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Effect of (slightly) older beans?
Hi gang -- been a while but I am back with a question. I've researched the various threads I can find on stale beans, channeling, etc, but haven't found a precise answer that is specific.
First off: I am not questioning that stale beans are bad. What I'm wondering about is that intermediate, often indeterminate zone. Beans which are probably not ideal but still usable to some degree. The beans we use when we haven't gotten to the roaster or had a delivery for one reason or another.
I've been following the general guidance of 15.8g, ground such that, once tamped, they sit at the stamp line in the factory basket which shipped with the L1 portafilter. I have an HG1 grinder. Beans are, ahem, fresh-ish. I know they are not ideal. But they are not obviously dried out, at least to look at, and can result in a tolerable shot with modifications to the dosing process.
When I pull the shot, before I've even finished pulling down the lever, I'm getting a torrent of water out of the portafilter. No resistance is offered by the puck, water courses through immediately and in volume.
If I ratchet the grind fineness down and increase the dose to 17-18g, I can end up with something which looks like a tolerable shot. But I would prefer to keep the dose a little lower, in order to reproduce the oft-reported results from others.
So my general question is whether this behavior is attributed solely to the beans? I understand the effect of oils and how they help bind the particles, but presumably the rate of decay is gradual. So are my beans simply much older/dryer than I thought and I should abandon this silly experiment?
Many thanks to all for your thoughts,
twj
First off: I am not questioning that stale beans are bad. What I'm wondering about is that intermediate, often indeterminate zone. Beans which are probably not ideal but still usable to some degree. The beans we use when we haven't gotten to the roaster or had a delivery for one reason or another.
I've been following the general guidance of 15.8g, ground such that, once tamped, they sit at the stamp line in the factory basket which shipped with the L1 portafilter. I have an HG1 grinder. Beans are, ahem, fresh-ish. I know they are not ideal. But they are not obviously dried out, at least to look at, and can result in a tolerable shot with modifications to the dosing process.
When I pull the shot, before I've even finished pulling down the lever, I'm getting a torrent of water out of the portafilter. No resistance is offered by the puck, water courses through immediately and in volume.
If I ratchet the grind fineness down and increase the dose to 17-18g, I can end up with something which looks like a tolerable shot. But I would prefer to keep the dose a little lower, in order to reproduce the oft-reported results from others.
So my general question is whether this behavior is attributed solely to the beans? I understand the effect of oils and how they help bind the particles, but presumably the rate of decay is gradual. So are my beans simply much older/dryer than I thought and I should abandon this silly experiment?
Many thanks to all for your thoughts,
twj
Comments
thanks for posting
i would have thought that if you make the 15.8g dose fine enough you will still get an acceptable result, although it will obviously lie lower in the basket as a result of being ground finer, which isn't ideal if it gets too extreme, but my expectation would be that it would not be in your case
it is going to depend on the roast too and how they were kept prior to your purchasing them, and after
roasts with plenty of robusta in them will also last longer than a 100% arabica offering
my suggestion would be to only buy beans with a 'roast date' on them
yes, i think it is fair to say it is solely attributable to the beans
when a roast becomes too stale to drink is going to be a matter of opinion, so it is going to be your call on whether you persevere or ditch them and procure some fresh beans
kind regards
reiss.
Back to much finer grind this morning, new beans should be in hand soon. My local roasters do a reasonable job but the intersection of 'availability' and 'when I'm near the shop' is fairly unpredictable...