Trouble brewing this medium roast blend

drdre89

So I purchased this medium roast blend start of Jan. Roast day 31/12/25.

https://inglewoodcoffeeroasters.com.au/collections/blend/products/888

I received 5 days post roast. Tried to make espresso using my Zerno Z1 grinder, SSP HU burrs. Using 16g in step down basket 34g out. Coffee was acidic , too sharp not pleasant tasting. Tried anywhere from 20 seconds to 34 seconds. Beans seem quite dense. Not getting a pleasant flavour.

So tried a week later. Still similar. After 21 days post roast I decided to portion out 16g in mason jars to freeze.

So am still not getting any pleasant taste and definitely not getting the flavours they promote on the site. Wondering if beans are still too fresh with co2 ?Not sure if they roasted them medium or if they are light. These are the origins of the beans. Maybe I should take them out of the freezer and give them another weeks degassing ? It still looks like there’s a bit of co2

ORIGINS

Origin: Ethiopia Moki Gr3

Altitude: 1700 - 2200 MASL

Varietal: Ethiopain Heirloom

Process: Natural

Origin: Tanzania - Southern blend

Altitude: 1200 - 1900 MASL

Varietal: Bourbon, Blue Mountain, Kilimanjaro, Luwiro

Process: Washed

Origin: Papua New Guinea - Okapa

Altitude: 1800-2200 MASL

Varietal: Catuai, Typica

Process: Washed

Any advice would be appreciated.

Ps. I even tried the SOUP method using Oxo rapid brewer and even at 500 microns on my grinder, there was still resistance when pressing down on the rapid brewer. Was difficult to extract at such a course grind size.

crimson89

This man spoke some big truths recently about the coffee roasting scene.

drdre89

crimson89 well technically this coffee is cheap as got it at 50% off 😂

dfk41

Over the years, I have found that sometimes you buy a coffee. You are looking forwards to it. The descriptors are good and you are ready to go! Blends are often easier to deal with as there are 3 or 4 origins in the mix. They cannot all be wrong!

The big issue is, a bean I find fantastic might be terrible to your taste buds and vice versa. If you have done the usual things when playing, then further resting is an option. It might be the bean that makes the blend special needs longer resting than the others. If you have a friend nearby, give him some to try and see how he gets on. As a last resort, ask the roaster as I have done many times when the tasting notes were written. Quite often they write these things when testing the bean and being lazy three years later are using the same notes……

drdre89

dfk41 the interesting thing is grinding very coarse at 500 microns and still getting resistance when using the oxo rapid brewer. I think there is still plenty of co2 trapped in these dense beans.

LMSC

I would expect

“Tasting Notes

Jammy currant, dark chocolate fudge, Cherry Ripe, lingering caramel”

give a bright fruit forward cup, the acidity (which I love) from currants, syrupy complexity from ripe cherries and a likeable dark chocolate/caramel (a little bitter edge) at the finish.

The flavours typically should start peaking 3 - 4 weeks from the roast date. I am not sure your coffee would require more resting. It is not usual beans require more than 2-3 weeks of resting from the roast date.

I know one of my go to roasters recommended 6 weeks rest from the roast date as they had recently started using fluid/airbed roaster.

I would contact the roaster as @dfk41 suggested.

Edit:

Ethiopians and Kenyans are easily soluble, while Brazilian, Costa Rican, Tanzanian coffee aren’t. The coffee from Tanzania are normally brighter, while Papua New Guinea give a full-bodied cup.

You are dealing with less soluble blend which is also acidic and not pleasant. I would tend to grind a little tighter or brew at higher temperature 94C Group brewing light / medium light. Please try tamping a bit loosely for espressos, if you can.

drdre89

LMSC yes I’ve contacted the roaster. They said 7-14 days degas time. I mentioned that the beans to my eyes look more of a medium to lightish roast. I said there was still plenty of co2 trapped even after 21 days.

I think this blend atleast requires 4 weeks rest. Maybe this batch wasn’t roasted properly.

So the thing is I wanted to try freezing beans so after 21 days, I portioned them and put them in the freezer. I probably should have left them out still for another week before freezing.

As I said with the Oxo rapid brewer, am still feeling plenty of resistance grinding very course at 500 microns. This is not normal as I usually grind around 400 on my Zerno and most times straight away the water flows easily through the rapid brewer without much force.

So you’re saying the Tanzania and Papua New Guinea components of the blend are the problem which requires more degas time?

LMSC

drdre89 So you’re saying the Tanzania and Papua New Guinea components of the blend are the problem which requires more degas tim

No. I didn’t say that. I have had some fruity Tanzanians. I still don’t think your beans need such a long resting period, unless it is roaster specific. The notes of your coffee is consistent with the acidity (except the unpleasant taste) which you are experiencing.

Some coffee may require a lot coarser grind size than a default grind. I usually grind at 8-9 mark on the Duo. I drink light and medium light. Receny, I had to grind one of the Kenyans at 15 mark to get it right. Perhaps, you could grind coarser than you are and see if your issues go away.

drdre89 Maybe this batch wasn’t roasted properly.

Under roasted coffee would usually taste woody, earthy and mushroomy. And so are stale beans which might also taste sharper and sour. Some beans are difficult to tame.

I would wait for the roaster to respond to your email and go from there.

Sorry to hear about the beans!