Why is decaf such a pain to get a decent espresso?

thusband

My wife drinks decaf and I like caffeine. Her decaf shots are always gushing, thin and fast. I’m pretty happy with my shots most of the time. I’m using a Niche Zero and a Lelit Bianca and have moved the grind setting all over the place and played with the Bianca paddle to no avail on her decaf. I always change one thing at a time so I can pinpoint any success but so far I haven’t had much with her decaf. I also roast my beans and have tried different decaf roasts.

Is it just the nature of the decaf beast? Decaf beans are quite a bit different from caffeinated beans from appearance on through the roast so maybe there’s not much to done about it.

dfk41

Greetings! Firstly, number one rule of decaf is to grind about 20% finer than non decaf. You do not mention the beans you are using, or how old they are. Luckily the Niche makes it easy to swop between beans so try finer and report back

hornbyben

I usually have to go a fair bit finer (8 on my niche isn’t unusual), but have had good results from decaf beans. I’d keep going finer until you hit the ratio you want, or choke the machine and then work back.

I assume the decaf beans are freshly roasted? Old stale beans often run very fast and are hard to dial in. If you’re buying beans without a roasted on date (I try to use all beans within ₆ weeks from roast date, or freeze if that isn’t possible) then perhaps turnover is lower on the decaf and they’re older than what you’re using for caffeinated.

thusband

Thanks, I didn’t realize that much of a finer grind is needed. I bet that’s my problem. I’m usually around a 10 on the Niche for caffeinated and maybe 9 for decaf. I’ll go lower.

The beans are freshly roasted since I roast them on my Huky.

Thanks for the tips.

hornbyben

thusband No problem. As they’re fresh I think that keeping going finer should get them running well.

HensTeeth

If it helps at all, I get decaf beans from the same roaster here in Ireland (Dreambeans) that I buy a lot of regular beans from, and I find that their caffeinated coffees tend to need around the 18-20 setting on the Niche, but nearer 10-12 for the decaf.

thusband

All the Niche’s seem to be different. My caffeinated beans are usually around 9-10 so I guess I’ll try the decaf beans starting around 7. We’ll see tomorrow.

Thanks.