Coffee has very strong Metallic Taste - Is it my Grinder?

[RoddyK]

Howdy,

Just looking for some idea of why my coffee all of sudden has a really strong mettalic taste. Its really very strong and noticeable to me. I currently suspect its the grinder because after I ground down the coffee I could get a slight smell off metal off the ground coffee. (slight but there) All I should smell is the aroma of fleshy ground beans.

Pouring a shot without any coffee yields what youd expect - no metal smells just some hot water with a slight coffee tinge.

I have a Breville Fresca so Im wondeirng how can I confirm if the grinder is causing the problem? :-/

[Ronin]

Re: Coffee has very strong Metallic Taste - Is it my Grinder?

If you can borrow another grinder to try that would tell you if its the grinder or not. Same beans, same espresso machine and side by side comparison of grinders.

Cant see why the grinder would give the metallic taste tho unless the burrs are touching, or blunt maybe.

[TC]

Re: Coffee has very strong Metallic Taste - Is it my Grinder?

It could also be a roast or greens issue.

[DiBort]

Re: Coffee has very strong Metallic Taste - Is it my Grinder?

I will start by cleanning grinder and machine(including handles) from there you can say that if there are the beans or something else

[Fresh_Coffee]

Re: Coffee has very strong Metallic Taste - Is it my Grinder?

Unlikely.

Remove as many beans as possible from the hopper, then try and vacuum out what you can from both ends of the grinder so it spins empty, then try a different coffee supply and see what happens.

Alternatively, take your beans to a mate, or work, or somewhere else and try it in a different set of equipment and see what happens there.

You havent said whether you recently changed coffee supply or origin....or whether you or someone else may have added something to the beans. For example, I consider coffee with cardamon added to have a kind of metallic character. What do the beans smell like before grinding. What if you crush them with a mortar and pestle, hammer or whatever. Does that smell the same as grinds from the grinder? Not enough information.

[coffeechris]

Re: Coffee has very strong Metallic Taste - Is it my Grinder?

Even though you said the water was ok have you cleaned your machine with any descale solution lately?

[WiredArabica]

Re: Coffee has very strong Metallic Taste - Is it my Grinder?

As others have said, try the beans first.
I recently had an issue with a batch from my local roaster (my favorite espresso blend) which for some reason gave me a strong metallic / mineral taste.  Beans were fresh but couldnt get a decent pour no matter what I did and decided I must have been doing something particularly stupid, but going right back to basics didnt improve matters.  Decided the grinder must be playing up - pulled it apart and cleaned it out (twice), decided it must be the machine (check pressure, temperature, chemical backflush (which I do every week anyway) (twice)), no dice.
Once I ran out of those beans (...didnt take long considering how may shots I was running through) and got some more in (same roaster, same blend, different roast date) and instantly things were better.

Moral of the story: Clean the grinder of the old & get some new beans before getting too carried away.  Geez I wasted a lot of time and sanity :-[...