Django Santa Ana sour espresso

Petre

I used these beans initially for v60 and got acceptable results (overly sweet, acceptable taste, sort of) but when tested today for espresso I’ve got nothing but sour shots no matter what I tried.

I used 18g dose.

First with 40g out it was extremely sour and battery acid hurting your throat.

I kept pushing the yield to 45, 50, 60, 70, tried blooming 30 sec before extracting, set the temp to 95, and got some incremental improvements in terms of less sourness but it is still lemony, salty almost savoury so to say. I did not sense any bitterness what so ever as a sign of over extraction.

I noticed the 70g shot with blooming got slightly more balanced as the shot cooled down.

What is going on here? Is it even possible to make good espresso with these beans?

prezes

Petre we were just discussing this bean in what’s in your cup this morning thread.

find it really good and balanced with fruity flavour. I’m using a lever profile , 96 degrees temperature with 1:2.5 ratio

LMSC

Petre I would ideally rest it at least for 2 weeks. Mine is dated the 12 May and I may rest it for a few more days to a week. I believe the light and medium-light would benefit from a little longer rest, IMO

DavecUK

Petre What machine are you using?

Petre

oh, what a sync, moving there.

Petre

yeah that could be a factor..

LMSC

Petre Also, the temperature, the grind and puck prep to name a few. Please post if you have a clip Thx

Petre

Using Rancilio silvia pro and a e80 supreme.

VST 18g, deep wdt (9 .35 needles), tamped with norma core, shots look quite well on bottomless. About 29-33 sec per shot.

DavecUK

Petre Try punching the temp up a bit more

CYP1A2

This is one bean I just could not get along with in brew, i managed to tame it eventually by hitting it with high temps on a coarse V60 grind. But still it was overly acidic, especially with RO water.
And my modded gaggia classic (PID) I also struggled to produce what I liked from it (without adding a bit of milk) and I suspect that was because of the severe drop in temp in the second half of the shot that the gaggia struggles with.

LMSC

CYP1A2 But still it was overly acidic, especially with RO water.

What’s your brew ratio please? I normally prefer 60g//l - 65g/l on V60. If Kenyan, I prefer 55g/l.

I brew mostly @MWJB’s method; James Hoffman’s is also good.

CYP1A2

LMSC Normally around 1:17 whatever that works out as!
I use the 4:6 method mostly, but they are mostly the same in terms of taste from my palette.
Sometimes I’ll do a bit of a Rao swirl and deposit fines, although this isn’t required much with a mazzer major.

LMSC

CYP1A2 One of the things I always prefer is grinding steadily finer - from the default coarse settings for the V60 - until I find the cup either bitter or silty before going back to the preferred settings. This can some times takes a few tries; mostly I find the equilibrium plus or minus a few clicks. Is this the light / medium light? If yes, it may require a little tighter grind even for brews. Another thing you could try for this bag is either James Hoffman’s or Mark’s. I have seen both working well even in the case of Kenyan beans.

CYP1A2

LMSC I think I tried pretty much everything with the Santa Ana and never really got anything I liked.
I think it was just too much for me, I mean too acidic.
The Chelbesa on the other hand is just right, fruity and tangy without being over-powering.

LMSC

CYP1A2 I think I tried pretty much everything with the Santa Ana and never really got anything I liked.

Sorry to hear. I have a bag. Let me post what I find. I am now tempted to open the Ana ahead of Kisinga!

Is it a re-mineralised RO? Otherwise, you may consider adding bicarb to improve the taste. As it is V60, you can even tip a third tap water and the rest RO.

Petre

CYP1A2 I am surprised to find out because at v60 i’ve got the opposite of yours. With KH 20 or more i’ve got almost no acidity at all and I had to go to kh 10 to get some. 18g, 1:17, Hoffman method, around 3 mins total time, harrio papers(the fast ones). Water at 99 straight from boil.

PortafilterProcrastinator

CYP1A2 Interesting comment on the Chelbesa. I really liked that, but for me the Santa Ana had really taken it up a notch.

I always find it interesting to read about different views on beans - we’ll never really know what everyone else is tasting!

Kisinga is very tempting, trying to work out if I can last until 6 June + resting time.

CYP1A2

LMSC
The RO is partially re-mineralised and added bicarb in the end, which made a better cup but dulled the flavours a bit!
I think the anaerobic element was just not to my taste

CYP1A2

Petre I wonder if the batches were different. I have enjoyed most of the stuff I’ve had from Django but I have had the odd roast which was not quite right.
I had a Yemeni coffee that was all wrong!

LMSC

CYP1A2 anaerobic element was just not to my taste

Perhaps; Blackberry notes would normally make the cup a lot brighter. Similarly, Cranberry and Rhubarb notes; Yeast fermentation!

I aim to avoid bags that show these details. But, I get sucked into them for one reason or another! 😊

CYP1A2

LMSC Yep. Although the Kisinga was really nice and much milder, with a very prominent blackberry!