Be much easier if these lads gave a MACHINE, the a GRIND SETTING for different grinders or different coffee beans. I mean Gaggia Classic, if you have the Specialita Grinder this is your setting for light beans and this for Med. beans and this for dark beans. Next up, the Rancho Silvia............etc.
"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.
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
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!
"There's no such thing as a sour espresso, only sour extraction." God damn. I really need to improve my dialing technique. This quote blew my mind. Great video!
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.
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 ❤️🤝
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!
Same! I have a light roast coffee that is just overly sour when grinded very fine. It seems better because the time is longer but actually when I grinded coarser and it comes out faster it tastes instantly better.
@@TECHNIKMM actually for lighter roasts I noticed that that was the case yes. Grinding coarser and getting a shot in 20 seconds gave the best taste. Going against all general rules😅
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!
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 !!
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
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!
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
Great video. Yeah, espresso isn't rocket science, but it isn't simple either. Many people simplify their approach and assume water is going through the puck evenly. Your explanation is straight forward and genius and I have used it with my friends who complain about "sour espresso". Brilliant Sir.
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.
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.
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!!
well i'm impressed simply for the fact that you are a coffee professional and coffee drinker (and professional coffee drinker lulz) and yet you are wearing a white shirt and it seems to be spotless.
two years after I'm listening to this _again_ (been enjoying my Flair Classic setup for a year and I suddenly get a coffee in my subscription I can't seem to dial in). And I have to repeat to myself: _dial in my flowrate_. I just want the water to flow at a 1.0 to 1.5 gram a second rate. Only then I start thinking about taste. Because if it flows nicely, I end up with 'sour -> longer, bitter -> shorter'. Done. The only problem I have is that if I have a _really_ light roast (like now) I need to pull a ratio that I don't have enough water in my flair chamber, so I guess I have to dose lower... which changes the resistance again, and we start from scratch again :).
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.
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.
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
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.
Mind blown. I've been subscribing to Verve coffee and been struggling with the sour notes (20g/30sec/40g). After watching this, I went back to my grinder, set it to finer grind (20g/60sec/38g) and it was still sour. Then I went to the opposite extreme with a courser grind (20g/23sec/41g) and it was PERFECT. Seriously guys! Literally just had to pull 2 shots to solve the problem. It's amazing how only a few seconds can completely transform the flavor. Ironically, the Verve website recommends those settings and I never even thought to look. 😖
My home roasted makes sour espresso, my experimental store bought Lavazza has no sourness with the same machine and process. I believe how you roast makes a big difference
Very new to espresso here and getting very frustrated with this issue. First English is not my first language so I'm not 100% sure if I should describe my shot as acidic or sour but they are horrible no matter what I try. Would love to be able to get a "sweet" shot some time. I'm on my third bag of coffee already and I haven't enjoyed a single shot yet LOL. I'll try to start logging every thing I do to see if that helps.
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%?
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.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: ☕ Understanding the extraction process: Coffee extraction involves three main phases - sour, sweet, and bitter. 🧊 Sourness indicators: Sourness in espresso can stem from underextraction, characterized by sour and watery shots, or overextraction, leading to bitterness and dryness. 📏 Fixing underextraction: If your espresso is sour and underextracted, adjust by fining the grind and allowing more contact time for better extraction. 🏋️♂️ Fixing overextraction: If your espresso is bitter and overextracted, coarse the grind to promote even water flow through the coffee puck. 🔄 Adjusting extraction time: Tailor extraction time to achieve the desired flavor profile, whether it requires lengthening or shortening the extraction process. 📐 Consistent preparation: Ensure consistent and thorough preparation methods, such as distributing grounds evenly and tamping consistently, for better extraction. 🚫 Tamp pressure myth: Tamp pressure doesn't significantly affect extraction; focus instead on grind size, extraction time, and coffee-to-water ratio. 🌟 Aim for sweetness: Apply these tips to brew sweeter espresso and improve overall coffee quality. Made with HARPA AI
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
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!
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 ❤
I don't know what sour means. I only taste really bitter coffee, so does that mean sour? Or, is that acidic? Either way, when I use a medium roast EXPENSIVE coffee, it tastes bitter to me. Help me Lance! FYI, I have a good grinder - Baratza ESP, but lousy machine. I don't want to upgrade the machine until I understand more of this process, but should I?
How about a video on using paper filters above and below the grinds. Does a paper filter below the grinds trap finds? What is the effect on taste? I find it necessary to grind rather fine when using a filter on the bottom of the grinds. Finally, I have a needle valve on top of my e61 brew head and a pressure gauge any hints on getting the best shot out of that setup?
With my good grinders I haven't noticed it affecting body or the amount of bitterness / fines, but because using a paper filter requires a finer grind size, it's kinda hard to compare directly with and without it. I think you might be onto something if your grinder does give a lot of fines paper filter may be even more beneficial. Coffee flows faster with the paper filter because the fines aren't clogging the holes, instead they're captured the larger surface area of the paper filter I believe.
When it is the right moment to start the timer? For Lelit Mara X v.2 if the timer has been started when the lever is pulled, it will measure 8-9 sec of pre-infusion, when coffee is not coming out of the portafilter. If the timer was to be started when the drip down starts with the stock portafilter, it won't measure the time the coffee requires to reach the sprouts. Confusing.
I haven't had an issue with sour tasting coffee from all the coffee that I have bought up until now. Great streak of luck comes to an end one might say. 😅 I bought 2 bags from Aldi which are about 2/3 months old and man, whatever I've tried it is so acidic tasting. I obviously won't be buying them again but I want to at least finish the remainder in a way that doesn't taste bad. So it seems as though I'm not getting enough yield. I tried going fine and course but no luck. I'll try increasing the yield to 2.5x and see if that eliminates the sourness.
How to fix bitter espresso? Today I used lightly roasted Ehitopia beans and got more bitterness and less frutiness/freshness. I used 1:3 ratio (17gr in, 51 out. Grinder used is 1ZPresso and machine F58.) Should I grind coarser in order to fix the bitterness here? Any tips on extracting better and more consistent shots with the Flair 58? Thank you for the amazing videos and tips!
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! 😄
i recently bought a magnifica evo automatic. I'm using a medium roast. I can't seem to get the espresso not be sour, I have it set to the highest temp. I've tried going lower on the grind setting but the machine can't handle it. The shot drips and i can hear the pump really struggling. At a setting of 3 i'm right at the edge of the machine being able to pull a shot that flows and doesn't drip. I did measure the dry grounds and it's around 13 g every time. I'm up to almost 50 g espresso shots at this point. Should i just keep increasing the ratio i'm really wasting a lot of beans trying to get a tasty shot here....help
I've got a 2 year old Rancilio Silvia w/ PID and an Eureka Mignon Specialita'. I've got a 1s pre-infusion, with a 5s pause and I've been having abnormally long shots until they start dripping (10+ seconds) but once dripping my final shot time is 25-30s not including pre-infusion & pre-drip. This typically would indicate my grind is too fine but when I go slightly coarser, coffee starts faster but the shot also finishes in less than 20s. The previous 2 years I haven't noticed this behavior and I was able to dial-in beans successfully. I also noticed previously that one bag of beans to the next, required significant dialing-in whereas now it seems like most bags dial-in around the same grind setting. I can't figure out if I'm doing something wrong or if it's possible something could be wrong with my machine.
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
From one guy to another because I know we usually don't enough compliments. The hair and moustache is looking mighty fine on you. No opinion on the product. Probably no harm in just linking it. Have a nice day and thanks for the coffee knowledge
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? 😅
Thank you, great info .. I personally, love a typical Italian espresso extraction, where you only see crema during the whole beverage (even though very short) And never see black liquid ; This is what i love but could almost never obtain..
Very easy to obtain (tho I despise this kind of espresso)- Use a SUPER fresh Italian or French roast coffee. Preferably 50% or more robusta. And, that's it.
@@LanceHedrick yup, not for everyone .. After a lot trials, I doubted that the freshness was this issue.. Hard to find, in my taste but recently discovered portuguese roasts,, in portugal, love it Thank you again
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
Will stopping and starting a shot work? Say i grind 20g, pull the shot for 30s, taste it, pull it again for another 10s and taste it again and then pull it a final 10s extra and taste that one to see if any are better than others? Or if not stopping/starting i could use 3 shot glasses, pull 30s in glass one and swap to glass 2 at 40s whilst still pulling, then swap to glass 3 at 40s, stopping at 50s. Taste glass 1, add glass 1 and 2 and taste, then add the third and taste again. Might be interesting to see a video like this.
If you stop and start a shot you will be more likely to open up a channel. But I would Recommend looking into the salami shot for your second suggestion!
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.
Hi any idea, my Rancilio Stile grinder is new! So I set up grinde size and make nice espresso! Next day everything same bit my grinder doesnt grinde same instead of 11 second for 15 grams takes 25 second! Any Idea?
So I just stepped up to a real espresso machine, got a bunch of coffee from my fav local roaster and nothing I did gave me anything other than a sour/salty cup. Going finer and finer didnt do anything to help, going coarser never helped. Finally sat back and saw what was actually going on with pressure, temp, and time. Realized my prep wasnt as thorough as I was expecting it to be, finally troubleshot that, got the grind size right by looking at pressure after I got puck prep right, now I'm more or less experimenting with yield. 1:2 seems good but seems like more work to be done. Finally getting things locked in. Only cost a full bag of coffee and about a week to get it done. I'm in the right zone now, I think I still need to play with some of the grind size. I have it right now just fine enough that it slows extraction down to a) hit full pressure. any coarser and it wont ever reach the full pressure or if it does it drops off quickly and b) is almost right at a 28 second contact time. much finer and it drags out past 30 seconds My shots are 1000x better than they were before this machine, but I still have some dialing in to do.
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 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.
@@BlakeYuckert I was thinking the saaaame! Looking forward to climbing back up, slowly but surely
true
Be much easier if these lads gave a MACHINE, the a GRIND SETTING for different grinders or different coffee beans. I mean Gaggia Classic, if you have the Specialita Grinder this is your setting for light beans and this for Med. beans and this for dark beans. Next up, the Rancho Silvia............etc.
"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.
Thanks!
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
Thanks for posting this
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....
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
@@kenroman777 Good grinder, puck prep, and follow advice in this video.
"There's no such thing as a sour espresso, only sour extraction." God damn. I really need to improve my dialing technique. This quote blew my mind. Great video!
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.
I've been watching some of your older uploads... and then I watch this one. The step up in presentation is phenomenal dude!
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!
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 ❤️🤝
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?
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.
Same! I have a light roast coffee that is just overly sour when grinded very fine. It seems better because the time is longer but actually when I grinded coarser and it comes out faster it tastes instantly better.
@@TECHNIKMM actually for lighter roasts I noticed that that was the case yes. Grinding coarser and getting a shot in 20 seconds gave the best taste. Going against all general rules😅
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!
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 !!
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
Far and away the best espresso channel on RUclips.
i always enjoying watching Lance's RUclips, easy to understand and a strong sense of humor.
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!
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.
Great video. Yeah, espresso isn't rocket science, but it isn't simple either. Many people simplify their approach and assume water is going through the puck evenly. Your explanation is straight forward and genius and I have used it with my friends who complain about "sour espresso". Brilliant Sir.
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.
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.
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!!
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.
Lance, when do you start your timer? When you flick the switch or from the first drop ?
This was helpful for me, and also I one hundred percent subscribed because of your on-fleek curls.
Those curls were the first thing I noticed on my 4K TV! 😍
Love the mic a d the voice. Very clear! Great job Lance
well i'm impressed simply for the fact that you are a coffee professional and coffee drinker (and professional coffee drinker lulz) and yet you are wearing a white shirt and it seems to be spotless.
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
Thank you for explaining how under-extraction can be caused both by having it too course as well as too fine.
two years after I'm listening to this _again_ (been enjoying my Flair Classic setup for a year and I suddenly get a coffee in my subscription I can't seem to dial in). And I have to repeat to myself: _dial in my flowrate_. I just want the water to flow at a 1.0 to 1.5 gram a second rate. Only then I start thinking about taste. Because if it flows nicely, I end up with 'sour -> longer, bitter -> shorter'. Done. The only problem I have is that if I have a _really_ light roast (like now) I need to pull a ratio that I don't have enough water in my flair chamber, so I guess I have to dose lower... which changes the resistance again, and we start from scratch again :).
"CHOCOLATE RAAAAIIN MUSIC🎶" *ROFLCOPTER* XD
I love that you brought it up that he was one of the 'original' youtubers. That was endearing.
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.
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.
I gotchu on them hair products homie. Lmk if you need some curly tips. Love the videos. Keep the tips coming.
Love the details!!! Dang I always learn a lot from you Lance! now we need the “bitter” version!
the curls are immaculate Lance. my hair is too short at the moment but do link them in the description box!
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
Appreciate the theory and knowledge. One suggestion: it might help people more if you demonstrate what you’re talking about as you talk about it.
You’re stepping your game up with the intros! Beautifully done!
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.
How's nobody mentioning that insane intro? Amazing work, Lance!
Mind blown. I've been subscribing to Verve coffee and been struggling with the sour notes (20g/30sec/40g). After watching this, I went back to my grinder, set it to finer grind (20g/60sec/38g) and it was still sour. Then I went to the opposite extreme with a courser grind (20g/23sec/41g) and it was PERFECT. Seriously guys! Literally just had to pull 2 shots to solve the problem. It's amazing how only a few seconds can completely transform the flavor. Ironically, the Verve website recommends those settings and I never even thought to look. 😖
I want my Lelit now! BTW Lance, congratulations on the production and editing of your new videos! They are really awesome!
late to the show, but love the fun and casual approach. Thanks for the laugh at the end! :)
My home roasted makes sour espresso, my experimental store bought Lavazza has no sourness with the same machine and process. I believe how you roast makes a big difference
Very new to espresso here and getting very frustrated with this issue. First English is not my first language so I'm not 100% sure if I should describe my shot as acidic or sour but they are horrible no matter what I try. Would love to be able to get a "sweet" shot some time. I'm on my third bag of coffee already and I haven't enjoyed a single shot yet LOL. I'll try to start logging every thing I do to see if that helps.
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%?
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.
Here in the UK 🇬🇧 we have the ultimate fix to sour or bitter coffee and it is so simple... Tea!
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
☕ Understanding the extraction process: Coffee extraction involves three main phases - sour, sweet, and bitter.
🧊 Sourness indicators: Sourness in espresso can stem from underextraction, characterized by sour and watery shots, or overextraction, leading to bitterness and dryness.
📏 Fixing underextraction: If your espresso is sour and underextracted, adjust by fining the grind and allowing more contact time for better extraction.
🏋️♂️ Fixing overextraction: If your espresso is bitter and overextracted, coarse the grind to promote even water flow through the coffee puck.
🔄 Adjusting extraction time: Tailor extraction time to achieve the desired flavor profile, whether it requires lengthening or shortening the extraction process.
📐 Consistent preparation: Ensure consistent and thorough preparation methods, such as distributing grounds evenly and tamping consistently, for better extraction.
🚫 Tamp pressure myth: Tamp pressure doesn't significantly affect extraction; focus instead on grind size, extraction time, and coffee-to-water ratio.
🌟 Aim for sweetness: Apply these tips to brew sweeter espresso and improve overall coffee quality.
Made with HARPA AI
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
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!
Dude you nail it every time! Thank you for your help.
"There's no such thing as a catch-all in espresso because it is annoying."
Now THAT is what I need on a t-shirt.
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 ❤
Ha!!!! That reaction at the beginning. Too damn funny! 🙌🏻
This is great advice man. Thanks. I’ve been struggling with grind size being too fine. I’ll try more coarse to see if things get better.
Finally fixed my sour espresso due to my grind being too fine! Thanks!
Thank you Lance! And yes, your hair looks so shiny, amazing!
I don't know what sour means. I only taste really bitter coffee, so does that mean sour? Or, is that acidic? Either way, when I use a medium roast EXPENSIVE coffee, it tastes bitter to me. Help me Lance! FYI, I have a good grinder - Baratza ESP, but lousy machine. I don't want to upgrade the machine until I understand more of this process, but should I?
To be a great coffee person I must, therefore, have great hair. I understand... now I have work to do. Thank you for this video!
How about a video on using paper filters above and below the grinds. Does a paper filter below the grinds trap finds? What is the effect on taste? I find it necessary to grind rather fine when using a filter on the bottom of the grinds. Finally, I have a needle valve on top of my e61 brew head and a pressure gauge any hints on getting the best shot out of that setup?
With my good grinders I haven't noticed it affecting body or the amount of bitterness / fines, but because using a paper filter requires a finer grind size, it's kinda hard to compare directly with and without it. I think you might be onto something if your grinder does give a lot of fines paper filter may be even more beneficial.
Coffee flows faster with the paper filter because the fines aren't clogging the holes, instead they're captured the larger surface area of the paper filter I believe.
Hi Lance, very informative, hope I can turn it into practice. P.S. 13min. without grasping for air... very good
When it is the right moment to start the timer? For Lelit Mara X v.2 if the timer has been started when the lever is pulled, it will measure 8-9 sec of pre-infusion, when coffee is not coming out of the portafilter. If the timer was to be started when the drip down starts with the stock portafilter, it won't measure the time the coffee requires to reach the sprouts. Confusing.
I haven't had an issue with sour tasting coffee from all the coffee that I have bought up until now. Great streak of luck comes to an end one might say. 😅 I bought 2 bags from Aldi which are about 2/3 months old and man, whatever I've tried it is so acidic tasting. I obviously won't be buying them again but I want to at least finish the remainder in a way that doesn't taste bad. So it seems as though I'm not getting enough yield. I tried going fine and course but no luck. I'll try increasing the yield to 2.5x and see if that eliminates the sourness.
How to fix bitter espresso? Today I used lightly roasted Ehitopia beans and got more bitterness and less frutiness/freshness. I used 1:3 ratio (17gr in, 51 out. Grinder used is 1ZPresso and machine F58.) Should I grind coarser in order to fix the bitterness here? Any tips on extracting better and more consistent shots with the Flair 58? Thank you for the amazing videos and tips!
Temperature would have an impact too.. depending on roast. If puck prep is good, check temp.
Nice video! What puck prep tools are shown here? Especially around 11:35, which left pinholes in tamped puck?
Thank you Lance. I dont think anyone could have said it better.
Yeah go on, link them.
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! 😄
Curl game intense Lance! 🎉
i recently bought a magnifica evo automatic. I'm using a medium roast. I can't seem to get the espresso not be sour, I have it set to the highest temp. I've tried going lower on the grind setting but the machine can't handle it. The shot drips and i can hear the pump really struggling. At a setting of 3 i'm right at the edge of the machine being able to pull a shot that flows and doesn't drip. I did measure the dry grounds and it's around 13 g every time. I'm up to almost 50 g espresso shots at this point. Should i just keep increasing the ratio i'm really wasting a lot of beans trying to get a tasty shot here....help
I've got a 2 year old Rancilio Silvia w/ PID and an Eureka Mignon Specialita'. I've got a 1s pre-infusion, with a 5s pause and I've been having abnormally long shots until they start dripping (10+ seconds) but once dripping my final shot time is 25-30s not including pre-infusion & pre-drip. This typically would indicate my grind is too fine but when I go slightly coarser, coffee starts faster but the shot also finishes in less than 20s. The previous 2 years I haven't noticed this behavior and I was able to dial-in beans successfully. I also noticed previously that one bag of beans to the next, required significant dialing-in whereas now it seems like most bags dial-in around the same grind setting. I can't figure out if I'm doing something wrong or if it's possible something could be wrong with my machine.
His humor is my favorite 🤣
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
From one guy to another because I know we usually don't enough compliments. The hair and moustache is looking mighty fine on you.
No opinion on the product. Probably no harm in just linking it.
Have a nice day and thanks for the coffee knowledge
haha thank you! Really appreciate it, tbh. Hope you brew something tasty!
@@LanceHedrick Thanks!
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? 😅
I have no interest in coffee, but I subscribed to your channel because you have the best intro on RUclips.
I wish I could give this video a hug!
Thank you, great info ..
I personally, love a typical Italian espresso extraction, where you only see crema during the whole beverage (even though very short)
And never see black liquid ;
This is what i love but could almost never obtain..
Very easy to obtain (tho I despise this kind of espresso)-
Use a SUPER fresh Italian or French roast coffee. Preferably 50% or more robusta.
And, that's it.
@@LanceHedrick yup, not for everyone ..
After a lot trials, I doubted that the freshness was this issue..
Hard to find, in my taste but recently discovered portuguese roasts,, in portugal, love it
Thank you again
love your content. please forget about the haters. They will always exist and crabs gonna crab in a bucket. You sir are no crab
Great practical information! I imagine this would be useful for most people entering the confusing world of coffee. I also enjoyed your “bad” jokes.
Basic question time! Do you start your shot timer from pre-infusion or from the moment the coffee hits the cup?
When coffee hits the cup
lmaoo these videos are hilarious and insightful, keep it up bruddahh!
Thanks Hance. That was a lot of help 👌 btw, what effect does pre-infusion have on the taste?
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
Thanks for teaching sir, I have got the answer well
Will stopping and starting a shot work? Say i grind 20g, pull the shot for 30s, taste it, pull it again for another 10s and taste it again and then pull it a final 10s extra and taste that one to see if any are better than others? Or if not stopping/starting i could use 3 shot glasses, pull 30s in glass one and swap to glass 2 at 40s whilst still pulling, then swap to glass 3 at 40s, stopping at 50s. Taste glass 1, add glass 1 and 2 and taste, then add the third and taste again. Might be interesting to see a video like this.
ruclips.net/video/DFB6E_7W2c0/видео.html this has already been done by the mighty Lance (kind of)
If you stop and start a shot you will be more likely to open up a channel. But I would Recommend looking into the salami shot for your second suggestion!
Yes I want to see links to your hair products!
I was listening very carefuly ultil 4:46 and that awesome reference 😂🍫🌧
I'm quite new to this so I'm probably wrong but it seems if you change one variable it impacts two outcomes.
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.
7:31 thoughts arrive like butterflies 🦋
Hi any idea, my Rancilio Stile grinder is new! So I set up grinde size and make nice espresso! Next day everything same bit my grinder doesnt grinde same instead of 11 second for 15 grams takes 25 second! Any Idea?
So I just stepped up to a real espresso machine, got a bunch of coffee from my fav local roaster and nothing I did gave me anything other than a sour/salty cup. Going finer and finer didnt do anything to help, going coarser never helped. Finally sat back and saw what was actually going on with pressure, temp, and time. Realized my prep wasnt as thorough as I was expecting it to be, finally troubleshot that, got the grind size right by looking at pressure after I got puck prep right, now I'm more or less experimenting with yield. 1:2 seems good but seems like more work to be done. Finally getting things locked in. Only cost a full bag of coffee and about a week to get it done.
I'm in the right zone now, I think I still need to play with some of the grind size. I have it right now just fine enough that it slows extraction down to a) hit full pressure. any coarser and it wont ever reach the full pressure or if it does it drops off quickly and b) is almost right at a 28 second contact time. much finer and it drags out past 30 seconds My shots are 1000x better than they were before this machine, but I still have some dialing in to do.
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.
drop the hair care routine!!!! luv u lance 💖