Question for The Coffee Experts (Trouble with Extracting Coffee)

ForkSnorter on 16/10/2023 - 10:27
Last edited 16/10/2023 - 13:00 by 1 other user

I used to buy Aldi’s dark beans a few years ago and found them pretty good. But since then, I’ve mostly used freshly roasted beans. Last month I bought the Aldi beans again, but had difficulty extracting them. Most shots did not extract at all, no liquid came through. When I tamped the grinds, they felt dry and hard, there was no pliancy, meaning the grinds can’t be pushed down at all. I wasted about half the beans trying to find a way to extract coffee, which required the coarsest grind possible, and only filling the basket 2/3 full. Coffee was not dark and very weak.

I haven’t had this problem with any other freshly roasted or supermarket brands. Switching to Vittoria revealed absolutely no problems with the grinder or machine.

Last week I tried the Aldi beans again to see if it had just been a bad batch, but I got exactly the same problem again. In fact, this time the beans clogged my grinder. I also noticed the Aldi dark beans are now $3 cheaper than the medium beans, which suggests they are maybe lower quality?

Any ideas about this? Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

• 

  Drpepper666 on 16/10/2023 - 10:42

  +3

  Your grind setting is too fine

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  kiitos on 16/10/2023 - 10:49

  +1

  I think the dark beans are a mix of arabica and Robusta, and I find they clog my grinder a lot more than others.

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  overthinking on 16/10/2023 - 10:50

  +1

  The simple answer is stop buying those specific beans.
  The complex answer is a lot more trial and error, maybe you'd need another grinder with more grind sizes?
  Considering darker roasts have more surface oil, that's probably why your grinder clogged up.

• 

  Banj0 on 16/10/2023 - 10:54

  So many variables.

  If I'd hit the same behaviour, I would have coarsened the grind as you did (but I would not expect to have to reduce the dose necessarily). The fact that you've gone to the coarsest grind you can and still needed to reduce the dose…that's a bit strange.

  I do get some roasts that don't tamp much. I can still get good pours out of them with a few tries though.

  I'm going to take a stab at this being a grinder issue. That's a big call though, since this is such a deep and win ding rabbit hole. So what grinder and what machine are you using now?

  • 

    ForkSnorter on 16/10/2023 - 10:56

    I've had the same grinder and machine for the past few years: Sunbeam Precision Grinder and Delonghi Dedica (pressurised filter).

    • 

      Banj0 on 16/10/2023 - 15:35

      Get a single-walled basket (non-pressurised) if the machine can handle it.

      If you want to really see what's happening, also get a bottomless portafilter.

      Pressurised baskets are designed to produce lots of crema from pre-ground coffee (ie not always ground for espresso). They are not good if you really want to start exploring a little more deeply.

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  MrThing on 16/10/2023 - 11:02

  -2

  pfft international roast for me any day

  no coffee wankerism here

  • 

    ForkSnorter on 16/10/2023 - 11:29

    +2

    Heinz canned spaghetti for me any day.

    No home-cooking wankerism here

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  bargaino on 16/10/2023 - 11:04

  I also noticed the Aldi dark beans are now $3 cheaper than the medium beans, which suggests they are maybe lower quality?

  Dark roasting is less fussy about the bean characteristics, so it should be cheaper. But try not to let that influence your choice. Dark vs medium roast is a personal and cultural preference. Not like steak, where "well done" is just wrong.

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  knaff on 16/10/2023 - 11:53

  The most important ingredient in quality of your coffee is the freshness of the beans.

  You can have the most expensive machine and grinder, special tampers etc but without fresh beans it will still taste like crap.

  I came to the conclusion long ago that you either pay the $$ for freshly roasted beans or you roast your own.

• 

  mattkirkey on 16/10/2023 - 12:01

  @ForkSnorter - definitely have your grind settings too fine, and the pressurised portafilter you're using is contributing heavily to the problem.

  Pressurised portafilters will contribute to your problems as they have fewer and much finer holes for extraction. Couple that with a grind setting that's too fine and water can't flow through. If you're able to swap the basket out with a non-pressurised one, that will be a big step towards solving the problem.

  As an FYI, every time you change beans, you're likely going to need to alter your grind settings because depending on the bean, it will have different density when being ground. A lot has to do with humidity and packaging conditions.

  It'll take a bit of trial and error, but you're aiming to make the grind coarser until you're pulling about 28-32 second shots that will weigh roughly 36-44 grams in your glass. This is based on around 18 grams of grinds in the basket. If you get 28 seconds and the weight is under, then you'll need to go slightly coarser. If you get 28 seconds and the weight is over, then you'll need to go slightly finer.

  Normally, it takes me about 3-5 attempts to "dial" in my shots when I change beans. Good luck!

  • 

    AustriaBargain on 16/10/2023 - 12:07

    I use an open basket on my Delongi Arte and it took a long time to dial in the grind setting, which was basically closet to the finest setting on the Breville Smart Pro. I don't think the machine was made with an open basket in mind. I wish I could dial in the water pressure on the Arte.

    • 

      mattkirkey on 16/10/2023 - 12:10

      Yeah, agreed. Wouldn't recommend a bottomless portafilter unless you step up an espresso machine in a serious way. The small ones don't have sufficient pressure or consistency to get great extractions, which is why they will typically 'cheat' and use pressurised portafilters to make up for the lack of pressure.

      For ForkSnorter's case, a regular double portafilter (not-bottomless) should be okay and improve the extraction problem.

      • 

        AustriaBargain on 16/10/2023 - 12:14

        I think my Arte may have too much pressure, but I'm not really sure tbh.

        • 

          Banj0 on 16/10/2023 - 15:47

          @AustriaBargain: Consumer machines usually sit around 15bar. Standard commercial is 9 bar or so.

          It's ok. I had a 15 bar consumer machine for a while, and it produced quite nice coffee with a single-walled basket, bottomless portafilter, and a very decent 1zpresso hand grinder. It can be done.

          As MattK points out, these machines are designed to pump higher pressure against a dual-walled basket. This can extract a little more from pre-ground coffee (which is often ground to suit multiple purposes) and produce something more like crema that would otherwise be largely absent.

          You can absolutely use a single-walled basket and bottomless portafilter on these (assuming you can get them) as long as you have a decent grinder (OP's Sunbeam probably won't quite cut it unfortunately).

  • 

    cv05 on 16/03/2024 - 06:03

    Do those stats also work for the medium roast beans? And are 28-32 sec shots inclusive of the pump priming up or from when the coffee starts to extract? My machine takes about 8 seconds for that to happen.

    With the medium roast I've been doing 20g of beans, 28 sec shot inc priming, 20g coffee in cup. But I think it could taste better.

    Sorry, still very new to espresso machines as well as terminology!

• 

  Ghost47 on 16/10/2023 - 12:49

  If you’re doing the exact same thing as you previously have then something must be up with the beans. Are other beans turning out ok?

  Have you tried contacting Aldi/Lazzio and asking them about it? Something could’ve changed with them or their roasting process which affects the beans. Maybe even the source of the beans.