# Rave Fudge Blend



## Caffeinated_fiend (Apr 15, 2020)

Hi all,

Recently got into the world of Espresso by buying a Sage Barista Pro, the first beans I ordered were the Rave fudge blend, my usual go to drink is an Americano, usually about one a day as I don't have the greatest caffeine tolerance. I bought the rave as I would like to get better at making milk based drinks.

Is the rave blend one that you can drink as an Americano, the reason I ask is that I have played around with different brew times and even tried the straight espresso a few times but the taste of the espresso is always bitter.

I am dosing 18g in and usually going for 36g out but sometimes hit 40g, I have tried 24 seconds 27 and 33. Is this a bad bean to try and taste as espresso?

I love the hobby but, as someone who hasn't got a great tolerance two 18g shots and 30 mins later I have the shakes so it's not easy for me to get dialled in. I have some decaf that I am resting ready to try and maybe that will be better for use an an Americano. In fairness though I have not tried the Rave as an Americano I have been making small say 170ml flat whites, where it has tasted fine but I haven't really tasted anything other than the milk flavour.


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

You can drink anything as an Americano. If you can make espresso with it you can use it in milk drinks or dilute it with water if you want.

Sourness and bitterness can sometimes be confused for some reason, so as patronising as this sounds, are you sure it's bitterness you're tasting?

Bitterness can be a result of poor puck prep and channeling, or it could be from excessive silt in the cup.

I wouldn't expect the grinder on the Pro to be particularly capable of achieving high extractions at low ratios, so would think bitterness would either be a result of silt or it's not bitterness at all but sourness from underextraction.

You might have better results with a higher ratio, or a higher ratio and coarser grind. See first if the espresso improves with a higher ratio, say a 45-54g shot from the same dose. If it is very bitter then grind coarser and aim for 45g (1:2.5) or 54g (1:3). I think most likely you'll get better results with the coarser grind.


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## Caffeinated_fiend (Apr 15, 2020)

Rob1 said:


> You can drink anything as an Americano. If you can make espresso with it you can use it in milk drinks or dilute it with water if you want.
> 
> Sourness and bitterness can sometimes be confused for some reason, so as patronising as this sounds, are you sure it's bitterness you're tasting?
> 
> ...


 Hi, thanks for the reply,

I'm 90% sure it is bitterness as it's not a mouth puckering type sour sweet taste it's a strong bitter taste, I think. The reason I asked about the Fudge blend as an Americano is that I thought that when they suggest milk it's usually to hide some bitterness in the cup.

I have made some nice long blacks with the machine so far, that tasted nice and didn't have any bitterness or sourness. I will at some point upgrade the grinder.

I have been getting better at tamping and distribution. I have been breaking up any clumps and using a dosing funnel to get the coffee in the portafilter without spilling any out.

I will give the higher ratio a go


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Caffeinated_fiend said:


> Hi, thanks for the reply,
> 
> I'm 90% sure it is bitterness as it's not a mouth puckering type sour sweet taste it's a strong bitter taste, I think. The reason I asked about the Fudge blend as an Americano is that I thought that when they suggest milk it's usually to hide some bitterness in the cup.
> 
> ...


 Ok, skip straight to coarser grind higher ratio. You might find a lower dose helps too if you're overfilling the basket. If you don't get bitterness after diluting shots with a small amount of water (as in your long blacks) it could just be the shots were too concentrated for you.


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## Caffeinated_fiend (Apr 15, 2020)

Rob1 said:


> Ok, skip straight to coarser grind higher ratio. You might find a lower dose helps too if you're overfilling the basket. If you don't get bitterness after diluting shots with a small amount of water (as in your long blacks) it could just be the shots were too concentrated for you.


 I haven't tried the caffeinated Rave fudge yet again today as I have some Rave Decaf Swiss Guatemala, this coffee needs a finer grind that anything else I have yet tried. Even supermarket beans were fine at 3.

At grind 4 I got 40g out in 20 seconds, so I changed the hopper 2 settings finer from the default 6 to 4, then I tried again;

At grind 6 I got 38.5g in 27 seconds, I turned this into a long black but it tasted quite watery with 280ml of added water.


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