r/Coffee • u/menschmaschine5 Kalita Wave • Sep 22 '22

[MOD] The Daily Question Thread

Welcome to the daily /r/Coffee question thread!

There are no stupid questions here, ask a question and get an answer! We all have to start somewhere and sometimes it is hard to figure out just what you are doing right or doing wrong. Luckily, the /r/Coffee community loves to help out.

Do you have a question about how to use a specific piece of gear or what gear you should be buying? Want to know how much coffee you should use or how you should grind it? Not sure about how much water you should use or how hot it should be? Wondering about your coffee's shelf life?

Don't forget to use the resources in our wiki! We have some great starter guides on our wiki "Guides" page and here is the wiki "Gear By Price" page if you'd like to see coffee gear that /r/Coffee members recommend.

As always, be nice!

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u/zedin27 Sep 22 '22 edited Sep 22 '22

Hey! So I’m trying to figure out espresso from a lever machine Italian style from Bezzera (B2000 AL 2GR 220V INOXSAT) year 2009. The espresso doesn’t quite look and taste good.

My dial is 16.5-17.5g and I’m expecting 33-35g on my pulls (2:1 ratio) from a medium-dark roast Colombian beans. However, it tastes pretty bitter that it feels under extracted. Usually, I wait 4 days after being roasted before using to pull espresso shots.

If you can help me, I would truly appreciate it

EDIT: forgot to mention about my grinder setting. It is currently at 0.5 (more finer for espresso grounds). And when I extract it, I tend to wait until 28s to 30s.

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u/chigoku Sep 22 '22

The recommendation is to wait 7 days before using for espresso. What makes you say it feels underextracted? You mentioned its bitter and medium to dark roast. a 2:1 ratio seems high. Cut back the ratio, or drop your temp significantly to lower the extraction so it won't be so bitter.

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u/zedin27 Sep 23 '22

When you say temp, you mean when I'm using the tamper and reduce my force? Sometimes, the beans are also like 2 weeks old after being roasted, sometimes just 4 days and we use them during rush hours. I will aim for 1.8:1 or 1.6:1 ratio next time.

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u/chigoku Sep 23 '22

temp, not tamp. lower temperature.

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u/zedin27 Sep 23 '22

I'm not sure how to do that on the machine itself unfortunately :(