I've had a Le'lit PL041 for a couple years now and have yet to pull a drinkable shot. It is paired with the Le'lit PL53 grinder, and I've tried a wide range of grind consistencies and tamp pressures. I've also tried a variety of beans.
The problem is the same for each shot - the shots are extremely harsh/bitter. This is true even for coarser grinds and light tamping pressure. I've produced 2oz of espresso in around 10 seconds and it still tastes like it's over extracted.
Any ideas? I've read through most of the pl041 threads on this forum but haven't found any solutions.
I've had a Le'lit PL041 for a couple years now and have yet to pull a drinkable shot. It is paired with the Le'lit PL53 grinder, and I've tried a wide range of grind consistencies and tamp pressures. I've also tried a variety of beans.
The problem is the same for each shot - the shots are extremely harsh/bitter. This is true even for coarser grinds and light tamping pressure. I've produced 2oz of espresso in around 10 seconds and it still tastes like it's over extracted.
Any ideas? I've read through most of the pl041 threads on this forum but haven't found any solutions.
Ditto here. I have the same setup for a couple of months now and am experiencing the same things lately.....I'm new to this so my technique could use some improvement I'm sure but, lately shots have gotten worse and I'm seeing really bad center channeling which i'm guessing is causing the bitter/over extracted taste. nothing i do seems to fix the channelling. not sure why it's happening now as it wasn't before.
The machine is overdue for a descaling (that's first on my list of things to do right now). I've checked the temperature before and I seem to remember it being ok, but I'll recheck more carefully.
I doubt bean freshness or personal technique is an issue at this point, since the same problem occurs independent of any variations in tamping/grind consistency/freshness/etc.
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I'll keep you all updated.
Grind way way finer and probably also use less coffee per dose... 2oz in 10s and we're breaking out styrofoam cups?
We need to settle on different terminology for "that bad taste that severely underextracted espresso has". Sour/bitter is tough to get a handle on. Bitter is bitter - *harsh* is almost certainly the opposite.
Channelling could be the culprit, but you'd expect to get lucky sometimes...
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