for the new bean supply. All you can do is clear out grinder, leave it where it is set, put the new beans in, and work your magic. The flow of resulting coffee will show you which way to go with the grind setting (probably more coarse, possibly significantly more coarse). Just wait and see. If you have to make a change or changes, dont forget to run *existing* grinds right out so the next coffee you make will indeed reflect the change in grind setting. Hope that helps.
I have tried the experiment suggested by UNM; and got a very unexpected result! I only used Jeff's quality beans. first 1/3 of pour: strong/intense but not at all bitter (as I was expecting) 2nd 2/3 of pour: golden part of espresso shot, nice rich crema. my favourite in terms of flavour but needs a bit more grunt. 3rd 3/3 of pour: I did let it run passed the blonding. Very sour. I think this is what gave me some very average shots in the past as I thought that letting it run would get rid of the sourness. I also noticed that I don't get anymore bitterness when the shot is poured correctly. I now fully understand what Attilio and Jeff were saying at the beginning of this journey regarding a pour bitter shot that was actually the result of under-extraction due to the barista technique (my learning curve) rather than type and quality of equipment or beans. Indeed these earlier posts in this thread are highly recommended reading for anyone embarking on this journey. Once again thank you so much all of you for sharing (giving away) your knowledge and put me on the right track of a decent shot. Laurent.
