New beans / Cant pull a shot

[JRCoffee]

Hi guys,


I ran out of fresh roasted coffee and didnt have time to roast some, as I wanted a coffee within the next hour or so. Anyway, long story short, I bought some roasted coffee from a cafe.

Took the beans home and put them in my grinder (havent changed the settings, etc) and they seem to be coming out finer and as such, I cant pull a good shot any more. The water doesnt seem to be going through the tamped coffee. My technique hasnt changed. The only thing that has changed is the beans.. First time Ive used roasted beans from a cafe and this happens.

Any tips? I have a Via Venezia and a EM0480 grinder..

Cheers guys.

[GregJW]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

Adjust your grinder - a bit courser.

[A_M]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

Adjust your grinder - a bit courser.

and OR less tamp as well.

[JRCoffee]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

I did try making it coarser. Took it up to 17-20. Ill try tamping less..

Should different beans/roasted older beans make such a difference?

[beanflying]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

What Greg said If you havnt run across it before beans vary a lot in terms of required grind.

A bit also has to do with Humidity in the air so on really humid days you will need to grind more course with the same beans. As the beans age across the bag you are using you will need to tweak the grinder a little as well. Bean type is a major factor which I think has to do with moisture in the bean after roasting and the degree it is roasted to. The Aussie MTE 478 for example is very moist while a Yemen BI is super dry and needs a finer grind.

There is a reason that grinders are easy to adjust

[JRCoffee]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

Ah ok. Thanks for that. I guess Im used to using my typical roast and leaving it on 15 like I normally do

To be honest, these Rio beans smelt hideous. Like old cigarettes and chocolate. Not a nice smell.. I might chuck them out and just wait

I never ended up having a coffee since I bought the bag of beans :

[A_M]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

I might chuck them out and just wait

A home roast takes ... What 45min at max...

Well, even at 46min, i would be happier to use and drink from those home roasted, rather than store bought.. "beans smelt hideous. Like old cigarettes and chocolate. Not a nice smell.. "

Your choice

I know what I would do 8-)

[beanflying]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

these Rio beans smelt hideous.

Sounds like a blend with some Robusta in it, smelly old socks sometimes springs to mind. I got a bag of Gravity a year or so back, it was so bad it went in the bin after 2 goes. Not all robustas are bad either, just some that are rubbish going in or those that are roasted to within an inch of spontaneous compustion [smiley=evil.gif]

[JRCoffee]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

I generally dont grind the beans the first day. I usually wait a day and then start using them..

[JRCoffee]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

Hmm, pulled a shot perfectly by cranking the grinder up to 20. Doesnt taste as good as my beans though ;D

[blanyon]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

With a smell like that they sound like they were roasted last year!!!

[timmyvolume]

Re: New beans / Cant pull a shot

my advice is to always check the roast date on your beans as the freshness (Co2 retention, oil content, moister content etc) will affect the extraction. generally look for something with about 3-4 days on it, and try to use it up within 10 days from opening.

as Beanflying said - grinders are so important. its a good idea to make sure whenever you change bean types/batches that you spend a bit of time getting the extraction right - might be a bit of trail and error to begin with, but itll only get easier with practice!