Hi all,
I'm trying to get the best out of my home set up and for the life of me can't seem to produce a great tasting shot.
Beans are Merlo - espresso blend and Ive also tried Columbian single origin - using them between 3-7 days after roast date.
My equipment is the Breville Smart Grinder and Breville BES900 dual boiler. Grind consistency seems ok, grinds come out quite warm and clumpy, so I use the WDT once Ive dosed into porta filter.
Im dosing 19g into the Breville double basket, followed by WDT, then careful levelling and a single 15kg tamp with a slight polish/twist at the end. Portafilter is hot and dry before dosing grounds. Grouphead is flushed immediately prior to portafilter insertion.
Pre-infusion is default 7 sec and temp is 93C. First coffee comes out at around 11-12 seconds, and total time to fill 2 x 30ml shots is around 35 secs (including the preinfusion of 7 secs). I try and cut the shot when blonding becomes apparent. The pour looks good to my novice eye - not dripping but not rushing out. Kind of about the thickness of a mouse tail. The shot ends up being about 1/4 crema, with nice brown flecking. Pucks come out cleanly and are firm with no cracks or holes visible to the naked eye. There is an impression of the showerscreen and screw on top of the puck and some residual moisture.
My issue is that I can't get it to taste like the short blacks I've tried from the Merlo cafe - in which I could taste some fruitiness. Mine taste overly bitter and I've never got anything close to "sweetness / caramel / chocolate / nutty" flavours that people seems to refer to.
They taste okay as caps or lattes but as espresso they make me grimace. Any ideas of what I need to adjust to get a better taste?
I'm trying to get the best out of my home set up and for the life of me can't seem to produce a great tasting shot.
Beans are Merlo - espresso blend and Ive also tried Columbian single origin - using them between 3-7 days after roast date.
My equipment is the Breville Smart Grinder and Breville BES900 dual boiler. Grind consistency seems ok, grinds come out quite warm and clumpy, so I use the WDT once Ive dosed into porta filter.
Im dosing 19g into the Breville double basket, followed by WDT, then careful levelling and a single 15kg tamp with a slight polish/twist at the end. Portafilter is hot and dry before dosing grounds. Grouphead is flushed immediately prior to portafilter insertion.
Pre-infusion is default 7 sec and temp is 93C. First coffee comes out at around 11-12 seconds, and total time to fill 2 x 30ml shots is around 35 secs (including the preinfusion of 7 secs). I try and cut the shot when blonding becomes apparent. The pour looks good to my novice eye - not dripping but not rushing out. Kind of about the thickness of a mouse tail. The shot ends up being about 1/4 crema, with nice brown flecking. Pucks come out cleanly and are firm with no cracks or holes visible to the naked eye. There is an impression of the showerscreen and screw on top of the puck and some residual moisture.
My issue is that I can't get it to taste like the short blacks I've tried from the Merlo cafe - in which I could taste some fruitiness. Mine taste overly bitter and I've never got anything close to "sweetness / caramel / chocolate / nutty" flavours that people seems to refer to.
They taste okay as caps or lattes but as espresso they make me grimace. Any ideas of what I need to adjust to get a better taste?

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