Longer Shots are not Always Better

Occasionally I like to post about one of my great passions, the brewing of fine espresso.

I have settled into a good routine, twice per week, I can go to Whole Foods Market and pick up some freshly roasted Intelligentsia Black Cat espresso. Only fresh beans will do- no more than a week old. Nevertheless, I was still not pleased with the quality of shots I was pulling. They were fresh with red-gold crema, but they were bitter to the last drop. After an experiment, I have determined that I was pulling my shots too long. I have been setting my Rancilio Rocky grinder on 7, giving it a good tamp, and pulling about 1 oz
in 30-35 seconds. For some reason, I thought, as long as my crema looks good and does not go blond, everything is as it should. Wrong. 30-35 seconds is much too long for only 1 oz. of espresso. The resultant shot is much too bitter. Setting my grinder one notch coarser on 8, I was able to pull 1.5 oz in about 25-30 seconds with great crema. The shot was amazing. So the lesson learned is that longer pull times are not to be desired when the volume of espresso pulled is less than 1.5 oz. The sweet spot is still 1.5 oz in 25-30 seconds.

This is what I love about espresso (besides the flavor). It is an art that takes time to master. There are so many variables that have to be just right in order to pull a little slice of heaven from a coffee bean. I have been seriously brewing for about 2 years now, and I am still learning the very basics.