1) brew temperature: bit hotter so you extract more. 2) dose: lower, easier to extract 3) grind: bit coarser, but find medium 4) time: bit faster 5) yield: easiest. Personal preference. More yield is more extraction, but less strength. For light roasts: higher yield Overly acidic: lower brew temp (you can) but better: finer and more brew time (same yield) Weak: reduce yield. But less balance Sour: underextraction. Little finer, and if needed: increase yield.
This is actually very useful as a guidance! However, I would think overly acidic would require you to (very slightly) increase brew temp rather than lower it, right?
One piece is missing in the video: From my experience underextraction can also lead to bitterness, albeit a less punchy one. That can be really confusing, especially if it happens with a sub 30 or even sub 20 second shot. If the coffee is hollow and bitter, you might not even have extracted enough acids yet. So it's worth to try and increase extraction. If the bitterness is punching you into your face (or rather tongue), you're probably overextracted.
the lighter roast espressos i had tasted more like concentrated filter than what i expect in espresso. its a very fine line between 'acidity' and the whole thing tasting like coffee with lemon juice added.
Thanks. Finally, I've managed to get a delicious cup of light-roasted coffee. A good starting point to further optimize. Yirgacheffe, 10 clicks on commandante, setting 2 on lelit mara X (96 C), 17g in 40g out in 30 seconds.
This is a little off topic but my issue with light roast espresso is that most mornings I don’t have time to deal with an off shot. When I have to head out the door by 5:30, I need my two double shots to be somewhere between ok and great without the fuss. I prefer something slightly darker and more forgiving as a result, and enjoy a pour over when exploring lighter roasts on the weekend. Loved the video and your content in general, thanks! And excited to see that new distribution tool. Doesn’t look like it’s readily available in the US yet, so it’ll be cool to see whether you think it’s worth shipping intl!
I'm still new to this, and with many tries I've learned to stick to dark roasts because they are the easiest for me too dial in. Not than anyone could give me an answer to this but I'm starting to think I just need more time in front of my machine to curve this problem. Maybe when i get to 10,000 hours I'll understand all these quirks lol. Great vid as always Spro, thank you for sharing your knowledge! One day I'll get to your level! A man can dream.
Thank you for your posts. I am a Newb when it comes to pulling shots. I just got a machine a few weeks ago. I love light/mid roast . I am currently trying to dial in a Costa Rican Bean and I am finding it very difficult to get this one dialed in. I have ground from a 15 grind size to 6 grind, and with very low bar pressure, and wet puck I have ground much coarser to a number 20 and stopped there with a 26 second pull into two full double shot glasses. I made a drinkable Double Latte from it, but still not satisfied. The machine is Ascaso Dream PID ; and I am pre - infusing @3 seconds, with 202 degrees f.
GrunderTube I dialed in a bag of Luna Strawberry Sundae on my Appartamento. Avoid flushing to keep the brew temp high, pre infuse for 15-20 sec and aim for a 1:3 dose to yield. Like Sprometheus suggests, 17-18.5g is the key dose for these lighter beans.
Light roasts are less soluble, so I find that it helps to increase temperature, pre-infusion time, and to go for a higher ratio yield. Rao's blooming espresso technique is perfect for light roasts.
Spromey is the barista's barista, yessssss, perhaps a video for him my precious? The timing of me watching this was unfortunate, Big Willy just slapped your beans.
Perfect timing, I just started experimenting with roasting lighter batches. I 've got some Ethiopian and some Costa Rican that I just roasted on the light side and they are currently gassing off, should be trying to dial them in a couple days. Thanks for the vid. Pretty straight forward common sense stuff.
This was so helpful! My light roast shots kept coming out sour.. your tips helped me dial it in perfectly! I needed it hotter and more coarse. Thank you for this video!
That’s exactly it, it’s called the ESPCUP and it’s a new distribution device I’m testing out. I will definitely be digging into it a bit more soon. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I really like light roasted espresso but often by the time I'm pulling consistently good shots with it I'm nearing the bottom of the bag. I bought a light roasted Yirgacheffe when you teased this video the other day, let's see if I can improve my process a bit!
I am dialing in one of the few light roasts ive gotten since I bought my espresso set up. Ive found that I like low dose high yield with a long extraction due to small grind.
Finally a video for the light roasts!!! Thank you so much... love all your videos... I also have a Linea Mini , do you use the preinfusion function for the light roasts? And how is that done?
I just tried a Guatemalan light roast. Did not change my grind from my darker roasts, and it came out pretty good… what I will change next time is to let the surf temp go up a couple degrees before beginning the pre-infusion.
Thank you! Having a lot of trouble pulling a balanced shot lately. I really want to make it work with the lighter roasts and not just give up and go back to medium.
Was struggeling with turbo/channeling shots when switching to more lighter roasts, and found your video. Your advice to reduce dose from 20 to 17 grams really helped, and I grinded finer to adjust for the lower dose. Now the extraction flow is more even over the puck and screen and the espresso more balanced. It's enough to change/tweak yield just a little bit to get the result you want (1:2 for my cappucino, i.e. 34 grams out). My shots are around 27 seconds for a 1:2 ratio, which is fine with my roast having a brew temp of 96 C. Using a Lelit Bianca V3 with a paddle, but I'm not fiddeling with flow control using the paddle right now while I dial in. Might try to grind even finer, go up to 4 bar, turn off pump, preinfuse for about 30 seconds to first drops. And while it's preinfusing I can steam my milk. That's a completely new workflow for me as I usually only drink cappucino, but maybe it's worth it if the shots are better? Did you ever try this method? Seems harder to replicate well.
Turbo shots and channelling are two very different things. Turbo shots usually have almost no channelling but they run fast like how shots with channels run and so it gives that appearance but it couldn't be more different.
The Real Sprometheus You are my favorite TH-camr! Thanks for every Video you made! Thanks to you I found my favorite summer drink! (Fat Americano) And you have the best steaming tutorial on TH-cam. 👍
Generally +/- 2g is the most you wanna go before it compromises the basket design / interaction with pressure and coffee. I have a 18g basket, I +/- 1 and so now just got a 15g so I can start to run 14g shots.
It appears to be an espresso sifter you're using at 1:58, but I'm not familiar with it. Is it new? As for light roasts, I haven't gone there with espresso much, but I'll dive in once again keeping your tips in mind. Thanks as always for the great video.
Hey man. Have you thought of doing something along the lines of choosing a bean for milk drinks? I’ve just bought my first prosumer machine. And nowhere along the lines the endless educational vids that I’ve been watching did I run into the whole “some beans go better with milk drinks that others” Conversation. Definitely down to personal preference in the end but could be helpful for newbies like myself!
I always weigh my beans in a narrow shot glass. By looking at how high the beans reach in the glass, I usually get a good indication where to start. Generally A light roast will be more dense, and not reach as high in the shot glass. Therefore it will also not reach as high in the porta filter, and probably need a finer grind.
The moment you said "adjust the brew temperature" I got discouraged as my machine has pre-set values and it is already at the Max temperature. I might try a darker roast. Coffee is coming out too fast and I already changed the volume, tamper pressure and grinder values and it still flows too fast.
Good info. I've normally used a dark roast but I'm playing with a single origin light roast and it's not going well. Definitely denser, but the smaller puck means a very fast shot. I've tried putting in more coffee to slow it down, but then the yield has to be higher. I guess I'll just keep going finer, it's a lot finer than my usual.
Remember than the time/flow speed isn't important by itself. The only things that are, are exposed coffer surface area and the amount of water that goes through. (higher temperature of course makes the water more efficient at extracting)
Speometheus, can you please do an updated video regarding when to start the timer when timing your shots? Your explanation as far as when water hits the puck makes sense, but you did not account for how there are many variations between machines as far as the time it takes from start of pump till water comes out of the group head, and also from start of pump to first drip. You also did not mention pre-infusion. I'm thinking maybe I might start timing from the moment my puck is wet, which I can hear because the pump changes sound about 5-7 seconds in.
Super informative and well-put together! Thank you. This gives me some ideas of what to play around with now that I'm pretty happy (but like you said, never fully satisfied) with the shots coming out of my Silvia. If I could offer one small piece of constructive criticism, it would be to maybe try some different background music. It could very well just be me, but this track reminded me of those drug commercials where they're showing happy couples and simultaneously listing off tons of side effects and it did distract me from the meat of the video a little. Either way, great content, and thank you again for sharing!
I have an important question. The niche zero grinder b-roll at 2:48 you show is just illustrative, right? I set up my niche on that exact point and water flew faster than Niagara Falls out of my Rocket Evo-R. I have some light roast Gesha here that I am desperate I can’t find the beautiful funnel 😭
Just got a light roasted Ethiopian and the first shot was SO sour. It only took 12 seconds to get 38 grams (was aiming for 35 but I’m a newbie) from 17.5 dose. I ground finer and it helped a decent amount! Took 17 seconds. Still wayyyy too fast but better. I guess my move is probably to increase dose because my machine doesn’t really have temp control
Keep in mind that the time/flow speed isn't important by itself. The only things that are, are exposed coffer surface area and the amount of water that goes through. (higher temperature of course makes the water more efficient at extracting)
The only coffee I have ever had problem extract is single estate non blend coffee. They seem to be more prone to channeling consistently and they are very unstable.
Since profiling machines have become prominent, light roast formula is grind fine, then slow, low flow soak until puck is saturated, then 9 BAR. This brings out sweetness in hard to extract light roasts. Do you feel this post has to do with dialing in specifically on machines that can’t profile or don’t have “soft preinfusion”?
Yeah I’d say these techniques work no matter the machine capabilities, but I know pre-infusion isn’t all that common yet for most home machines. I do have pre-brew capabilities, but plan on saving that for another video.
I really enjoyed this weeks video thank you. I thought lighter roasts, being more dense you had to run them a lot longer ( more towards 30s ) to get the most out, hence 22 seconds was to short but it just shows you looking at your TDS results. Cheers !
Thanks David! Glad you found it helpful. And yes, increasing yield can definitely up your extraction. It all depends on how what variables you have control of. If your machine can’t increase the brew temperature, or your burrs aren’t as sharp as they could be, running longer is a definite way to get more out of a dense coffee. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I concider myself as a very novice barista even after many year in the hobby . With litgh roast my maine challenge is texture. I mosly end up with a watery results. I can i maximize the thickness/richness? My grind and dose seem fine , but i wonder if lowering extraction temperature would help ? I feel like my brew temp is too hot ( i’m on a pré-millennium europicolla) what would be ideal temperature of the shot ? This way i could adjust/rule that out ?
Would you do slightly higher doses for medum roast? something like 17, 18 and 19 for light, medium and dark respectively? or something along those lines XD
Man grinder hitting 20. Mine never gets above a 13 and most of the time its around 10-11. Also how are you liking that ESPCUP sifter? Better than the Wedge?
I find light roast and high altitude hard to work with. I tended to go finer and finer with grind on the Sage/Breville Barista Pro. One coffee I had I needed to go to the finest grind the machine could do and still wasn’t great. I heard it was a finer grind and higher temps for light roast?
Yeah grind is definitely always a key component, and lighter coffees tend to need finer grinds. The higher temps also help extract more. But they aren’t the only options out there to get more from those light and dense coffees.
Yes I have found all of these except one to hold true when dialing my light roast. With smaller dose and higher yield I have found a finer grind to be better. But grind settings are also all relative to machine, so maybe my finer is your courser, bc my brew times are also in the mid to low 20's for an ideal pull. Interesting stuff thanks!
So should I change the amount of beans I’m using? I always do 18g in 36g out and time is the variable. I’m on an old dusty Gaggia Classic with no pid, so can’t control temp.
Vince Blixt at the moment I’m a bit torn with it. It works well, but the workflow isn’t as seamless as I’d want it to be. Keep an eye out for a full video on it soon.
@@Sprometheus thank you! Will try. Btw, is maximum flow rate very important? I bought a Lelit flow rate control kit for my Rocket Cincuantotto, which it doesn’t fit well on. The wood paddle is too big. Fully open, it flows at 176g/30sec. Thoughts?
Btw, I customized the wood paddle and now it turns freely. No more problem with the flow rate. That being said, flow rate and pressure are two different things, right. I can use flow rate to regulate pressure, but it isn’t the same as a machine with pressure profiling, is it? What would you suggest for a light roast with my flow rate control? Open up the flow control slightly to allow the puck to saturate, not going above 2bar, then closing it for a bit, then opening it slowly to fully open, then ramping down. Ideally, could we be talking 50-60 sec for the entire process or is that too long? Thanks in advance
Hey- i bought a Mr Coffee Cafe Barista, and the basket for the grind only holds about 10-12 grams max for the 'double shot' basket, but the brew time on the automatic is around 25 seconds from the time it begins dripping into the cup, and The yield on the auto setting is right around 80 grams. There is a manual option, but i don't know what time i should try given the amount of espresso grind? To me the variables fpr the automatic settings for double shot just seem to be way off compared to what I'm seeing on espresso videos? I get a really nice looking crema amount, but sometimes it a bit dark, and the drink is bitter- (which personally i don't mind much, but others do) Any suggestions to get me into the ballpark for what a true espresso should taste like? I've never had a true espresso, so i can't judge what the taste and smoothness should be. I just wanna be somewhere in the ballpark so that myself but mostly others can enjoy a pretty good double shot of espresso- the single shot just seems to be way too little. Thanks P.S I'm forced to use low acid espresso grind for myself- the only other coffee i have is maxwell house regular, which i ground up even finer, about like table salt size- but it's coming out pretty dark and a bit bitter- good crema amount though
how do you deal with acidty? with a light roast go it running at a flow of about 30 seconds with 20g in and 40g out 1:2 ratio and also have my temp set to 96 Degrees just for the light roast.
djizzy12 I could easily live without it. Nothing crazy ground breaking. Seems more like a convenience thing really. But still testing and toying with it. I’ll do a full video once I come to a conclusion.
question. for a light roast coffee, a single, natural process bean, I'd be starting with 17 grams BUT my machine does not have the ability to change the temp (198-200 F). Should I grind finer, 1:2.3 - .5 within 27 secs or longer?
I guess I am a terrible barista. Tried everything offered in this video. Light roast comes super acidic no matter what I do. I even tried to go up the temp to 206, grind super fine, pre brew for 2 seconds, bloom for 5, extract longer, all to maximise extraction and get some sweetness- nada. Sour as a vomit. Dose : I use 14 grams. Yield: started at 1:2, then 1:2.5, then 1:3. The best case I got some stale watery coffee. No particular notes. I tamp the same with a calibrated tamper. Use a eurika 75 red speed burrs and a Limea Mini that I keep meticulously clean... any suggestions??
Could you please tell me what is the diff. Between 18g bsket vst and 20g vst why they both have diffrent dose what are the reason between them and which one is way better for dialing? Thank you.
I would also mention that some light roasts can be tricky to grind fine enough being a harder denser bean. I ran into serious limitations with my Ceado E37S with ~75% life left in the 83mm burr set. Hence why I have a Monolith Conical on order to be able to experiment with all levels of bean roast and particle size with more consistent results.
If you find it difficult to grind a coffee fine enough to slow down the flow I think it is one of the few occasions I would increase dose, or drop brew pressure if that’s possible.
I just bought a Londinium R24 and an Etzmax Plus. I have been trying two types of light roast (the package says it should taste like chocolate, hazelnut, honey and peach), but so far I keep getting overly sour espressos, even when clearly overextracted.. I tried the finest grind and increased the pre-infusing pressure to 6 bars and increasing the dose. Nothing seems to really help. Got any tips?
1) brew temperature: bit hotter so you extract more.
2) dose: lower, easier to extract
3) grind: bit coarser, but find medium
4) time: bit faster
5) yield: easiest. Personal preference. More yield is more extraction, but less strength. For light roasts: higher yield
Overly acidic: lower brew temp (you can) but better: finer and more brew time (same yield)
Weak: reduce yield. But less balance
Sour: underextraction. Little finer, and if needed: increase yield.
This is actually very useful as a guidance! However, I would think overly acidic would require you to (very slightly) increase brew temp rather than lower it, right?
@@yamarr1981 Yeah I think so but I dont want to watch the vid again lol. He probably mentioned it, otherwise I wouldnt have noted it
Thanks for that! Since I'm having some ear issues lately I cannot listen so having this written helps a lot!
One piece is missing in the video:
From my experience underextraction can also lead to bitterness, albeit a less punchy one. That can be really confusing, especially if it happens with a sub 30 or even sub 20 second shot. If the coffee is hollow and bitter, you might not even have extracted enough acids yet. So it's worth to try and increase extraction. If the bitterness is punching you into your face (or rather tongue), you're probably overextracted.
the lighter roast espressos i had tasted more like concentrated filter than what i expect in espresso. its a very fine line between 'acidity' and the whole thing tasting like coffee with lemon juice added.
Coffee with lemon juice sounds quite pleasant to me.
@@alinaqirizvi1441 I actually like slightly sour when it comes to light roasts XD i tend to go for a 1:2.2 ratio to add a bit of snap to it
This is absolutely ripper. Loved the simple step-by-step format and common sense way of describing the process 👌🏻
The visual language of your videos is really unique. I always know it's a Spro video just from the title cards.
GunderTube thank you, I think it’s important to have a style, even if I’m not really aware of it. Haha.
Thanks. Finally, I've managed to get a delicious cup of light-roasted coffee. A good starting point to further optimize. Yirgacheffe, 10 clicks on commandante, setting 2 on lelit mara X (96 C), 17g in 40g out in 30 seconds.
I just opened my first bag of light roast natural process orange bourbon, this is really helpful, thanks Spromey!
This is a little off topic but my issue with light roast espresso is that most mornings I don’t have time to deal with an off shot. When I have to head out the door by 5:30, I need my two double shots to be somewhere between ok and great without the fuss. I prefer something slightly darker and more forgiving as a result, and enjoy a pour over when exploring lighter roasts on the weekend. Loved the video and your content in general, thanks! And excited to see that new distribution tool. Doesn’t look like it’s readily available in the US yet, so it’ll be cool to see whether you think it’s worth shipping intl!
I'm still new to this, and with many tries I've learned to stick to dark roasts because they are the easiest for me too dial in. Not than anyone could give me an answer to this but I'm starting to think I just need more time in front of my machine to curve this problem. Maybe when i get to 10,000 hours I'll understand all these quirks lol. Great vid as always Spro, thank you for sharing your knowledge! One day I'll get to your level! A man can dream.
Happy to help! Keep at it, you’ll be a pull shots like a pro in no time!
Thank you for your posts. I am a Newb when it comes to pulling shots. I just got a machine a few weeks ago. I love light/mid roast .
I am currently trying to dial in a Costa Rican Bean and I am finding it very difficult to get this one dialed in. I have ground from a 15 grind size to 6 grind, and with very low bar pressure, and wet puck
I have ground much coarser to a number 20 and stopped there with a 26 second pull into two full double shot glasses. I made a drinkable Double Latte from it, but still not satisfied.
The machine is Ascaso Dream PID ; and I am pre - infusing @3 seconds, with 202 degrees f.
I just got a bag of Sunshine light roast from Little Victories Roaster in Ottawa , this video is perfectly timed!!! thanks Spro King
Burggraf Nice! Hoping the video helps out and allows you to enjoy more of that Sunshine!
Thumbs up for little victories!
Perfectly timed. Currently doing battle with a light roast and my Appartamento.
GunderTube they are a challenge, but once you get it right it’s worth it!
GrunderTube I dialed in a bag of Luna Strawberry Sundae on my Appartamento. Avoid flushing to keep the brew temp high, pre infuse for 15-20 sec and aim for a 1:3 dose to yield. Like Sprometheus suggests, 17-18.5g is the key dose for these lighter beans.
@@RT-yh8pi the long preinfusion, combined with no cooling flush basically solved this problem for me! Thanks so much!
Same on my ecm classika. I had a shot take 70 seconds and it was still sour…I don’t get it.
THANKS for giving specific numbers from a shot you liked. Often coffee is discussed in generalities and newbies can't get a sense of concrete values
Light roasts are less soluble, so I find that it helps to increase temperature, pre-infusion time, and to go for a higher ratio yield. Rao's blooming espresso technique is perfect for light roasts.
What's rao's teqnique, care to share? I cannot listen tho, so I'll have to get a transcript or summery
Spromey is the barista's barista, yessssss, perhaps a video for him my precious? The timing of me watching this was unfortunate, Big Willy just slapped your beans.
Perfect timing, I just started experimenting with roasting lighter batches. I 've got some Ethiopian and some Costa Rican that I just roasted on the light side and they are currently gassing off, should be trying to dial them in a couple days. Thanks for the vid. Pretty straight forward common sense stuff.
Glad to help! I hope it gets you dialed in on that new coffee! Cheers!
This was so helpful! My light roast shots kept coming out sour.. your tips helped me dial it in perfectly! I needed it hotter and more coarse. Thank you for this video!
Happy to hear that! Thank you so much for the kind words and for watching!
How can a coarser grind help with sourness? I thought it's the other way around...
Great simplification of understanding how to brew, thanks
Loved this trailer for the upcoming video about that distribution tool.
macehead10 that video is definitely in the works!
Glad to hear it. In all seriousness though loved this video. Super informative and helpful. Nice and succinct as well. 👍🏻
macehead10 thank you my friend, I appreciate that!
This is exactly what I needed! Having so much trouble with light roasts
Did it help? Any further tips?
Very informative and will definitely be used in my next dial in. Thanks!
Pelin Gamze Yılmaz glad you found it helpful, thanks for watching!
Great video - dialed in my shot on the second pull. Many thanks!
Thank you for the informative video. I hate light roasts, but learned a lot about coffee in general from your video.
Wow! What's that dosing cup with the grind sieve in it? "ESPCUP" on the side of it? Another great video, thanks for the lesson!
That’s exactly it, it’s called the ESPCUP and it’s a new distribution device I’m testing out. I will definitely be digging into it a bit more soon. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I'm working with a light roast right now. There are some really neat flavours to discover, but it's SO much less forgiving.
I really like light roasted espresso but often by the time I'm pulling consistently good shots with it I'm nearing the bottom of the bag. I bought a light roasted Yirgacheffe when you teased this video the other day, let's see if I can improve my process a bit!
Keegan Morrow Hoping this helps you get it dialed in a shot or two! Let me know how it goes!
Haha, same for me. My grind is about right, when I have about 100g left... After going through 150g
El Boyo Electronico that’s always a bummer! Hoping this video will help plan a head a bit and save some coffee for enjoying and not dialing.
I am dialing in one of the few light roasts ive gotten since I bought my espresso set up. Ive found that I like low dose high yield with a long extraction due to small grind.
Been a while and have been pulling light roast since I bought flow control valve on my e61 group head, insightful thanks for sharing man!
Finally a video for the light roasts!!! Thank you so much... love all your videos... I also have a Linea Mini , do you use the preinfusion function for the light roasts? And how is that done?
I do use them, but I’m still trying to get a grasp on it. Expect a video soon.
Awesome!!! Can’t wait for the new video...👍
I’m sitting in front of a roaster and was just wondering about the best way to dial-in a light roast at Mexican Chiapas for espresso. Wild timing 👀
Michael Luciano let me know how it turns out!
It will be great if you are able to explore the effects of pre-infusion and dialing in espresso with pre - infusion too!
Great video! I appreciate the explanations behind the changes.
Matthew thank you, glad you found it helpful.
Your coffee meme game is incredible.
huntdonger haha thank you, I do what I can.
Truly!! Lmao
@@Sprometheus omg i instantly had to clip this and sent it to my gf xD ty for that perfect meme
Ah proud marry nice from my part of town. I would recommend giving heart coffee roasters a try, my favorite in portland.
Thanks for the vid, this is exactly the info I needed as I struggle to learn to extract lighter roasts well.
I just tried a Guatemalan light roast. Did not change my grind from my darker roasts, and it came out pretty good… what I will change next time is to let the surf temp go up a couple degrees before beginning the pre-infusion.
Thank you! Having a lot of trouble pulling a balanced shot lately. I really want to make it work with the lighter roasts and not just give up and go back to medium.
Did it work out for you?
Any further tips?
Was struggeling with turbo/channeling shots when switching to more lighter roasts, and found your video.
Your advice to reduce dose from 20 to 17 grams really helped, and I grinded finer to adjust for the lower dose.
Now the extraction flow is more even over the puck and screen and the espresso more balanced.
It's enough to change/tweak yield just a little bit to get the result you want (1:2 for my cappucino, i.e. 34 grams out).
My shots are around 27 seconds for a 1:2 ratio, which is fine with my roast having a brew temp of 96 C.
Using a Lelit Bianca V3 with a paddle, but I'm not fiddeling with flow control using the paddle right now while I dial in.
Might try to grind even finer, go up to 4 bar, turn off pump, preinfuse for about 30 seconds to first drops. And while it's preinfusing I can steam my milk. That's a completely new workflow for me as I usually only drink cappucino, but maybe it's worth it if the shots are better? Did you ever try this method? Seems harder to replicate well.
Turbo shots and channelling are two very different things. Turbo shots usually have almost no channelling but they run fast like how shots with channels run and so it gives that appearance but it couldn't be more different.
Thanks for the comment! Which basket are you using?
Great video!
What tool are you using at 1:59?
Thanks!
Thanks for making the video that I requested!!! Greetings from germany
By the way: Light Roasts are perfekt for espresso!
Marc Mädler of course Marc! Thanks for the patience for me to put it together.
The Real Sprometheus You are my favorite TH-camr! Thanks for every Video you made! Thanks to you I found my favorite summer drink! (Fat Americano) And you have the best steaming tutorial on TH-cam. 👍
Marc Mädler thanks Marc, that means a lot! I appreciate you watching and the kind words!
When you decreased your dose from 20g to 17g, did you also change the basket?
curious how 17g does in 20g basket would fair
Generally +/- 2g is the most you wanna go before it compromises the basket design / interaction with pressure and coffee. I have a 18g basket, I +/- 1 and so now just got a 15g so I can start to run 14g shots.
Damn, your timing with this vid is just perfect!
Kamil Zalewski happy to hear that, hope this helps you get some awesome light roast shots!
It appears to be an espresso sifter you're using at 1:58, but I'm not familiar with it. Is it new? As for light roasts, I haven't gone there with espresso much, but I'll dive in once again keeping your tips in mind. Thanks as always for the great video.
Yep, that’s the WPM ESPCUP, it’s an interesting new distribution tool. I’ll do a full video on it in the next month or so as I wrap up my testing.
Hey man. Have you thought of doing something along the lines of choosing a bean for milk drinks? I’ve just bought my first prosumer machine. And nowhere along the lines the endless educational vids that I’ve been watching did I run into the whole “some beans go better with milk drinks that others” Conversation. Definitely down to personal preference in the end but could be helpful for newbies like myself!
Great help. Thank you!
Glad to hear that!
I always weigh my beans in a narrow shot glass.
By looking at how high the beans reach in the glass, I usually get a good indication where to start.
Generally
A light roast will be more dense, and not reach as high in the shot glass.
Therefore it will also not reach as high in the porta filter, and probably need a finer grind.
when i feel lazy... i do everything by sight .... i dont weigh stuff ....not consistent at all hahahah
The moment you said "adjust the brew temperature" I got discouraged as my machine has pre-set values and it is already at the Max temperature. I might try a darker roast. Coffee is coming out too fast and I already changed the volume, tamper pressure and grinder values and it still flows too fast.
Good info. I've normally used a dark roast but I'm playing with a single origin light roast and it's not going well. Definitely denser, but the smaller puck means a very fast shot. I've tried putting in more coffee to slow it down, but then the yield has to be higher. I guess I'll just keep going finer, it's a lot finer than my usual.
Remember than the time/flow speed isn't important by itself. The only things that are, are exposed coffer surface area and the amount of water that goes through. (higher temperature of course makes the water more efficient at extracting)
Speometheus, can you please do an updated video regarding when to start the timer when timing your shots? Your explanation as far as when water hits the puck makes sense, but you did not account for how there are many variations between machines as far as the time it takes from start of pump till water comes out of the group head, and also from start of pump to first drip. You also did not mention pre-infusion.
I'm thinking maybe I might start timing from the moment my puck is wet, which I can hear because the pump changes sound about 5-7 seconds in.
Hey great video. Can you share a link etc to the wdt tool your using at 1:59 seems cool. Cheers
The tool itself is called the ESPCUP and it’s made by WPM. You should be able to find multiple links if you look it up online
Pergamino Coffee from Medellin Colombia is my favorite coffee.
What is this amazing leveler?? I saw a tease for it here/IG, is there a video of it somewhere?
Eytan Calif that’s the WPM EspCup. I’ll be putting out a video on that soon. Been comparing it to the OCD tool for the last month or so
Super informative and well-put together! Thank you. This gives me some ideas of what to play around with now that I'm pretty happy (but like you said, never fully satisfied) with the shots coming out of my Silvia. If I could offer one small piece of constructive criticism, it would be to maybe try some different background music. It could very well just be me, but this track reminded me of those drug commercials where they're showing happy couples and simultaneously listing off tons of side effects and it did distract me from the meat of the video a little. Either way, great content, and thank you again for sharing!
Thanks for your video, appreciate the content
Would you make a video review of the distribution tool you used in this video?
Endless Ocean it’s coming, that’s for sure!
I just increase brew temp, grind finer and increase ratio, usually 1:2.5. I will extract in around 45s.
Terrific video.
I find myself extracting something like 55 g out of 20 with lighter roasts most of the time. Might need to try higher temp. My BDB is still set to 93.
I have an important question. The niche zero grinder b-roll at 2:48 you show is just illustrative, right? I set up my niche on that exact point and water flew faster than Niagara Falls out of my Rocket Evo-R. I have some light roast Gesha here that I am desperate I can’t find the beautiful funnel 😭
You want to do a longer pre infusion too
Just got a light roasted Ethiopian and the first shot was SO sour. It only took 12 seconds to get 38 grams (was aiming for 35 but I’m a newbie) from 17.5 dose. I ground finer and it helped a decent amount! Took 17 seconds. Still wayyyy too fast but better. I guess my move is probably to increase dose because my machine doesn’t really have temp control
Keep in mind that the time/flow speed isn't important by itself. The only things that are, are exposed coffer surface area and the amount of water that goes through. (higher temperature of course makes the water more efficient at extracting)
Are we just gonna skip over that cool sifter? Or did I miss something aha
I dropped it in as a bit of a teaser to see how people responded. It’ll be featured in a full video in the coming month.
I stopped watching after I saw that and headed to the comments because I NEED one.
So I saw that and been looking the entire Internet for one... ETA on a release?? Name at least
@@angeldones3864 on the sifter it says "espcup"
What is the distribution tool you used ?
Found it : WPM ESPCUP for around 75$ USD
Minus09 yep, that’s the one!
Which app do you use the track extraction?
The only coffee I have ever had problem extract is single estate non blend coffee.
They seem to be more prone to channeling consistently and they are very unstable.
Great content thank you man!!
Since profiling machines have become prominent, light roast formula is grind fine, then slow, low flow soak until puck is saturated, then 9 BAR. This brings out sweetness in hard to extract light roasts. Do you feel this post has to do with dialing in specifically on machines that can’t profile or don’t have “soft preinfusion”?
Yeah I’d say these techniques work no matter the machine capabilities, but I know pre-infusion isn’t all that common yet for most home machines. I do have pre-brew capabilities, but plan on saving that for another video.
1:58 i see you have a new tool! hope do you like it?
I really enjoyed this weeks video thank you. I thought lighter roasts, being more dense you had to run them a lot longer ( more towards 30s ) to get the most out, hence 22 seconds was to short but it just shows you looking at your TDS results. Cheers !
Thanks David! Glad you found it helpful. And yes, increasing yield can definitely up your extraction. It all depends on how what variables you have control of. If your machine can’t increase the brew temperature, or your burrs aren’t as sharp as they could be, running longer is a definite way to get more out of a dense coffee. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I concider myself as a very novice barista even after many year in the hobby . With litgh roast my maine challenge is texture. I mosly end up with a watery results. I can i maximize the thickness/richness? My grind and dose seem fine , but i wonder if lowering extraction temperature would help ? I feel like my brew temp is too hot ( i’m on a pré-millennium europicolla) what would be ideal temperature of the shot ? This way i could adjust/rule that out ?
Would you do slightly higher doses for medum roast? something like 17, 18 and 19 for light, medium and dark respectively? or something along those lines XD
Man grinder hitting 20. Mine never gets above a 13 and most of the time its around 10-11. Also how are you liking that ESPCUP sifter? Better than the Wedge?
What tool do you have there for breaking the clumps, it's the first time I've seen it.
That’s the WPM ESPCUP, keep and eye out for a full video on it soon.
Great!! already subbed and alarmed.
most of my light roasts stop about 1 minute into first crack, fo dat magnitude POP POP
I find light roast and high altitude hard to work with. I tended to go finer and finer with grind on the Sage/Breville Barista Pro. One coffee I had I needed to go to the finest grind the machine could do and still wasn’t great. I heard it was a finer grind and higher temps for light roast?
Yeah grind is definitely always a key component, and lighter coffees tend to need finer grinds. The higher temps also help extract more. But they aren’t the only options out there to get more from those light and dense coffees.
You have to be careful of channeling when going finer.
What do you recommend in terms of temperature for an Ethiopian coffee?
Any tips for if your espresso machine doesn't have adjustable temperature?
Yes I have found all of these except one to hold true when dialing my light roast. With smaller dose and higher yield I have found a finer grind to be better. But grind settings are also all relative to machine, so maybe my finer is your courser, bc my brew times are also in the mid to low 20's for an ideal pull. Interesting stuff thanks!
NibbleSnarph if it works then it’s all good! Thanks for watching.
@@Sprometheus thanks for commenting and supplying all the great coffee content!
PERSONALLY, IT WORKS FOR ME WITH LOW DOSES (14G-17G) AND SHORT TIMES (23-28S). GENERALLY WITH 1:2 RATIO
Great content.
So should I change the amount of beans I’m using? I always do 18g in 36g out and time is the variable. I’m on an old dusty Gaggia Classic with no pid, so can’t control temp.
Dylan Lambdin no major need to do it, but using a gram less may mean a bit more extraction, especially if you can’t control temperature.
What is that distribution tool you used to dose into to you pf before tamping please
That is the WPM ESPCUP, keep and eye out for a full video on it soon.
Under the 21 gr with light roast i extract to less. I have a lelit bianca .
How are you liking the wpm espcup?
Vince Blixt at the moment I’m a bit torn with it. It works well, but the workflow isn’t as seamless as I’d want it to be. Keep an eye out for a full video on it soon.
that's hot
manuel cavieres indeed it is!
I have a question, whats the coffee maker you showed in the video?
What is the optimal pressure for light roasts? Medium roasts?
Personally I like 6-7 bars for the peak, but play around a bit in the early to late stages in the 3-5 range.
@@Sprometheus thank you! Will try. Btw, is maximum flow rate very important? I bought a Lelit flow rate control kit for my Rocket Cincuantotto, which it doesn’t fit well on. The wood paddle is too big.
Fully open, it flows at 176g/30sec. Thoughts?
Btw, I customized the wood paddle and now it turns freely. No more problem with the flow rate.
That being said, flow rate and pressure are two different things, right.
I can use flow rate to regulate pressure, but it isn’t the same as a machine with pressure profiling, is it?
What would you suggest for a light roast with my flow rate control? Open up the flow control slightly to allow the puck to saturate, not going above 2bar, then closing it for a bit, then opening it slowly to fully open, then ramping down. Ideally, could we be talking 50-60 sec for the entire process or is that too long?
Thanks in advance
Hey- i bought a Mr Coffee Cafe Barista, and the basket for the grind only holds about 10-12 grams max for the 'double shot' basket, but the brew time on the automatic is around 25 seconds from the time it begins dripping into the cup, and The yield on the auto setting is right around 80 grams. There is a manual option, but i don't know what time i should try given the amount of espresso grind?
To me the variables fpr the automatic settings for double shot just seem to be way off compared to what I'm seeing on espresso videos? I get a really nice looking crema amount, but sometimes it a bit dark, and the drink is bitter- (which personally i don't mind much, but others do) Any suggestions to get me into the ballpark for what a true espresso should taste like?
I've never had a true espresso, so i can't judge what the taste and smoothness should be. I just wanna be somewhere in the ballpark so that myself but mostly others can enjoy a pretty good double shot of espresso- the single shot just seems to be way too little.
Thanks
P.S I'm forced to use low acid espresso grind for myself- the only other coffee i have is maxwell house regular, which i ground up even finer, about like table salt size- but it's coming out pretty dark and a bit bitter- good crema amount though
how do you deal with acidty? with a light roast go it running at a flow of about 30 seconds with 20g in and 40g out 1:2 ratio and also have my temp set to 96 Degrees just for the light roast.
What's up with that spinning PF distribution doser jawn? What's that called?
That’s the WPM Espcup, keep and eye out for a full video on it soon
Did you install the Mini Connected Retrofit?
djizzy12 it is indeed installed.
@@Sprometheus how do you like it and is it worth $500?
djizzy12 I could easily live without it. Nothing crazy ground breaking. Seems more like a convenience thing really. But still testing and toying with it. I’ll do a full video once I come to a conclusion.
Maybe I'll just stick to medium roasts next time lol. Besides, I'm almost out already. Good to know though, thanks.
Hammi4Real of course! Thanks for watching and the kind words.
@sprometheus lelit bianca v3 or linea micra for light and medium roasts?
question. for a light roast coffee, a single, natural process bean, I'd be starting with 17 grams BUT my machine does not have the ability to change the temp (198-200 F). Should I grind finer, 1:2.3 - .5 within 27 secs or longer?
Yes, I would grind finer, just watch out for channeling.
I guess I am a terrible barista. Tried everything offered in this video. Light roast comes super acidic no matter what I do. I even tried to go up the temp to 206, grind super fine, pre brew for 2 seconds, bloom for 5, extract longer, all to maximise extraction and get some sweetness- nada. Sour as a vomit. Dose : I use 14 grams. Yield: started at 1:2, then 1:2.5, then 1:3. The best case I got some stale watery coffee. No particular notes.
I tamp the same with a calibrated tamper. Use a eurika 75 red speed burrs and a Limea Mini that I keep meticulously clean... any suggestions??
Could you please tell me what is the diff. Between 18g bsket vst and 20g vst why they both have diffrent dose what are the reason between them and which one is way better for dialing? Thank you.
The ESPCUP looks like another version of the Sifdis Distribution Tool.
I would also mention that some light roasts can be tricky to grind fine enough being a harder denser bean. I ran into serious limitations with my Ceado E37S with ~75% life left in the 83mm burr set.
Hence why I have a Monolith Conical on order to be able to experiment with all levels of bean roast and particle size with more consistent results.
If you find it difficult to grind a coffee fine enough to slow down the flow I think it is one of the few occasions I would increase dose, or drop brew pressure if that’s possible.
I just bought a Londinium R24 and an Etzmax Plus. I have been trying two types of light roast (the package says it should taste like chocolate, hazelnut, honey and peach), but so far I keep getting overly sour espressos, even when clearly overextracted.. I tried the finest grind and increased the pre-infusing pressure to 6 bars and increasing the dose. Nothing seems to really help. Got any tips?
What is that distribution tool shown at 1:59 ?