Higher Dose But Same Brew Ratio - Why Does Taste Strengthen?

JHCCoffee

When I increase the dose in a basket the strength and body increases, even though I maintain the same brew ratio. Why?

So a 16.0g in, 25g out shot (1.58 ratio) in my EPHQ14 basket has more strength and body than a 16.0g in, 23.6g out shot (1.57 brew ratio).

Now when I increase the dose by 1g, I have to grind 1 full number coarser (10.5 on my Niche Z with a 16.0g dose vs 9.5 with a 15.0g dose).

Btw, I suspect that if I ground coarser on my 15.0 g in, 23.6g out shot, strength and body will not increase. But I can test that.

I am guessing that my 16g dose reduced the headspace by about 1 mm, which improved the shot.

Thoughts?

InfamousTuba

How are you testing for strength? Is the TDS the same for both shots?

JHCCoffee

InfamousTuba How are you testing for strength? Is the TDS the same for both shots?

Haven’t tested. But it’s pretty obvious based upon taste. Just wondering technically why?

InfamousTuba

JHCCoffee Haven’t tested. But it’s pretty obvious based upon taste. Just wondering technically why?

With a 16g shot and a coarser grind you will have more coffee to extract from and a coarser grind to make extraction of the coffee easier.

I also find deeper pucks are easier to get good consistent extractions from

Measuring the TDS would show if the strength has actually increased or if the increased body from the reduced headspace lead to the perceived increase in strength

JHCCoffee

InfamousTuba With a 16g shot and a coarser grind you will have more coffee to extract from and a coarser grind to make extraction of the coffee easier.

Thanks for the guidance. I had thought that grinding finer increases extraction. If you grind too course then you end up under extracted, resultant sour notes and other signs of under extraction. Then as you grind finer you go up the extraction curve until you peak and then (when you have ground too fine) you start going back down the curve. Or so I thought.

So … what might you mean by “a coarser grind to make extraction of the coffee easier” ?

Thanks

InfamousTuba

Grinding finer generally does increase extraction but you can start causing more channeling because the puck is more densely packed so you can actually increase extraction with a coarser grind for espresso. In the same way that you can clog a filter brew with too fine a grind size so counter intuitively a coarser grind would lead to a better extraction.

TDS numbers can also not be that useful in this way because extraction is not equal to taste but it can be a useful guide