4 Letter Word · Decaf Aba Mecha

Sun, Aug 9, 2026, 11:46 PM (Shot 120)

DoppioSlowShortDay 12 · Peak window

Shot

Grind Setting37.5

Dose17.7g

Grinder Retention0.2g

Adjusted dose 17.5g

WDT UsedYes

Distribution ToolYes

Spring Weight30 lbs

Pre-infusion7s

FlowBoth spouts uneven

Shot Time38s

Stopped at28.3g (+7g drip)

Yield35.3g

Ratio 1:2.020.93 g/sSlowShort

Target

Espresso

Aiming for Espresso (35.0g, 25–30s) — yield on target, ran slow.

Taste

Balance

SourVery SourBitter

Shot Rating

★★★★★

Notes

Flow started at around 12 seconds even across spouts but started dripping on the right spout a few seconds later. Flow remained restricted alternating between a thin flow and fast dripping on both spouts but mostly on the right side. Even with the slow extraction the taste is very sour partially resolving but still a strong aftertaste.

Drink

DrinkFlat White

Milkwhole

Milk Quantity70ml

Foam15ml

Overall Rating

★★★★★

Latte Art

Calder

Sour notes still present. Not a lot of foam and latte art was looking promising but ended up spilling and looking like a garlic

Analysis

✦

AI Analysis

Problem

Summary

Shot 3 on the Aba Mecha at grind 37.5 — significantly coarser than your last session — and the right-side channel returned immediately, same as every previous pull on this bag. Balance 1 with lingering acidity confirms the channel is killing extraction. Going coarser has not helped; if anything, the sour aftertaste is more pronounced than shot 2.

What the Numbers Say

Time is Slow at 38s, ratio Normal at 2.02 — numbers look reasonable on paper, but they're misleading here. The channel is creating a fast lane through the puck while the rest extracts slowly, giving you an artificially 'normal' ratio with severely under-extracted taste. Balance 1 and persistent sour aftertaste are the real signal. You've now tested grind 34, 34.5, 35.5, and 37.5 — a 3.5-step spread — and the flow defect is identical every time. Grind is confirmed not the variable.

The One Thing to Change

Return to grind 34. The channel is in your puck prep, not your grind. Before your next shot: extend WDT to 45 seconds, spend the final 12–15 seconds doing slow, deliberate, full-depth strokes tracing the entire perimeter of the basket — both edges, overlapping passes, no gaps. Right-side coverage is the confirmed mechanism across every shot on this bag.

You've now moved the grind 3.5 settings coarser and the right-side drip is present in every single shot. This rules out grind entirely. The right-edge WDT gap is the same pattern that caused channels on El Diviso, Night Light Decaf, Yaye, Matas, and now Aba Mecha across 4+ shots. No grind move will fix a prep defect.

Bean Context

Aba Mecha is an EA washed decaf — structurally easier to extract than a regular bean, which means a prep-driven channel will punish you harder and faster in the cup. At 12 days post-roast it's right at the edge of the roaster's recommended 10-day rest minimum and squarely in peak window, so freshness isn't a factor. The melon and milk chocolate notes are completely buried right now — you won't taste this bean until the channel is resolved.

Progress

Four shots across a 3.5-grind range with zero improvement in flow pattern is actually useful data — it definitively closes the grind hypothesis and forces the prep fix. The path forward is clear.

Cached · Aug 10

Bean

Roaster4 Letter Word

BeanDecaf Aba Mecha

Days Since Roast12 days — Peak window

Roast Date2026-07-28