Re "early": Basically this is caused by using coffee that is "short" on oils. There can be a number of reasons incl using older (from the time of roasting) coffee, but it may also be due to equipment factors such as running it too hot and burning the grinds, OR it could just be that a certain origin of coffee is the way it is this year due to climactic or other environmental factors (its a crop, and it varies from season to season). It may also be due to mishandling by the operator (leaving beans stored in a hot or sunny position, poor handling, whatever. Also be aware that while many internet forum partiucipants will tell you to STOP the pour as soon as you see blonding, this may be a little too stern...... For example, if your coffee is destined to be a "milk", a bit of blonding wont be detected on the palate. And if you experiment with black coffee, you may also find that a bit of blonding is not going to destroy your coffee drinking experience and that you may be able to push through a little. Also, it may be that if the operator doesnt have the multitude of other variables controlled in the total coffee brewing process, that other resulting problems may have a far bigger affect on destroying your coffee, than a bit of blonding..... Also note that if you coffee was destined to be a "milk", and your coffee blonded early and you stopped it right bang on the point of blonding.....then you actually may not have a big enough espresso portion that will work with the milk, resulting in milk with a brown tinge...... Yes you can brew another and try to correct the early blonding (if you can), but if you cant, you wont have a suitable milk coffee period. "Early " blonding is a can of worms best left for individuals to experiment and decide upon, rather than something that is black and white. After that its up to the individual to try different things out and make up their own mind. Hope that helps.
