Why is my Coffee Bitter? Part 1: DEEP DIVE INTO BITTER ESPRESSO

[@KingCamisback]

Nice video, very informative thank you! I would dial down the background music a bit.

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

Thanks for the feedback. ☺️ I'll pull the music back in the future. 👌

[@lmankj]

Thanks Ryde, a lot of great info and I like how you define the differences between product quality.

[@Azure1964]

I like the animations, really add to the video.

[@RealAssetLiveTV]

Excellent content and knowledge. Sane, cool presentation. Absolutely shite horrible annoying music.

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

I know! 😔 Sorry. I have to refilm these.

[@davidsusanto5467]

why a lot of people called sour as bitter?

[@cliffordcoetzer]

got to four minutes and then the background music drove me nuts , pity for such a great vid

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

Yep I hear you. I'll do a new version next year and the music will be a lot less prominent. Thanks for the feedback. 👌

[@cameronwoods7407]

Awesome vids as always mate. Quick question, my ECM technika v has a shot timer and starts as soon as I start the shot. Do I add the time it takes for first drop or as soon as the pump starts? TDH recipe says 29sec. Just unsure if I’m under extracting. Thanks

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

Hey Cameron! Sorry for the late reply. Only add the time of your preinfusion if you have it on. Otherwise if you're going straight to 9bar of pressure you should use the shot timer exactly as it is. So basically on the Technika you have the lever, and if you bring it up about halfway you'll hear a little click and the hot water will activate but the pump won't kick in fully. This is where the preinfusion is (it's not true preinfusion but it's pretty similar). So if you move the lever to that point for 6 seconds and then fully engage the pump, you want to aim for 35 seconds total. But if you're going straight up with the lever just follow the shot timer and aim for ~29 Also, I want to reinforce that these are just guidelines, the ultimate recipe is whatever tastes best to you. 👌👌

[@theone9564]

Hello im new to expresso. Im using bustelo. Getting nice crema, but it's biter. Using breville bambino. Any tips

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

hey there! Welcome to your coffee journey! I don't know Bustelo very well but I looked it up and they are using dark roasted coffee and while they don't say its Robusta, I believe it is. Robusta has twice the caffeine that Arabica (the more desirable species) and Caffeine is bitter. Plus, then you have a dark roast as well which creates more chloregenic acids and these are also very bitter. So you're probably not going to be able to rid the bitterness with this coffee (except for the sprinkle of salt hack). Are you in mexico and that's why you chose this brand? I would try to find a local roaster who you can visit and chat with who might have access to better coffees and will be able to roast you a medium/light batch. Or you can buy from my company which will ship you the most delicious coffee to wherever you are around the world.

[@theone9564]

@Rydecoffeecoach Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate you for taking the time to explain. Will continue check out your content and tips.

[@nemilperez5441]

My shots run quickish at 22 seconds, 18g in 36g out, super harsh back of tongue feel. Ive grounded more coarse and leading to the same result in bitterness, 36 out in about 20 seconds. Should i continue to grind coarser? I dont wanna mess with the water temp just yet.

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

if you're running your shots that quickly and it's still bitter I think your coffee is extracting too many chlorogenic acids. Really your extraction time should be closer to 30s. This could be because your coffee is dark roasted or Robusta species and so not much you can do about that (add some salt grains), or if you're running your shot too long. I think start with the beans though, see if you can find some medium roasted specialty coffee (above 80 quality score). That should eliminate the bitterness.

[@nemilperez5441]

@@Rydecoffeecoach thanks for the response! Mine are a medium roast arabica type

[@davidsusanto5467]

enjoy the bitterness, you will like it if you train to drink it again and again, the taste will be better and better. once you get used to it and you go back to pure arabica, you will say 'it is not coffee'😅. really....try it

[@nicksibly526]

👍

[@jackbolder5734]

For extraction time, do you start counting when the coffee starts to flow or when pre-infusion begins?

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

Yes adding in preinfusion does make timing for shots more complex. When we talk general time, we mean no preinfusion (so a shot will take 27-30 seconds). With preinfusion the timing can change and sometimes my shots can run for closer to 40seconds. But just as long as you aren't looking at your shot gushing through in 22seconds WITH preinfusion, then you're ok.

[@jackbolder5734]

@@Rydecoffeecoach In that regard, do scales with integrated timer make sense for espressos, or should the timing start when preinfusion is complete, ie when when there is still a variable number of seconds till the first drops enter the cup? Thanks!

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

@@jackbolder5734 I focus on volume. Weigh your coffee before and then see how much you get out. Rather than focus on time. On my Synesso, we have 4 stages of brewing: preinfusion, ramp up, full bar, ramp down. Each stage is variable so timing goes out the window. I just focus on volume in and out (aiming for close to 2:1 ratio) and then the taste is the most important. 👌

[@jackbolder5734]

​@@Rydecoffeecoach Right, thank you very much! Just got a Barista Pro and currently trying to climb the steep learning curve ;)

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

@@jackbolder5734 oh yeh they're quite a good machine. But if you're just starting out definitely just turn off the preinfusion. You'll get much better results without it.

[@monicagomez1471]

Thank you for the tips! I have a Barista Touch and I use an arabica coffee, medium grind, 25 sec of extraction and still tastes bitter. If I use the same coffee and grind, tastes much better in a french press after 4 mins settled. Should I change coffee, grind or extraction time to have a bette flavor in the espresso machine??

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

Hi Monica, sorry I missed this message! Yes French press is always going to soften the bitterness compared to espresso. Check two things: the coffee to see if it says "dark roast" or "medium roast" ( it could say things like city roast or full city etc) you want a medium roast coffee. The other thing which you didn't mention is volume out. Are you getting double what you put in? Eg: if you put in 18g are you getting ~36g out? and is the coffee pour dripping out? These are all the things that I would be looking at. If your bag doesn't tell you what roast it is, I would look at your beans and see if they look dark and almost black. If they do, then this is probably a darker roast than you ideally want. Your beans should look nice and brown 🤎 like milk chocolate almost.

[@jannusj]

The background music does serious damage to the in depth content.

[@Rydecoffeecoach]

Yeh I know, but what do I do? I guess I could upload again without music?

[@mihasereda]

Too much basics