I live in Portland, which is allegedly a "coffee town," and just learned today from the internet that espressos shouldn't be sour.
I have never had a non-sour espresso in this city. Does this mean that the entire population has been tricked into thinking that bad espresso is good?
Do you get a lot of espressos at stumptown?
I live in new york and I find their espressos particularly sour
It's not really normal, it's just that, I think, they're taking the underroasted coffee thing to an extreme
It's an extreme overreaction to starbucks, kind of like how overhopped beer was an overreaction to bud light, and green bretty smelly natural wine was an overreaction to parkerized mega purple garbage
Just stop going to stumptown, problem solved
shouldn't espresso just be bitter how did you never notice it was weird that it tasted sour?
>>7154655
>, it's just that, I think, they're taking the underroasted coffee thing to an extreme
Was about to reply to my own thread, I think I've found my answer
>>7154657
There are of course bitter flavors in coffee and anyone who tells you otherwise is delusional
That said it shouldn't "just be better" any more than it should be "just sour"
The thing is a lot of places selling espresso (mediocre indie places as much as starbucks) just serve shit quality espresso
Sourness is a symptom of over extraction. The water is in contact with the grounds too long extracting tannic acid.
This is problem in some "3rd wave" coffee shops who pull 22-24g doubles in 30+ second ranges with under roasted beans.
Also some of the places may be serving single origin espresso and the particular varietal they are using just might be on the sour side.
Most well balanced espresso shots come from blends where you are trying to balance out characteristic from different regions.
I like coffee.
>>7154791
I prefer tea and I'm 'Murican.
>>7154649
>I live in Portland....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZt-pOc3moc
>>7154655
>stumptown
>underroasted
Uh, they actually roast pretty dark when compared with the typical specialty micro roaster in the states. Their espresso (hair bender, usually) is not light. The problem is most likely with the extraction. They recommend a very tight brew ratio, which is going to lead to under extraction. This will reduce some unpleasant roasty flavors, and will lead to unbalanced acidity, which ends up tasting really awful and sour.
>>7154783
>Sourness is a symptom of over extraction
You have that backwards.
>This is problem in some "3rd wave" coffee shops who pull 22-24g doubles in 30+ second ranges with under roasted beans.
Any 24g espresso pulled from an 18g basket will be deeply under extracted. Extraction increases with increased beverage mass.
>Most well balanced espresso shots come from blends
Not entirely true. If you want balance, you can use a well balanced coffee from a single origin.
>spend weeks fiddling with a moka pot to get a delicious, nutty brew
>go to a local café for a 'real' espresso
>it's sour and acrid
Yes, shitty coffee is the norm. Most people have never had good coffee in their lives. It's the reason a lot of people say they don't like coffee or need to drink it with cream/milk and sugar. Good coffee is not sour or bitter, yet everyone associates coffee with one of those characteristics
yeah, i really want to read a thread about portland and coffee
It's more likely that you've been spoiled on good coffee your entire life, but still have a baby palate and so haven't appreciated it.
>>7155866
modern 4chan is so great, they even have buttons that hide things so you don't have to look at them!
>>7154649
Portland is a meth town.
>>7156139
>he thinks the shit East of 82nd counts as portland
>>7156332
>He thinks retarded hipster culture is the real Portland.
>>7155184
21g baskets
>>7156633
Yeah, that's nearly a 1:1 ratio. Gonna taste fucking gross.
>>7156139
More like "Portland is a meme town."
>>7155825
I'd give her a delicious, nutty brew.
>>7156601
I graduated from Reed almost a decade ago and only stuck around for another year afterwards. Most of my childhood friends went gutter punk and moved out there as well.
What's the "real" Portland? It definitely isn't felony flats.
>>7156662
The real Portland is the working class that is always in the background paying out the tax money that shuts down industry to make way for more high rise condos.
>>7155865
...Is that common? I've never heard of people dipping sandwiches into anything.
>>7156691
French dip
