# Barista Express lighter roasts problem...



## YerbaMate170 (Jun 15, 2015)

I've had my Barista Express for around a month now and have gotten mixed results - my latest problem is that I'm getting sour shots and fast pours, despite the fact that I'm doing, as far as I understand, all I can to prevent this, but I realise this might just be my own ignorance as I am new to Espresso in general:

From the start I found that I was using the finest grind setting in order to not get an overly fast shot, and I'm also tamping very hard. Despite this, I'm getting sour shots and fast extractions... To me this seems strange - my strategy was to try and choke the machine and then work backwards, making the grind coarser/tamping softer until I hit the sweet spot...

As a guide, I'm using 18g of coffee and aiming for 36g out, in around 30 seconds... Not having any more luck with single basket - if anything, even less consistent with that.

After getting decent results for a while with some Coffee Compass Sweet Bourbon (fairly dark) I tried some Rave Brazilian S/O beans, a medium roast I'd say, and now I'm just getting sourness...

Any suggestions?

EDIT 1: Doing some reading, perhaps I am tamping too hard and this is causing the distance between the coffee and group head to be too far? Would this explain the sourness/fast pour? Maybe this is also why I'm getting a puddle of water/wet pucks? Will try and adjust this tomorrow...


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Don't tamp hard to slow the shot.

You say you are grinding at the finest setting...but then you say you made the grind coarser? If shots are sour why are you not staying at finest setting?

30s may not be enough time.

a 1:2 ratio may not be enough water through the puck. Try 1:3 in ~40sec (if you go over 40s wait until you hit 1:3 before killing the shot, taste, do another & decide if you need to go shorter), still sour?

18g is the upper limit of the basket dose, try a little less, maybe 15, or 16g.


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## Benjijames28 (Mar 29, 2017)

If your having to use the finest setting then i think you need to get better beans. When i had this machine i used fresh beans and i was using setting 12 on the grinder. That's very coarse.

I'm assuming your using like 2 - 4&#8230;


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Benjijames28 said:


> If your having to use the finest setting then i think you need to get better beans. When i had this machine i used fresh beans and i was using setting 12 on the grinder. That's very coarse.
> 
> I'm assuming your using like 2 - 4&#8230;


What beans were you using then.


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## YerbaMate170 (Jun 15, 2015)

@MWJB thanks for the suggestions, I've run out of beans but getting more today so will experiment and see how I get on.

@Benjijames24 If 12 is "very coarse" as you say, why would that be the way to go? I'm definitely on 1 according to the dial, however I don't really hear a clicking noise as I adjust the grind size. Is this normal?


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## YerbaMate170 (Jun 15, 2015)

Ok I have a question, I guess for Barista Express owners: as you adjust the grind-size you hear clicks at each interval, but are you supposed to be able to see the burrs moving? Cos I can't see anything moving at all when I look into it above with the bean basket removed...

I'm also finding it impossible to get the top(?) burr out... There's a metal bar type thing that I believe you're supposed to lift then twist, but mine doesn't budge... Don't wanna break it...


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## Benjijames28 (Mar 29, 2017)

I've been trying foundry Rwanda beans this morning and I struggled to dial the machine in right. Ended up using half a bag of beans in the process!

What i ended up with was a shot that didn't have much crema and combined with milk tastes more like tea than coffee, maybe this bean isn't the best for espresso?

I've got some Colombia beans from same roaster, will be trying them next week.


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## MikeBookham (Sep 3, 2016)

YerbaMate170 said:


> Ok I have a question, I guess for Barista Express owners: as you adjust the grind-size you hear clicks at each interval, but are you supposed to be able to see the burrs moving? Cos I can't see anything moving at all when I look into it above with the bean basket removed...
> 
> I'm also finding it impossible to get the top(?) burr out... There's a metal bar type thing that I believe you're supposed to lift then twist, but mine doesn't budge... Don't wanna break it...


Did you get the top burr off?

I found it very tight but eventually got mine off to give it a quick clean and then it was a real pain to get back on. The bean fragments got in the way even though I'd run the grinder until empty. I'm wondering if vacuuming it out might be the best solution next time.

BTW How have you been getting on with the grind size, if you can't get fine/course enough using the dial on the side then the instructions show how to change the base burr gap.


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## mctrials23 (May 8, 2017)

If the grinder is the same as the smart pro then when you are adjusting or cleaning the burrs you probably want to either brush the lumps of coffee beans into the lower burrs or vacuum it out. I only ever put in a weighed dose of beans and grind until they are all through the machine but even then there are a some bits of beans that seem to pop out of the burs and get in the way of cleaning if you aren't careful.

If you have a hopper full of beans I think you might struggle to get the top burr off as there will be a load of hard beans stopping it from rotating out.


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## longhardgrind (Mar 17, 2017)

+ 1 the vacuming. In my opinion, it's the easiest way to get really clean burrs. I vacum before I touch the burrs and again once everything is clean, just in case.


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## longhardgrind (Mar 17, 2017)

+ 1 the vacuming. In my opinion, it's the easiest way to get really clean burrs. I vacum before I touch the burrs on my smart pro, and again once everything is clean, just in case.


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