"it is annoying" sums up the process of dialing in espresso perfectly! I love it now I've learned more about dialing in but it was definitely hard to begin with! I can't think of many food/drink preparations that are so finicky to get right. Tiny changes in particle size or a few extra ml extracted can be the difference between perfection and a bitter or sour coffee. When it's right though, it can be incredible. Great content as always!
It's amazing that tens of thousands of cafes, restaurants and pastry shops in Italy, Spain and Portugal and their multiple tens of thousands of employees don't seem to have any problem with this - and haven't for the past 60+ years. But, every millennial that's discovered coffee in the past 20 years seems to believe they're onto something new. SMH. I was pulling shots on a $3000 machine in 1988 at a restaurant without ever making one sour. Now machines cost 10x that and you can't get anything but garbage at a typical US or Canadian-style cafe.
@@espressomatic coffee knowledge has moved on a lot even in the last decade or so. I'm sure the coffee back then wasn't sour because it was likely quite dark roasted with little acidity but I doubt it was nearly as tasty as coffee available at good cafes nowadays. I'm sure many of the cafes etc that you mention probably didn't have any difficulty making coffee but probably also did it badly by comparison to modern standards. That said, I'm sure the typical coffee establishments in most countries are still going to be mediocre and the best will be the minority of speciality cafes.
I don't dial in. I pull a shot I drink it, next shot I'll adjust slightly. I'm not getting optimal shots but it's zero waste. Range is huge and it's all still within an ok range, unlike some cafes.
Lance this is the best video on explaining the concepts of coffee extraction. You have a super human talent for breaking things down and making them easy to understand. Well done !!
Once I was so desperate from going finer and finer and still getting sour that I just went in the other direction because what the heck else I was supposed to do. And you guessed it, I got sweeter! that was a revelation. And now I finally understand why and hopefully will be able to make a more informed decision in future. Thanks Lance!
I've had that reaction to sour espresso, but I've never had the echo, no matter how loud I yell. That only comes from being a TRUE Espresso Master. Great video as always Lance!
unless the cappuccino has caramel syrup it is undrinkable to me but most are in any event thus considering trashing this barista pro with no support from breville
Tried my first straight espresso shot this morning…and it was the worst taste I’ve ever had from a drink. 🤣 So thankful for your video and RUclips’s algorithm this morning.
Haha. Same here. My first thoughts were 'Why did I spend so much money on this new hobby and get the most horrible espresso shot I've ever had?'. There is so much to learn. Grateful for all these free lessons
The best thing I ever did for better tasting shots is puck prep, especially WDT. WDT was a game changer for more satisfying espresso. Whether the shots are long, short, middle or turbo... it always tastes better with WDT. It very much helps with the bitter and sour issues.
Great video!! I was struggling because I was trying to pull a 30g shot from 20g of medium roasted beans and no matter what grind size I was using it was tasting sour. Upped it to 35 and suddenly the shot was sweet! Subscribed ❤️🤝
Thanks for the tips. Just pull a sour one: 18g in - 38g out - 60sec. Gonna try coarser grind tomorrow while keeping other variables the same. Really learn something from your explanation! Great job!
Lance, that is a great detailed video, thanks for your advice. I bought and tested the equipment and it greatly improved the quality of my espresso. Thank-you, so much!
Depending on the beans I had also great success using the blooming allongé extraction. I get more fruitiness snd and no sourness which is also easily explained by your extraction tipps and tricks
thank youuuu for this. I’ve been watching a lot of videos trying to find the answer because mine have been really sour but take too much time to reach the right volume. will go a bit coarser!! tysm
Your videos are exactly what most of us need. I just made a sour coffee with proper timing and ratio..and i find this video 😅 thank you! Your hair is amazing ❤
Excellent reminder of some basic principles and timely since I’ve had a lot of sour happening recently. Also kudos for the use of “en flique”, sadly no product or tips will bring back my locks.
Bless you, letting my shots run longer to the 1:3-1:4 lungo range really cut down on sourness and let alot more sweet flavors through. I'm sure a grinder with finer adjustments, or a better machine would make true proper espresso, but not everyone has the time and money to make 100% perfect shots.
This video could not have come at a better time for me, i just got a grinder and was so excited to taste the espresso only to find that it was super sour!!
Made what I would consider an unoptimal extraction yesterday and it tastes great and pulled it near perfect today only to be super sour. Glad I found this video
Great video. The scenario of too fine a grind creating a fast extraction is a real sleeper case. Getting puck prep consistent is a must before diagnosing and assuming other culprit.
Great video lance. I went courser and way better. I have an older breville duo temp using a double shot double lined high pressure basket. I think that’s why it was so sour before because I had the grind way to fine
I had a regular problem with sour shots when I was experimenting with an early model Flair lever machine. Shots times were good, prep seemed good. Eventually I figured out that the main issue was temperature management, it was difficult to get the temperature of the group high and keep it there during the shot. I had to soak the whole steel group in near boiling water, reassemble it, and then do the shot as fast as possible before it lost too much temperature (without burning my hands). Tricky!
You can insulate the one with a heater and let the temperature get a bit high. Then turn the heat off and as the temperature slowly drops, time when to do the extraction. You can use a fast reading thermometer like a Thermapen.
I was getting sour espresso on the absolute finest grind setting on my grinder. Was so confused until I realised even at the finest setting my grinder wasn’t grinding fine enough. So I brought out my manual grinder and after a few practice shots, I was getting perfect, delicious espresso. I’m so chuffed!
I am struggling with sour or underdeveloped espresso shots, and it confused me a great deal when my espresso still had bitterness in it, though obviously under extracted, and I also experienced that sourness tends to increase when grinding finer, which was confusing as well. Thanks for addressing these seemingly odd phenomena.
My coffee was constanly sour although I nailed everything to an extent you'd not believe. In the end, the reason was THE TEMPERATURE! It does way more than you think at least for light roast coffee but I guess that's why you are here! So IF YOUR SPECIALTY COFFEE IS STILL SOUR, RAISE YOUR TEMP TO 96 deg C / 205 f and see what happens. MAGIC. From there lower it slowly to fine tune. De rien.
Thanks for the video, really helpful. Although i recently found out that my dedica is common for not getting very hot water temp, how imperative is that. Increasing my yeild did reduce the sourness. I think your curls are awesome and the mo
Just saved an under extracted shot of James Hoffman's "Il Grifone" by transferring the puck to my Hario Switch. The under extracted shot in the cup and 180 ml 85 celcius water in the dripper - let it steam for 1 min and release to the cup and mix. Made a very decent cup of coffee and then we dialed in the grind size for a very nice espresso. Zero waste of precious beans.
Thanks for the informative video!! I see you got your hands on the Happy Tamper and used it in the video. I finally received mine and have used it only once; still adjusting to it. So far I am happy but interested to hear your thoughts. Thank again.
At first I thought you pulled a good espresso and just pretended it was sour for the intro but the end of the video convinced me otherwise. I like it! 😄
Well explained. Do you have any suggestions for Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso? That one is really difficult to brew espresso with - always comes out sour.
Sometimes sour gets mistaken for acidic. So don't always just pour the shot down the sink. Make a latte with it. And if the sour tasting shot makes a tasty latte.. chances are the shot was acidic and not sour. I recently discovered this when I switched from a high to medium roast coffee bean. I thought my beans were still too fresh and full of CO2. As I thought it was sour tasting. I poured the first couple shots down the sink. Then thought I'll just use the 3rd sour shot in a latte instead of wasting it. The latte tasted just as good as the latte I bought from the coffee shop where I bought the beans from
So what’s the difference? I’ve been asking this question for months and nobody wants to answer it. How is very acidic and sour not the same if sourness is basically caused by the presence of acid?
@@mitchkronowit3633 sour ≠ acidic unpleasant taste from sour shot can easily be differentiated if you using milk because if u drink lemon latte it will be unpleasant right? 😅
One problem I have is: when I grind finer, I either clog my filter or I get a really fast extraction (50g+ in 25~30 seconds), using a Delonghi Dedica, JX Pro, WDT, bottomless PF. After MONTHS of trying new things I gave up and accepted it's something with either my grinder or machine. My hacky solution is to get water that is very rich in sodium bicarbonate (300~600mg/L), which mutes the sourness quite a bit and also makes the coffee extra creamy haha
Do the words "under-extracted" and "over-extracted" when applied to coffee flavours correlate with extraction yield values as measured by a refractometer and converted from TDS to EY? For example, would a shot that tastes under-extracted be expected to have an EY of much less than, say, 18%?
I bought a De'Longhi La Specialista Arte a few weeks ago and despite having rusty but decent skills as a barista in the early 90s (not Starbucks), I've had a hell of a time trying to dial in a decent espresso. I'm close, but thank you for these awesome videos and hopefully these tips help.
Surprised you didn't mention temperature much. Although some machines you don't have much control over that, but you do have control over grind size and brew times and ratios
Hey Lance. Great video! Question on pre-infusion and how I should think about it relative to the duration of the shot? Do you consider pre-infusion as part of the shot duration or do you exclude pre-infusion time from shot duration? TIA!
The more I learn about espresso, the less I know about espresso...
Thank you!! ❤
I'm right with you in Dunning-Kruger's valley of despair.
"it is annoying" sums up the process of dialing in espresso perfectly! I love it now I've learned more about dialing in but it was definitely hard to begin with! I can't think of many food/drink preparations that are so finicky to get right. Tiny changes in particle size or a few extra ml extracted can be the difference between perfection and a bitter or sour coffee. When it's right though, it can be incredible. Great content as always!
It's amazing that tens of thousands of cafes, restaurants and pastry shops in Italy, Spain and Portugal and their multiple tens of thousands of employees don't seem to have any problem with this - and haven't for the past 60+ years. But, every millennial that's discovered coffee in the past 20 years seems to believe they're onto something new. SMH.
I was pulling shots on a $3000 machine in 1988 at a restaurant without ever making one sour. Now machines cost 10x that and you can't get anything but garbage at a typical US or Canadian-style cafe.
@@espressomatic coffee knowledge has moved on a lot even in the last decade or so. I'm sure the coffee back then wasn't sour because it was likely quite dark roasted with little acidity but I doubt it was nearly as tasty as coffee available at good cafes nowadays. I'm sure many of the cafes etc that you mention probably didn't have any difficulty making coffee but probably also did it badly by comparison to modern standards. That said, I'm sure the typical coffee establishments in most countries are still going to be mediocre and the best will be the minority of speciality cafes.
I don't dial in. I pull a shot I drink it, next shot I'll adjust slightly. I'm not getting optimal shots but it's zero waste. Range is huge and it's all still within an ok range, unlike some cafes.
Best explanation I’ve ever seen in my 10 years of sour/bitter shots. Very understandable.
Wow you are far more patient than I am..7 months now and almost $2k spent and 3 enjoyable cups...
Thank you for all of this information! Very much appreciated!
@@kenroman777 well it's your fault if you've spent £1800 on something you didn't know if you were good at
You made me feel a bit better. I hope I get it in less time I'm not that patient
I've been watching some of your older uploads... and then I watch this one. The step up in presentation is phenomenal dude!
Lance this is the best video on explaining the concepts of coffee extraction. You have a super human talent for breaking things down and making them easy to understand. Well done !!
Bruh is a genius. IQ 9000. A coffee master in every possible way. Great teaching, amazing video quality.
hahah thank you, Johnny! Glad you enjoyed it!
Once I was so desperate from going finer and finer and still getting sour that I just went in the other direction because what the heck else I was supposed to do. And you guessed it, I got sweeter! that was a revelation. And now I finally understand why and hopefully will be able to make a more informed decision in future. Thanks Lance!
What settings did you find this sweeter settings?
So going coarser makes it sweeter?
@@TECHNIKMMyes... But you'll only understand why if you watch the video.
I've had that reaction to sour espresso, but I've never had the echo, no matter how loud I yell. That only comes from being a TRUE Espresso Master. Great video as always Lance!
haha! I love this.
Just gotta yell louder. 😂
You need to grind finer to get the echo.
nah, I tried that again, no flicking echo...
I've had the echo. That's how sour mine is....
i always enjoying watching Lance's RUclips, easy to understand and a strong sense of humor.
Great vid Lance! Appreciated the sour v acidic distinction, something I definitely conflate at times. Keep the awesome content coming!
If after all of that, you can’t drink that espresso because is still “sour “, make a cappuccino, move on and be happy 😂
unless the cappuccino has caramel syrup it is undrinkable to me but most are in any event thus considering trashing this barista pro with no support from breville
@@kenroman777 ?
Or drink tea
@@kenroman777 maybe you just don’t like espresso
I’m with you! Throw some milk on it, pump of syrup and enjoy.
Thank you Lance! And yes, your hair looks so shiny, amazing!
Tried my first straight espresso shot this morning…and it was the worst taste I’ve ever had from a drink. 🤣 So thankful for your video and RUclips’s algorithm this morning.
Haha. Same here. My first thoughts were 'Why did I spend so much money on this new hobby and get the most horrible espresso shot I've ever had?'. There is so much to learn. Grateful for all these free lessons
Love the mic a d the voice. Very clear! Great job Lance
Thanks Lance, great video as always. This lines up to my experience of puckering sour shots that are extracted too long and have small yield.
The best thing I ever did for better tasting shots is puck prep, especially WDT. WDT was a game changer for more satisfying espresso. Whether the shots are long, short, middle or turbo... it always tastes better with WDT. It very much helps with the bitter and sour issues.
Great video!! I was struggling because I was trying to pull a 30g shot from 20g of medium roasted beans and no matter what grind size I was using it was tasting sour. Upped it to 35 and suddenly the shot was sweet! Subscribed ❤️🤝
Love the details!!! Dang I always learn a lot from you Lance! now we need the “bitter” version!
You’re stepping your game up with the intros! Beautifully done!
Thanks for the tips. Just pull a sour one: 18g in - 38g out - 60sec. Gonna try coarser grind tomorrow while keeping other variables the same. Really learn something from your explanation! Great job!
Lance, that is a great detailed video, thanks for your advice. I bought and tested the equipment and it greatly improved the quality of my espresso. Thank-you, so much!
This was helpful for me, and also I one hundred percent subscribed because of your on-fleek curls.
Depending on the beans I had also great success using the blooming allongé extraction. I get more fruitiness snd and no sourness which is also easily explained by your extraction tipps and tricks
Excellent video Lance! Really nice explanation. Cheers from 🇮🇹
I want my Lelit now! BTW Lance, congratulations on the production and editing of your new videos! They are really awesome!
thank youuuu for this. I’ve been watching a lot of videos trying to find the answer because mine have been really sour but take too much time to reach the right volume. will go a bit coarser!! tysm
Love your personality! Thanks for the vid!
Thanks, very helpful. The curls look good!
Your videos are exactly what most of us need. I just made a sour coffee with proper timing and ratio..and i find this video 😅 thank you! Your hair is amazing ❤
Great practical information! I imagine this would be useful for most people entering the confusing world of coffee. I also enjoyed your “bad” jokes.
Thanks Lance. Good explanations.
This was such a helpful video, you have no idea. Thank you!
Excellent reminder of some basic principles and timely since I’ve had a lot of sour happening recently. Also kudos for the use of “en flique”, sadly no product or tips will bring back my locks.
Lance, this is such a perfect video. ❤
Bless you, letting my shots run longer to the 1:3-1:4 lungo range really cut down on sourness and let alot more sweet flavors through.
I'm sure a grinder with finer adjustments, or a better machine would make true proper espresso, but not everyone has the time and money to make 100% perfect shots.
This video could not have come at a better time for me, i just got a grinder and was so excited to taste the espresso only to find that it was super sour!!
How's nobody mentioning that insane intro? Amazing work, Lance!
Made what I would consider an unoptimal extraction yesterday and it tastes great and pulled it near perfect today only to be super sour. Glad I found this video
Hi Lance, very informative, hope I can turn it into practice. P.S. 13min. without grasping for air... very good
Curl game intense Lance! 🎉
Great video. The scenario of too fine a grind creating a fast extraction is a real sleeper case. Getting puck prep consistent is a must before diagnosing and assuming other culprit.
Great video lance. I went courser and way better. I have an older breville duo temp using a double shot double lined high pressure basket. I think that’s why it was so sour before because I had the grind way to fine
Wow. Awesome Soundquality! The rest is also great, as always😉
Enjoying your new setup! Nice onw
Thank you for explaining how under-extraction can be caused both by having it too course as well as too fine.
love the lights
Thanks Lance! Awesome video
Thanks for the tip! I struggled with sour extractions for a month.
Clearer sound quality. Nice.🙂👍🏻
Loving these new intros!
I had a regular problem with sour shots when I was experimenting with an early model Flair lever machine. Shots times were good, prep seemed good. Eventually I figured out that the main issue was temperature management, it was difficult to get the temperature of the group high and keep it there during the shot. I had to soak the whole steel group in near boiling water, reassemble it, and then do the shot as fast as possible before it lost too much temperature (without burning my hands). Tricky!
You can insulate the one with a heater and let the temperature get a bit high. Then turn the heat off and as the temperature slowly drops, time when to do the extraction. You can use a fast reading thermometer like a Thermapen.
I was getting sour espresso on the absolute finest grind setting on my grinder. Was so confused until I realised even at the finest setting my grinder wasn’t grinding fine enough. So I brought out my manual grinder and after a few practice shots, I was getting perfect, delicious espresso. I’m so chuffed!
lmaoo these videos are hilarious and insightful, keep it up bruddahh!
Good advice, thank you.
Those curls were the first thing I noticed on my 4K TV! 😍
I am struggling with sour or underdeveloped espresso shots, and it confused me a great deal when my espresso still had bitterness in it, though obviously under extracted, and I also experienced that sourness tends to increase when grinding finer, which was confusing as well. Thanks for addressing these seemingly odd phenomena.
the curls are immaculate Lance. my hair is too short at the moment but do link them in the description box!
I wish I could give this video a hug!
My coffee was constanly sour although I nailed everything to an extent you'd not believe. In the end, the reason was THE TEMPERATURE! It does way more than you think at least for light roast coffee but I guess that's why you are here! So IF YOUR SPECIALTY COFFEE IS STILL SOUR, RAISE YOUR TEMP TO 96 deg C / 205 f and see what happens. MAGIC. From there lower it slowly to fine tune. De rien.
Love the Tai Zonde reference!!
Thanks Hance. That was a lot of help 👌 btw, what effect does pre-infusion have on the taste?
Thank you for great content
Thanks for the video, really helpful. Although i recently found out that my dedica is common for not getting very hot water temp, how imperative is that. Increasing my yeild did reduce the sourness. I think your curls are awesome and the mo
Just saved an under extracted shot of James Hoffman's "Il Grifone" by transferring the puck to my Hario Switch. The under extracted shot in the cup and 180 ml 85 celcius water in the dripper - let it steam for 1 min and release to the cup and mix. Made a very decent cup of coffee and then we dialed in the grind size for a very nice espresso. Zero waste of precious beans.
Thank you Lance. I dont think anyone could have said it better.
Yeah go on, link them.
Thanks for the informative video!! I see you got your hands on the Happy Tamper and used it in the video. I finally received mine and have used it only once; still adjusting to it. So far I am happy but interested to hear your thoughts. Thank again.
I gotchu on them hair products homie. Lmk if you need some curly tips. Love the videos. Keep the tips coming.
drop the hair care routine!!!! luv u lance 💖
That's really helpful info. Could you create a cheat sheet that lists all those situations and explains how to spot and then to fix them?
Wow what a change love it
Thank you! Stoked for the support
Ha!!!! That reaction at the beginning. Too damn funny! 🙌🏻
Yes I want to see links to your hair products!
At first I thought you pulled a good espresso and just pretended it was sour for the intro but the end of the video convinced me otherwise. I like it! 😄
New Lance Hedrick vid ? Today is a good day :D
haha thank you for the support and comment!
Finally fixed my sour espresso due to my grind being too fine! Thanks!
Well explained. Do you have any suggestions for Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso? That one is really difficult to brew espresso with - always comes out sour.
I can feel the Glow Lance
Sometimes sour gets mistaken for acidic. So don't always just pour the shot down the sink. Make a latte with it. And if the sour tasting shot makes a tasty latte.. chances are the shot was acidic and not sour. I recently discovered this when I switched from a high to medium roast coffee bean. I thought my beans were still too fresh and full of CO2. As I thought it was sour tasting. I poured the first couple shots down the sink. Then thought I'll just use the 3rd sour shot in a latte instead of wasting it. The latte tasted just as good as the latte I bought from the coffee shop where I bought the beans from
So what’s the difference? I’ve been asking this question for months and nobody wants to answer it.
How is very acidic and sour not the same if sourness is basically caused by the presence of acid?
@@mitchkronowit3633 sour ≠ acidic unpleasant taste from sour shot can easily be differentiated if you using milk because if u drink lemon latte it will be unpleasant right? 😅
A lot of this was basics, but there were a few nuggets that's were super helpful. I'd love the bitter side of this discussion too
Thx for the reminder
Thanks Lance
Nice tips 👌
Lance, when do you start your timer? When you flick the switch or from the first drop ?
Lance thanks I learnt a few things about the making of coffee? I am going to experiment
Fantastic! So glad to read that. Cheers!
One problem I have is: when I grind finer, I either clog my filter or I get a really fast extraction (50g+ in 25~30 seconds), using a Delonghi Dedica, JX Pro, WDT, bottomless PF. After MONTHS of trying new things I gave up and accepted it's something with either my grinder or machine. My hacky solution is to get water that is very rich in sodium bicarbonate (300~600mg/L), which mutes the sourness quite a bit and also makes the coffee extra creamy haha
Crushin the espresso and curls game! 😂
Thanks!
That was a beautiful intro...and absolutely link your products (coming from a fellow curly-haired guy)
Do the words "under-extracted" and "over-extracted" when applied to coffee flavours correlate with extraction yield values as measured by a refractometer and converted from TDS to EY? For example, would a shot that tastes under-extracted be expected to have an EY of much less than, say, 18%?
Temperature would have an impact too.. depending on roast. If puck prep is good, check temp.
I bought a De'Longhi La Specialista Arte a few weeks ago and despite having rusty but decent skills as a barista in the early 90s (not Starbucks), I've had a hell of a time trying to dial in a decent espresso. I'm close, but thank you for these awesome videos and hopefully these tips help.
Surprised you didn't mention temperature much. Although some machines you don't have much control over that, but you do have control over grind size and brew times and ratios
this is for the algorithm... nice curls btw
7:31 thoughts arrive like butterflies 🦋
His humor is my favorite 🤣
hahaha I love the hair product comments! go for it!
this dude is such a boss
Hey Lance. Great video! Question on pre-infusion and how I should think about it relative to the duration of the shot? Do you consider pre-infusion as part of the shot duration or do you exclude pre-infusion time from shot duration? TIA!
Here in the UK 🇬🇧 we have the ultimate fix to sour or bitter coffee and it is so simple... Tea!
Well, that's something we can work with... Many thanks! Mate of mine sold his stuff out off pure frustration 😂
bro im getting there with the touch impress... i have never owned a more frustrating product to learn off of.