Lelit Elizabetz PL92T - Troubleshooting

ADMIR089

Hello Forum,

I recently got a new Lelit Elizabeth PL92T.

Before this, I also used prosumer machines, and I’ve always bought my beans fresh from a local roaster.

For the first 2–3 days, my shots were consistently very good, no matter the ratio (1:2, 1:1.5, 1:2.5). I was pulling them using the factory settings from Lelit, with the LCC at 94–95 °C (back then still on firmware TR1).

But after 4–5 days, the coffee suddenly started tasting very bitter, no matter the ratio or temperature. I didn’t change anything on my end.

After many attempts, I started reading up and also tried DaveC’s advanced settings. The problem remains the same.

The coffee always tastes bitter, whether I pull the shot at 20, 25, or 30 seconds, and whether the LCC is set to 85, 88, 90, or 93 °C.

It’s not channeling — I’m using a bottomless portafilter, and the flow looks fine.

I really don’t understand what’s going on. Could it be that something is wrong with the machine — maybe a faulty sensor giving incorrect temperatures?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

dfk41

ADMIR089 Bitterness………what roast level of beans are you using and what temperature are you brewing at. Lighter beans usually require a higher temperature in order to fully extract the coffee. Are you using button 1 (3 seconds of water, 6 seconds preinfusion), if so remember to add this time onto your shot time. I have an Elizabeth and I find total shot time on button one is best at between 42 and 47 seconds but thats for me

ADMIR089

The roast level of the coffee beans is medium to dark. It’s an 80–20 blend: 80% Arabica and 20% Robusta. I usually pull straight espresso shots, and I brew without any pre-infusion.

As I mentioned earlier, when I first set up the machine, I brewed for the first two or three days consistently at 94 °C, sometimes 95 °C. The results were excellent and very consistent. That’s important to note, because I know exactly what flavor profile these beans are capable of delivering. The espresso tasted the way I expected: bold, intense, but refined on the finish. It had balance, a pleasant sweetness, and the natural bitterness of espresso was well-integrated rather than overwhelming. It was just a joy to drink.

Then, after about three or four days—without changing anything else—the shots started tasting burnt, even at the same temperature (around 94 °C). That made me think I needed to lower the brew temperature, or that maybe something in the machine was malfunctioning.

But no matter how much I lowered the temperature—even down to 85 °C—the espresso still had noticeable bitterness and tasted flat. And when I increased it back up to around 90–91 °C, it was still bitter and nowhere near as good as those first couple of days.

In those first two days, I pulled multiple shots at different ratios, always at 94–95 °C, and every single one of them was excellent.

Clodius

How old are your beans? Try other ones, medium, single origin from a roaster. Beans should be between 7 - 30 days from roast date. Below that the crema is too much and will be bitter, beyond that the beans will be stale

Inspector

I d try to reset the machine first.

See how you get on after that.

ADMIR089

Thank you for your responses first of all.

I will definitely try other beans as well, but it still doesn’t change the fact that the beans were freshly purchased from the roaster and meet your standards. Between 7–30 days from roasting, these exact beans tasted really good for 2–3 days. But from the 4th–5th day onward, even though all parameters remain the same, they simply become extremely undrinkable and very bitter.

I will also try the reset method…

However, I would appreciate it if someone has experienced the same problem and could share what they did, or what the cause was.

EddieMoonshine

Don’t think this has been asked or covered yet but how are you storing your beans? I’m assuming it’s some sort of air tight container and not just left out on the counter in an open container?

ADMIR089

The beans I use usually come in the bag from the roaster – they are always sealed airtight. I also just did a backflush and noticed that the OPV goes up to 11 bar during the backflush. Is that correct?