trentski Senior Member Joined: 3 Jul 2003 Posts: 60 Location: Melbourne Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rancilio Lucy Drip: SunBeam
Posted Tue Jul 6, 2004, 8:56pm Subject: Tiger striping and red flecks - what does it mean?
Hi,
I am pretty happy with the coffee that I have been using but was recently given some beans to try.
Using the same grind and tamp I choked poor Lucy (Silvia's big sister) so I reground, retamped and tries again. I got a heap of Crema and it had red flecks in it. I don't get the red flecks from my usual coffee. The crewma did dissapate quicker than my usual coffee though.
Am I missing something? People seem to make a big deal over the red flecks.
flippant Senior Member Joined: 1 Sep 2003 Posts: 236 Location: Oslo, Norway Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: Rancilio Silvia Grinder: Rancilio Rocky
Posted Wed Jul 7, 2004, 4:42am Subject: Re: Tiger striping and red flecks - what does it mean?
How did it taste?
Tiger striping (in the pour) and flecking (in the cup) are very good indicators of a good extraction. Only fresh coffee will, in my experience, produce striping / flecking.
That your grind setting for your first coffee that did not produce striping / flecking (indicating that it's older) choked your machine with the new coffee is to be expected.
trentski Senior Member Joined: 3 Jul 2003 Posts: 60 Location: Melbourne Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Rancilio Lucy Drip: SunBeam
Posted Fri Jul 9, 2004, 10:24pm Subject: Re: Tiger striping and red flecks - what does it mean?
Thanks for the reply Flippant.
So would it be safe to say that the red flecks are actually oil droplets? In which case it would make a lot of sense to say that you would only get this from the freshest of beans.
AndyL Senior Member Joined: 31 Dec 2003 Posts: 1,320 Location: australia Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: synesso Grinder: Robur,k10,mini Vac Pot: still in its box Roaster: Matty
Posted Mon Aug 9, 2004, 4:38am Subject: Re: Tiger striping and red flecks - what does it mean?
tiger striping is caramelisation of the sugars in the coffee beans. Its means you are doing very well. Also tiger stripping occurs when the beans have de-gassed and settled down. Always use fresh coffee beans!!
Puhlenty, but here's a one from the Macap M5 first look; this is from a normal double pull (it's harder to get tiger striping and flecks when pulling 2oz). If you're pulling ristrettos, it's easier to get "full coverage" in the cup.
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