# Bright, just bright.



## Viernes (Dec 10, 2011)

And bright/citrusy is usually all what I get from a lot of coffees. No caramel, chocolate, fruits like peach, cherry... Is lemon with lemon and topped with another lemon. With only a few coffees I can taste inmediately a distinctive flavor... bright yes, but nice and fruity, not just a stupid lemon. I don't know whats the problem, but this starts to sux; It's huge money wastage and very dissapointing.

I''m using a Duetto with VST baskets. Doses ranges between 16g to 18g and about 30g of beverage. Temps from 93ºC to 96ºC

Any tips, please?

PS: I'm only talking about light roasted coffees.


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Light-roasted coffees will exhibit less, if any, caramels and chocolates than a medium roast. You should, however, be able to get fruity, flowery and herby aromas if the coffee has those characteristics.

Look at the right hand side of this diagram.. the coffee tasting wheel.










In general, as the roast gets darker the characteristics it exhibits move around clockwise from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock, hence light roasts will give you those enzymatic flavours, and medium roasts will have more sugar browning... caramels etc. So you could try a darker roast.

But sourness is also a sign of a low extraction yield. Low temperature can cause that. Is it possible that your actual brew temperature is not as high as you think it is? If a dualit espresso could achieve a stable temperature of 93C I'd be very impressed but also surprised. A darker roast will also respond better to lower temperatures, if that is indeed the issue.

It could also be poor distribution in the basket causing only a section of the grinds to be extracted and other parts to remain relatively untouched by the brew water, so the amount of coffee solids getting into the cup is low. Improving distribution could be something to look into.


----------



## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Hes using an Alex Duetta isnt he? The PID should be quite accurate & the machine certainly should be stable if not faulty.

If using a 15g VST - try a much finer grind and a smaller dose e.g 14.5-15...slow the shot down to 30 seconds - 35 seconds

I had a shot with La Ilusion Natural yesterday which took 41 seconds @93c... 15g giving me 25g output - Stonking. Some of these coffees are harder to extract


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Aah, misread the machine.


----------



## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

Completely agree with what Gary said - some of the lighter roast coffees can be challenging to get right and can often end up tasting very sour and overly acidic if not properly extracted. Once you nail the extraction though you will be rewarded with well balanced, controlled acidity and incredible sweetness. The VST basket will certainly help with this as will using a relatively low dose with a fine grind and relatively long pour time (usually longer than 30 seconds although this will depend upon the exact coffee). Which coffee are you trying to use at the moment?

The other option, as Mike suggested is to try a darker roast coffee which will will probably be easier to extract and will respond much better to lower extraction yields anyway.


----------



## Viernes (Dec 10, 2011)

Thanks guys for the tips. I'm trying some things. As Mike knows







I will report my findings.

Jimbow: right now I'm using some coffees from James - Formula 6, Brazil Samambaia, el progreso blend.


----------

