# How do you 'get to know' your beans?



## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

How do you find the ideal brew ratio - do you first try a number of different ratios?

How do you find the ideal temperature - again, do you try a range?

What other factors do you need to play around with, like extraction time etc?

And since these all interact, how many trial shots do you need to pull to know what's doing what?

Or does it become instinctive with experience - you start to "know" what you need to do?

What kind of routines would you recommend to a novice barista to 'get to know' the bean you're working with?


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

Good question this - and for me it does just come down to experience.

For months the sort of advice I was getting on here didn't mean much though after months of months of just working with beans I start to learn the art - you start to understand the relationship between ratio, yield, strength and extraction


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

les24preludes said:


> How do you find the ideal brew ratio - do you first try a number of different ratios?
> 
> How do you find the ideal temperature - again, do you try a range?
> 
> ...


Temp is a weird one, if you look on the mercian forums , they are all about dialling in by temp. For me it was the last thing i ever touched , as there were easier adjustments to be made via brew ratio and grind.

As you live with your gear and find your tastes then more often than not you settle into a range of coffee you like and hence have a starting point when dialling in . It will be different depending on your tastes and gear.

Re routines , again depends on what your are buying. I used to brew the coffee i made as espresso but that may not be appropriate for some roasters and coffees tbh.


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

I spent months and months writing everything down. Sticking to the "science" until the art bit became clearer. Now I have a set dose, and I adjust the grind from the previous bean based on instinct, and then fiddle into perfection (!!! Yeah right!! I wish) from there.

Once you have the hang of weighing in and weighing out then making adjustments makes much more "instinctive" sense.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

kennyboy993 said:


> Good question this - and for me it does just come down to experience.
> 
> For months the sort of advice I was getting on here didn't mean much though after months of months of just working with beans I start to learn the art - you start to understand the relationship between ratio, yield, strength and extraction


Yeah.... I'm just in the foothills of this climb. I already found out that different beans need different brew ratios. That was an important bit of learning - I was getting unwanted taste notes with my latest beans until I went down to 1:1.2. I only drink decaf and no doubt that means I have to be extra careful with 'getting to know' the beans.

Are these the 4 accepted factors - ratio, yield, strength and extraction?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

les24preludes said:


> Yeah.... I'm just in the foothills of this climb. I already found out that different beans need different brew ratios. That was an important bit of learning - I was getting unwanted taste notes with my latest beans until I went down to 1:1.2. I only drink decaf and no doubt that means I have to be extra careful with 'getting to know' the beans.
> 
> Are these the 4 accepted factors - ratio, yield, strength and extraction?


Sorry some of these are measures as opposed to factors.

Extraction yield is a measure.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

les24preludes said:


> Are these the 4 accepted factors - ratio, yield, strength and extraction?


Not really.

Dose & yield gives you the ratio, so aspects of the same factor.

The 2 main factors are ratio & grind.

Likewise strength & extraction - if at your ratio, the shots are a similar strength, they will then be at a similar extraction too. If you can't measure it, the extraction will be where you get a favourable flavour balance & the strength will be what it is (stronger for shorter shots, weaker for longer).

I go for a lowest common denominator approach - keep to a similar grind setting, find a brew ratio that let's me pull lighter beans past the point of sourness (longest ratio up to 1:4 for a double, these will be on the weaker side, but I don't mind this if sweet & balanced), then I pull darker, or more soluble coffees at shorter ratios if I want to & can get away with it. I don't take milk with espresso, I'm not really hung up on strength...if you need gloopy shots & them to stand up in milk, this might not work for you.


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