Just something I found recently, is many posts talking about epresso being ‘sour’ if under-extracted or over-extracted.
Having experienced under-extracted espresso quite often, I am aware of that sourness, especially if pulling short to fully experience the mouth-puckering intensity.
However, quite often I have pulled a shot that is drying in the mouth but also shows the same ‘sour’ quality, albeit greatly reduced. This had confused me as I previously thought the overall cycle was sour->sweet->bitter but now I’m not so sure. Unfortunately only some articles mention the over-extraction sourness. Most talk about burnt/bitter, which is much easier to taste.
I’m therefore curious what you wonderful folks taste as a shot move towards the over-extraction side of things. I have found that the Barista Hustle description of ‘hollow’ along with ‘drying’ to be quite good, but this can also be confused with ‘thin’ which can be an aspect of under-extraction.
Yes - it’s all subjective, yes - I understand the times/process etc. Just curious for some more anecdotal and subjective feedback on which bad ‘taste’ goes with which side of the sweetness. I’m not specifically looking for shot advice, as experience is what drives me.
(as always, we’ve pretty much established my taste buds are shot, and my sense of smell is gone, which makes my coffee journey even more ‘interesting’ but the process still applies)