FORTE ESPRESSO — SHOT TROUBLESHOOTING

Emberlane Coffee Roasters
Product: Forte Espresso, $22.00, 340 g, medium-dark
Support: hello@emberlane.coffee (reply within 1 business day, Mon-Fri)
There is no phone line and no live chat.


BEFORE YOU BLAME THE COFFEE

Check the roast date on the bag. Forte needs at least 4 days of rest before
it will dial in. Between roast day and day 3 it is still releasing carbon
dioxide, and no grind setting will fix that. The usable window is day 4 to
day 21.

If the bag is older than 4 weeks, the coffee is stale. That is not a shot
problem either.


THE SHOT RUNS TOO FAST (UNDER 24 SECONDS)

  1. Grind finer, one click at a time. On the Tandem EG-1, two clicks in the
     espresso range is a large move.
  2. Check the dose. 18.0 g on a scale, not by eye.
  3. Check the basket. A 15 g basket with 18 g in it will not behave.


THE SHOT RUNS TOO SLOW (OVER 32 SECONDS)

  1. Grind coarser, one click.
  2. Check for old grounds packed in the burr chute. See the grinder
     troubleshooting notes.
  3. If it is over 45 seconds and barely drips, the grind is far too fine.
     Open up 3 clicks and work back.


IT GUSHES, THEN SLOWS, WITH UNEVEN STREAMS

This is channelling. It is puck preparation, not grind size, and grinding
finer will make it worse.

  1. Distribute the grounds level before tamping.
  2. Tamp flat. A tamp that is 2 degrees off is the single most common cause
     of channelling in a home setup.
  3. Do not tap the portafilter after tamping. It cracks the puck.


IT IS SOUR

Under-extracted.

  - Raise the yield: 40 g out instead of 36 g.
  - Raise the temperature 1 degree C.
  - Grind finer if the shot time is also short.

Do not fix sourness by pulling longer without changing anything else. That
gets you sour AND bitter.


IT IS BITTER, DRY, OR ASHY

Over-extracted.

  - Drop the yield: 32 g out instead of 36 g.
  - Drop the temperature 1 degree C.
  - Grind coarser if the shot time is also long.


IT DISAPPEARS IN MILK

Steam to 60 degrees C (140 F), not hotter. Above 65 C the milk sugars scald
and the chocolate note in Forte turns papery.

Use less milk rather than more coffee. A 200 ml flat white on an 18/36 shot
is the ratio Forte was roasted for.


NO CREMA

Crema is a freshness and pressure signal, not a quality one. Thin crema on a
3-week-old bag is expected. No crema at all on a 1-week-old bag usually means
the pump is not reaching pressure, which is a machine problem.


REFERENCE RECIPE

  Dose            18.0 g
  Yield           36 g
  Time            26-30 s from first drop
  Temperature     93 C (199 F)
  Tandem EG-1     click 4-6
  Rest            4 to 21 days off roast


COFFEE RETURNS

Coffee cannot be returned once the bag is opened. If a bag arrives stale,
damaged, or is the wrong item, we replace it free — tell us within 14 days of
delivery and include a photo of the bag label. You keep the original.