We have the chance to work with a fair amount of single origin coffees-around 14 in stock at any time, many of them work great as espresso-some do not. We also specialize in light roasts, so this of course means some of the shots we get from say a Central American will be so bright that it nearly hurts. Trying a Nicaragua we use for instance, I can only get a mediocre shot no matter what variables I change. On the other hand our rather light-roasted ethiopias work fantastic-the complexity is enhanced, while other coffee's flavor disintegrates even with much grind adjustment-nitpicking,cursing, etc and while producing shots that LOOK perfect-but taste somewhere between sawdust and ashes. These are coffees that are otherwise strong.
I'm wondering if there are rules for this, I've noticed some coffees work better with higher dosages or lower, longer and shorter extraction times, but I can't say I've picked out any sort of pattern-besides that a good natural/dry ethiopia seems to be bullet-proof. Are some coffees just doomed to make bad espresso? I'm aware of course that many coffees favor different methods, but I'm looking for some specifics here. Any ideas, fancy techniques?
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