BAD espresso!

[simonp]

Well, I had probably the worst home-made espresso of my life last night, it was sour as hell, and smelled awfull .
I used some Sweet Marias decaf Donkey espresso blend (roasted 3 days before) with about 20% of HB Harrar added to add some aromatics. I don't know whether it was the Harrar or the Donkey blend (first time I have tried it), or the fact that the shot was a gusher at 15 seconds, but this was truly nasty. When I dumped the puck, this smelled bad too, way worse than the rubbery smell you get from roasting bad robusta .

The roasted Donkey blend smells really nice in the bag. I wonder if decaf goes like this when the shot is too fastt? I've had fast shots before, which weren't great, but were not this bad. I'll try the Donkey on it's own tonight and dial in for a proper timed shot and see. At least I can test lots of shots without fear of over caffeination .

[pault]

In my humble opinion - serves you right for using the Devil's bean (decaf)

[simonp]

In my humble opinion - serves you right for using the Devil's bean (decaf)

Thanks for your compassion . I am trying the decaff as a doppio after 8:00PM makes it tricky for my girlfriend to sleep.
I was expecting (from what I ahve heard) the decaf just to be a bit bland and flat (hence the Harrar) but is was almost the opposite, way too bright and acidic.

[pault]

my girlfriend could have 3 doppios - then the minute I start talking - amazing, fast asleep ... fancy that!

[Steve]

I wish I had that effect on my wife

[simonp]

Hmm, ran some normal caffeinated espresso this evening, and that tasted bad too. I concluded that I must be due for a backflush with cleaner,as it has been about 5 weeks. Lots of gunk came out, so lets hope that cures it!