Cauca, Colombia. Natural.
Peach rings, dank, lychee.
Complex and juicy.
Flushed water tank (Transport cycle). Refilled with about half Epsom salt and baking soda recipe and half distilled water. Goal is to decrease the GH I’ve been using, but not (yet?) eliminate it entirely. Not yet sure what I want to do about the KH (baking soda) level, but it was diluted (lowered) today as well.
Ground a half number coarser. Raised the temp of all steps (after initial step) from 72C to 78C.
PI and bloom look OK. Lots of flow immediately after bloom, so perhaps puck wasn’t yet saturated. Flow rate lower than expected. Shot ran a full gram long.
Not sure what flavors I’m tasting, but they are like a warm thick fruit juice. Peach and lychee? Pear? The dark and burnt flavor notes from the past weeks / months are gone today.
OK with foam, though fruit flavor notes dissipated. Bland, dark chemical finish. (Note that this is with grass milk.)
Big changes today in both water recipe and temperature. Very favorable results, at least before aftertastes.
Aftertastes: Unsweetened, unflavored Pop Rocks. Within an hour: unsalted, unflavored oatmeal. Like a rock / stone in the mouth. However, more gentle feeling than previously. Actually enjoyable, a bland, slightly-fizzy excitement on my tongue. For hours, there was a slight, pleasant even, taste or feeling of a stone in the mouth. A little drying. On and off a taste / feeling like carbonated water.
Wondering / hypothesis: If the water temp was the overriding factor in today’s taste and aftertaste differences from previous shots, then the difference is primarily in the coffee that was extracted. If the water recipe was the overriding factor in today’s taste and aftertaste differences from previous shots, then the difference may be primarily in the way water hardness (Epsom salt) reacts either with the coffee as it’s being extracted, or with one’s tongue. If the latter, then perhaps hardness produces a reaction (on one’s tongue) that limits the flavors that can be tasted / identified, and perhaps determines (or is a determining factor in) aftertaste.
All day long, distilled water tastes better, clearer.