# Working with a light roast - any tips?



## drude (Apr 22, 2013)

I came back from a trip to Budapest with some very light roasted beans from Drop Coffee - Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza (roasted 30/3). I am more used to medium to dark roasted coffee, and am struggling to get a good extraction. Having tasted these at Espresso Embassy, I know they can make a fantastic shot. What I am producing is dominated by acidity that simply was not present when the shot was made by a pro barista.

So far I've experimented with:

17g/18g dose

18g VST / 16-20g IMS baskets

Torr trapez / Knock Heft flat tampers

Nutating / not nutating

Adjusting the grind

I've probably got 160g of these left and I'd like to get at least one decent shot out of them. Any suggestions as to what I should try next? I also have 15g and 20g VST baskets kicking about, as well as the stock Londinium one, but rarely use these.


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## adam0bmx0 (Feb 20, 2014)

Have you asked Drop Coffee?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Ok so what extractions were you getting from your doses over what time ?

with the lighter Sqm roasts I've gone finer and pulled for a lot longer extractions times to find the sweetness

40 seconds extractions as an example .


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## drude (Apr 22, 2013)

Good question Boots. Varied a bit but tended to run longer as they were coming quite slowly. Had something like 26g over 35 seconds, and perhaps 20g over 27. When I skipped the nutation and used the flat tamper I forgot to weigh but I'd guess 30-32 at 25 as it was quite a gusher.

Adam - no - I always come here first, as lots of members are familiar with my machine and grinder.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Callum is the man we need for this situation ....

I would suggest going longer in time and bigger in extraction 18 in 36 for example


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## Neill (Jun 26, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Callum is the man we need for this situation ....
> 
> I would suggest going longer in time and bigger in extraction 18 in 36 for example


If agree with that. Pull then a bit longer. That sweet shop I had was far to acidic until I pulled 32-33g from 18 in 40-50s.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

me too, you can pull ~40 sec shots on the Londinium with light roasts and they taste stunning.


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## drude (Apr 22, 2013)

aaronb said:


> me too, you can pull ~40 sec shots on the Londinium with light roasts and they taste stunning.


What kind of weight in the cup do you aim for? Wondering if I need to tighten my grind or just let it run longer


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## CallumT (Aug 23, 2013)

Light roasts need the extra water running through, time and grind can also be tighter and longer to aid extraction. Higher dose with washed, lower dose with naturals to balance dat funk.

Was pulling the latest cult of done at Fran's today at 18g D - 38 total (6 infusion) T - 38g Y

Trying to rethink espresso abit on the lever, But don't let it all turn into numbers. Remember acidity is also required as part of balance, and is a respective part of a lighter roast, all at the cost of some body. The higher output is also costing the 'body' due to lower TDS.

The cult of done we were pulling today on Ashbeck fed through a flowjet is some of the top espresso I've had to date pulled by eye and then weighed.


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## CallumT (Aug 23, 2013)

Royal on grinding duties aswell... Could have cried haha


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## drude (Apr 22, 2013)

Tried today with 18g in the IMS for about 45 seconds getting 40g. Acidity more balanced, but some loss of mouthfeel as expected. Tightened the grind, switched to the VST and tried 17g for 45 seconds after a 5 sec preinfusion, 32g yield, and was delicious - much more balanced taste and decent mouthfeel still.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Still not finding the IMS basket as easy to use as the VST, but I need to try it out for an extended period with some beans that I have more than a single bag of. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I can get decent shots out of the rest of this bag.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

CallumT said:


> Royal on grinding duties aswell... Could have cried haha


Go and use the robur you got then instead ....


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