4 Letter Word · Ethiopia Shoondhisa

Sun, Oct 18, 2026, 2:21 PM (Shot 204)

RistrettoNormalRistrettoDay 20 · Peak window

Shot

Grind Setting42

Dose19.1g

Grinder Retention0.1g

Adjusted dose 19.0g

PortafilterBottomless

WDT UsedYes

Distribution ToolYes

Spring Weight30 lbs

Pre-infusion7s

FlowNormal

Shot Time27s

Stopped at20.5g (+7g drip)

Yield27.5g

Ratio 1:1.451.02 g/sNormalRistretto

Target

Ristretto

Aiming for Ristretto (28.5g, 20–25s) — yield on target, ran slow.

Taste

Balance

SourBalancedBitter

Shot Rating

★★★★★

Notes

Flow started at 9 seconds edges to center but the left part of the PF did not fully extract, some spraying as well. Then a single stream. Taste was a bit sour. Still can’t hit this coffee’s sweet spot

Drink

DrinkFlat White

Milkwhole

Milk Quantity90ml

Foam10ml

Overall Rating

★★★★★

Latte Art

Pollock

Good balance with mango flavor. Milk foaming fail. Lost body and little foam, not possible to do latte art

Analysis

✦

AI Analysis

Needs Work

Summary

Shot 7 on the Ethiopia Shoondhisa at grind 42, pulling a ristretto. Time 27s (Normal), yield 27.5g from 19g adjusted dose — ratio 1.45, Ristretto. Missed the ristretto target (28.5g, 20–25s): yield landed 1g short and time ran 2 seconds over the window. Balance is 4, quality 4, but notes flag sour and incomplete left-side extraction with spraying — the numbers look fine but the puck isn't behaving consistently, and the taste reflects it.

What the Numbers Say

Time is Normal at 27s; ratio is Ristretto at 1.45. On paper this looks clean, but the naked portafilter tells a different story: left side not fully extracting plus spraying at the start points to uneven distribution — a distribution issue, not a grind issue. The sour note is consistent with that left-side underextraction pulling the cup bright. Balance 4 is charitable given the sour flag in the notes; this is likely a distribution-masked extraction miss rather than a true balanced shot.

The One Thing to Change

Before any grind move, bias your WDT final 10 seconds toward the left half of the basket. Keep grind at 42, dose 19g adjusted, target 27–29g yield.

You've now had incomplete left-side extraction flagged in this shot, and spraying at two different grind settings (42 on shot 4, and today). The sour note isn't a grind problem — it's an underextracted zone on the left side. Chasing it with a grind change will obscure the real issue. Fix the distribution first, then reassess taste. This is the same mechanism that showed up with right-side bias on earlier beans — your WDT coverage is the variable here, not the grind.

Bean Context

The Shoondhisa's chocolate/dried mango/Valencia orange profile is showing up when the puck cooperates — shot 5 at 41.5g standard pull had bright fruit notes with the mango coming through. The sourness today is localized underextraction, not the bean running sour. At 20 days post-roast this is squarely in peak window, so freshness isn't a factor. Natural process compacts differently than washed — your WDT needs to be especially deliberate and even to get uniform saturation across the puck.

Progress

You've pulled 7 shots on this bean and have a taste you like (shots 5–6 both balance 4, quality 4) but can't reproduce it consistently. The through-line across the inconsistent shots is distribution, not grind. Isolating WDT coverage as the single variable is the right call now.

Cached · Oct 18

Bean

Roaster4 Letter Word

BeanEthiopia Shoondhisa

Days Since Roast20 days — Peak window

Roast Date2026-09-28