# Struggling dialling in Red Brick



## mikehhhhhhh (Jan 7, 2022)

Hi all, I'm new to Espresso after receiving a Sage Grinder Pro and Bambino Plus as gifts for Christmas.

I've had some good and bad results, but largely, even the good results have been fairly sour regardless of the beans I'm using. I have found the most pleasant so far as been Red Brick from Square Mile - if only I could get it to taste as good as it smells!

On the standard machine, I tried a range of grind settings all the way to choking up and it ranged from a little bitter to very sour, so I decided to give an IMS basket and shower screen upgrade a go.

Straight away, it's flowing faster at the same grind setting so I seem to be able to go finer still - still fairly sour, but I found hope in the bottom of the cup when a found a dose of chocolatey sweetness (despite stirring) - this was 18 in, 38 out in around 24 seconds.

One finer on the grinder and a quite unpleasant bitterness comes through.

I'm just wondering what my options are from here? I'm not sure if my palette is refined enough to notice small improvements, so I struggle to find a direction from here - everything I read seems to suggest reducing dose or upping yield but I can't quite figure out the right direction (or even if it's possible on my machine at all? I did read about brew temps being a little low)

I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

If sour then push your output dont be afraid to pull shots with more weight , this will help balance out the taste at the expense of strength. Going finer and finer wil have a decreasing effect beyond a certain point,.

Keep dose same , just out of interest which IMS basket is it? Do you have a decent tamper for it?

So try

18>45

18>54

dont get too stressed about the time frame you pull these in.


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## mikehhhhhhh (Jan 7, 2022)

Thank you, I'll give this a go!

I have the IMS Precision - B62.52TH24E which was sold as Sage specific.

Regarding tamper, I'm using a puck shaped double sided distribution tool and tamper at the moment in an effort to keep that part consistent. I'm not sure how good it is, it doesn't seem to be a tight fit in the basket.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

mikehhhhhhh said:


> Thank you, I'll give this a go!
> 
> I have the IMS Precision - B62.52TH24E which was sold as Sage specific.
> 
> Regarding tamper, I'm using a puck shaped double sided distribution tool and tamper at the moment in an effort to keep that part consistent. I'm not sure how good it is, it doesn't seem to be a tight fit in the basket.


 I'd reduce the dose a little as it looks like that basket is designed for 16g , overdosing the basket doesn't help get the best from extractions . Try 16 g into 32 then 38 then 48.
https://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/en/IMS-BrevilleSage-Precision-Filter-Basket-1416g---B6252TH24E/m-5337.aspx


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## mikehhhhhhh (Jan 7, 2022)

Interesting, I did see the dose size when purchasing but the basket seems to hold just as much coffee as the old basket.

Thanks, I shall give 16g a go! As 18 -> 45 wasn't great.


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## MHeath (Feb 13, 2021)

Does anyone have any experience with red brick from square mile? I know how good it can be but I’m either sour or over extracted.
I’m using a niche and a sage DB, 

8 sec pre infusion, 18g in and 36g out in anywhere between 28-34 sec depending on grind, I just can’t pull anything balanced out and I’m just wasting coffee!


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## Inspector (Feb 23, 2017)

Might be still too fresh


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Can you change the temperature ?


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## MHeath (Feb 13, 2021)

El carajillo said:


> Can you change the temperature ?


Hi yes I can


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## GazRef (Dec 30, 2019)

Hi mate. So you want the brew temp at 94 and make sure the coffees rested circa 3 weeks. 

The Team is very helpful. I emailed them a few months back and got this response. Hope it helps

To begin, our standard approach with brewing Red Brick for QC purposes is on a Victoria Arduino Black Eagle, a machine that prepares espresso with a soft-infusion ramping from 2-3 bars for approx 3 seconds, and then 9 bar for the remainder of the brewing. We have the machine set to 94°c, temperature with this machine is stable within +/- 0.1°.

We’ve had great results when using the DE1, and particularly enjoy the flow profile for espresso, which we use pretty much as a standard profile. When the pressure curve hits approx 9 bar, this is an indicator that the grind setting is correct, and from here the ml/s can be adjusted to achieve a 30 second shot time.

If you were wanting to use a pressure profile, we would suggest approx 8 seconds ramping up to 3-4 bar, increase to 9 bar for the main part of the brewing and decrease pressure for the remaining few grams of the shot, which we find helps to soften and balance the shot.


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## Irisco (Jun 12, 2020)

MHeath said:


> Does anyone have any experience with red brick from square mile? I know how good it can be but I’m either sour or over extracted.
> I’m using a niche and a sage DB,
> 
> 8 sec pre infusion, 18g in and 36g out in anywhere between 28-34 sec depending on grind, I just can’t pull anything balanced out and I’m just wasting coffee!


I went through a whole bag without one decent cup, this has never happened to me before and I've avoided it ever since.


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## Painterman (10 mo ago)

Irisco said:


> I went through a whole bag without one decent cup, this has never happened to me before and I've avoided it ever since.


Same here. Have had good results with Rave and even Union beans - but can’t seem to get Red Brick to taste anything better than … meh. I sooo wanted to love it too. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## kwws88 (9 mo ago)

Hi, I have the same issue as well with the same IMS basket size. I was using a dark roast with 15g 1:2 output ratio. The flow rate was too quick and the shots were too sharp and bitter. A huge change from the stock basket which manages perfect taste notes. The stock basket is perfect for grind size around 12 (sage grinder pro) but I had to go size 10 on IMS and still a 1:2 ratio shot still pulls around 20sec.

I have heard conflicting views on this, either increase my dose to 16-17g (or more), or just grind finer. Any thoughts?


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## Jonathon White (Dec 7, 2021)

mikehhhhhhh said:


> Hi all, I'm new to Espresso after receiving a Sage Grinder Pro and Bambino Plus as gifts for Christmas.
> 
> I've had some good and bad results, but largely, even the good results have been fairly sour regardless of the beans I'm using. I have found the most pleasant so far as been Red Brick from Square Mile - if only I could get it to taste as good as it smells!
> 
> ...


To be fair it’s all about consistency and tweaking one thing a little. I for one had the pro grinder and never had any consistency out of it with espresso grinding. You could strip it give it a good clean then do a grind on a very low setting. Perhaps be able to tweak it once or twice then it would clog and not be able to grind low enough so need another clean.


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