# Forte Espresso — Dial-In Card

**Price:** $22.00 · **Net weight:** 340 g (12 oz) · **Roast:** Medium-dark
**Origin:** Brazil (Mogiana, natural) · Sumatra (Gayo, wet-hulled)
**Tasting notes:** Dark chocolate, molasses, black cherry
**Certification:** None. Forte is **not** certified organic.

## Rest it first

Give Forte **4 days off the roast date** before dialling in. Pulled fresher it is still degassing: the
puck channels, the shot gushes, and you will chase the grinder for nothing.

Usable window: **day 4 to day 21**. Best: day 7 to day 14.

## Starting recipe

| Setting | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Dose | 18.0 g, standard double basket |
| Yield | 36 g (1:2) |
| Time | 26–30 s from first drop |
| Temperature | 93 °C (199 °F) |
| Grind, Tandem EG-1 | Click 4–6 |

## Dial-in sequence

Change one variable, pull one shot, taste. Do not change two things at once.

1. **Set the dose.** 18 g, levelled and distributed, tamped flat. Weigh it.
2. **Chase the time.** Too fast under 24 s → finer, one click. Too slow over 32 s → coarser, one click.
   Two clicks is a large move on the Tandem.
3. **Then chase the taste.**

| Tastes | Fix |
| --- | --- |
| Sour, sharp, empty finish | Raise yield to 40 g, or raise temperature 1 °C |
| Bitter, dry, ashy | Drop yield to 32 g, or drop temperature 1 °C |
| Thin body | Raise dose to 19 g |
| Harsh even when the time is right | Distribution. Tamp level. Check for a wobbly tamp |
| Gushes, then slows, uneven streams | Channelling, not grind. Fix the puck prep |

## Milk

Forte is roasted to survive milk. For a 200 ml flat white: same 18 g / 36 g shot, milk steamed to
**60 °C (140 °F)**. Above 65 °C the sugars scald and the chocolate note turns papery.

Do not compensate for milk by pulling a longer shot. Pull the same shot and use less milk.

## Moka pot

Fine — not espresso — grind. Fill the basket level, do not tamp, start with hot water in the base, and
pull it off the heat when it starts to hiss.

## Freshness

Roast date on the bag. Best within 4 weeks of roast, and specifically day 4 to day 21 for espresso.