Finally figured out why my espresso shots were sour after 6 months of guessing

I was pulling shot after shot and they always came out sour no matter what I did. I tried adjusting the grind size, changing my dose, even bought a new tamper thinking it was pressure. After wasting probably 15 pounds of beans over half a year, I finally realized my water temperature was way too low. My machine's thermometer was off by nearly 10 degrees and I never thought to check it because it's a pretty new unit. I bought a cheap infrared thermometer and tested the water coming out, and bam, there it was. Now I preheat the group head longer and let it stabilize, and my shots taste way better. Has anyone else had a dumb simple issue like that mess with their shots for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomas_brown2d ago

Same thing happened with my smoker but I spent a year blaming the wood chips.

roberts.troy1d ago

Yeah @thomas_brown I did the same thing with my grill until I finally checked the thermometer.