Why is Your Espresso Bitter? (And How to Fix It)

Have you ever taken a sip of your morning espresso, only to be greeted by an unpleasant, overpowering bitterness that lingers on your palate?

If so, you’re not alone. The bitter espresso experience is a common frustration for coffee lovers everywhere.

But don’t worry.

By the end of this article, you’ll not only recognize the culprits behind bitter espresso but also you will know how to brew espresso that’s velvety smooth, aromatic, and perfectly balanced.
Let’s start.

Reasons why espresso tastes bitter

1) Over-extraction

Over-extraction is the main cause of too much bitterness in the espresso. Here, I will tell you the causes that cause your espresso coffee to be over-extracted.

1) Grind size is too fine

When coffee grounds are ground too finely, they expose a vast surface area to the hot water. This extended contact results in an excessive extraction of solubles, including undesirable compounds responsible for bitterness.

The result is an overly bitter and astringent espresso shot. The flavors can be overpowering, masking the nuanced taste notes you might expect from your chosen coffee beans.

2) Prolonged Shot Time

The timing of your espresso shot is a critical factor in controlling the extraction process. Shots that run for too long can quickly veer into the realm of over-extraction.

When the shot time exceeds the optimal range (typically 25-30 seconds), it allows hot water to interact with the coffee grounds for an extended period.

This prolonged exposure leads to the extraction of excessive solubles, including bitter compounds. An espresso shot that runs too long often exhibits a deep, bitter taste that lingers on your palate. The intensity of bitterness can mask the nuanced flavors and aromas of your coffee.

2) Poor-Quality Coffee Beans

The foundation of a great espresso shot lies in the quality of the coffee beans you use. Poor-quality or stale beans can undermine your efforts to create a delightful cup.

Coffee beans that are past their prime or of inferior quality can develop a bitter, flat taste profile. Stale beans lack the vibrant flavors and aromas that characterize freshly roasted, high-quality coffee.
Using such beans in your espresso machine can result in a consistently bitter and unappealing brew. The bitterness may persist, regardless of your brewing technique.

3) Inconsistent Grind Size

Inconsistencies can lead to erratic extraction, with some coffee particles under-extracting and others over-extracting, ultimately contributing to bitterness.

Inconsistent grind sizes lead to variations in the rate of extraction. Smaller particles extract quickly, potentially over-extraction, while larger particles extract more slowly, potentially under-extraction.

The resulting espresso shot can be a rollercoaster of flavors, with bitterness being a common thread. Some sips may be overly bitter, while others lack depth and taste flat.

4) Water Temperature is Too High or Too Low

When water exceeds the ideal temperature range, generally between 195°F to 205°F (90°C to 96°C), it starts extracting too much flavor from espresso grounds.

This hot water can over-extract solubles from coffee grounds, including undesirable compounds like tannins.

On the other hand, cooler water struggles to extract the full range of flavors and aroma compounds, resulting in a lackluster and often sour taste.

5) Excessive Tamping Pressure

When you apply excessive tamping pressure, it can create a compacted coffee puck that is resistant to water flow.

This can lead to over-extraction, where water extracts too many solubles, including bitter compounds.

5) Dirty Espresso Machine or Grinder

Espresso machines and grinders are complex pieces of equipment that require regular attention to maintain the quality of your brews.

If you don’t clean them regularly or after every use, the residue can start building up from previous brewing sessions and can introduce unwanted flavors, including bitterness, into your coffee. Regular cleaning and maintenance are essential steps in preventing these unwanted surprises.

6) Roast Level

The roast level of coffee beans is a fundamental determinant of your espresso’s flavor profile, with significant implications for bitterness.

Darker roasts, achieved through longer and hotter roasting, often exhibit a more pronounced bitterness compared to lighter roasts. This bitterness stems from the breakdown of complex sugars and the presence of heightened bitter compounds in dark roasts.

While dark roasts can offer rich, smoky flavors, they must be handled with care to balance their inherent bitterness.

Lighter roasts, conversely, maintain the unique characteristics of their origin, showcasing vibrant acidity and a wide range of flavor notes with less pronounced bitterness.

Achieving the right balance with each roast level requires precise brewing techniques to bring out the best in your chosen beans.

7) Using Hard Water to Brew Espresso

Water quality can also decide the quality of espresso. Using hard water for brewing can lead to espresso that lacks brightness and complexity, often mistaken for bitterness. To mitigate this, consider using filtered or properly treated water to reduce mineral content.

8) Storing Beans Improperly

Proper storage of coffee beans is vital to maintaining their flavor integrity and preventing flavor degradation, which can sometimes lead to bitterness in your espresso.

For example, humidity can lead to moisture absorption, potentially causing extraction issues that can lead to bitterness. Storing beans in a cool, dry place is essential to prevent moisture-related flavor degradation.

How to fix a bitter espresso?

1) Evaluate the Espresso

Before attempting any adjustments, it’s crucial to accurately identify bitterness in your espresso. Bitterness can sometimes be confused with other taste characteristics, such as sourness or astringency.

To recognize bitterness, focus on the lingering, harsh, and dry sensations that typically coat your palate after sipping. If these characteristics are prominent, it’s likely that your espresso is indeed bitter.

2) Check Your Coffee Beans

The quality and freshness of your coffee beans are paramount in determining the flavor of your espresso.

Ensure you’re using high-quality coffee beans. Beans sourced from reputable roasters or specialty coffee suppliers are more likely to yield a balanced and enjoyable espresso.

Coffee beans are at their peak flavor within a few weeks of roasting. Stale beans can develop bitterness and lose their vibrant flavors. Check the roast date on your coffee bag, and aim to use beans within this freshness window.

Store your coffee beans properly in an airtight container away from light, air, and moisture. Avoid freezing or refrigerating them, as temperature fluctuations can lead to condensation inside the bag, compromising freshness.

Grind your coffee just before brewing. Pre-ground coffee tends to lose flavor more rapidly, which can result in bitterness.

3) Choose Espresso Beans With The Right Roast Level

Dark roasted beans are roasted for a longer duration and at higher temperatures.

While they exhibit rich, smoky flavors, they also tend to have a more pronounced bitterness due to the breakdown of sugars and the presence of bitter compounds.

4) Avoid Using Too Fine Coffee Grounds

One of the primary causes of bitterness in espresso is over-extraction, where hot water extracts too many solubles from the coffee grounds, including undesirable compounds that contribute to bitterness. A too-fine grind size exacerbates this issue by increasing the surface area exposed to water.

To avoid brewing too bitter espresso, you need to avoid using an excessively fine grind. Instead, adjust your grinder settings to make the grind slightly coarser.

This adjustment helps maintain a balanced extraction where the desirable flavors are extracted without overwhelming bitterness.

Remember that achieving the ideal grind size may require experimentation. Make incremental adjustments to your grinder settings and observe how they impact shot time and taste.

Your goal is to find the sweet spot where your espresso is both flavorful and balanced.

5) Make Sure The Shot Time is Too Long

Shot time is the duration of the espresso extraction process. It plays a pivotal role in the flavor and balance of your shot. Shots that run for too long can result in over-extraction, leading to bitterness.

To avoid excessive shot time, carefully monitor the extraction process. The optimal shot time typically falls between 25-30 seconds.

If your shots consistently run longer, make adjustments to your grind size, tamping pressure, or coffee dose to achieve the desired shot time.

It is better to continuously taste your espresso, take notes, and fine-tune your technique over time. By mastering shot time, you can control the extraction process and minimize the risk of bitterness.

6) Avoid Excessive Tamping Pressure

Tamping is a crucial step in espresso preparation, impacting the evenness of water flow through the coffee grounds. Excessive tamping pressure can lead to bitterness through over-extraction.

To maintain consistent and appropriate tamping pressure, consider using a calibrated tamper. It helps ensure uniform pressure throughout the puck, allowing you to brew a perfect espresso shot.

7) Avoid Using Too Hot Water

As discussed with you above, if you use water that is very hot, it will over-extract the espresso grounds and will provide you with too much bitterness in the espresso.

To prevent bitterness caused by excessive water temperature, ensure that your espresso machine is set within the optimal temperature range of 195°F to 205°F (90°C to 96°C). This range allows for the proper extraction of flavors while minimizing the risk of bitterness.

8) Clean Equipment After Each Use

Residue buildup in your espresso machine or grinder can lead to the transfer of unwanted flavors to your coffee, including bitterness. Cleaning your equipment regularly is essential to maintain the purity of your espresso.

Follow the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions for your espresso machine and grinder. This generally involves regular backflushing, cleaning of portafilters and baskets, and descaling. Ensure that you use food-safe cleaning agents and materials to avoid any lingering tastes.

9) Use Clean Water

Using water that is too hard or too soft can’t deliver you high-quality espresso. So, it is better to use high-quality filtered water.

How to neutralize the bitter espresso?

You can implement the above-mentioned fixes while brewing your upcoming shot. But is there any way to neutralize the bitterness of already-brewed espresso?

Well, the answer is yes. There are several ways. Let’s discuss them.

1) Add Milk or Cream

Adding milk or cream to your espresso can help counteract the bitterness. They can soften the harshness of the bitter compounds and create a smoother, more balanced taste.

2) Add Sugar

Sweetening your espresso with sugar or flavored syrup is a common way to mask bitterness and enhance the overall flavor. Adjust the amount of sugar to your preferred level of sweetness.

3) Try a Flavored Syrup

Flavored syrups, like vanilla, caramel, or hazelnut, can add a pleasant sweetness and unique flavor to your espresso, masking bitterness while introducing an enjoyable twist.

4) Make it a Mocha

Mix in some hot chocolate or cocoa powder to create a mocha. The chocolate’s sweetness and richness can complement the bitterness of the espresso, creating a harmonious flavor profile.

5) Add Whipped Cream

A dollop of whipped cream not only adds a touch of sweetness but also provides a creamy texture that can balance out the bitterness.

6) Use a Pinch of Salt

A small pinch of salt can help counteract bitterness by enhancing the perception of sweetness and suppressing the bitter taste receptors on your palate.

7) Serve with a Citrus Twist

Some people enjoy a slice of lemon or orange peel with their espresso. The citrus zest can add a refreshing brightness that offsets bitterness.

8) Opt for Decaffeinated Espresso

If bitterness is a recurring issue and you’re sensitive to caffeine, consider switching to decaffeinated espresso, which tends to be less bitter.

9) Dilute with Hot Water

If your espresso is too strong and bitter, you can dilute it with a small amount of hot water to mellow the intensity.

10) Add Ice

If you prefer iced coffee, consider pouring your bitter espresso over ice cubes to chill it. The dilution from melting ice can reduce bitterness.

Wrapping up

Here, we have discussed the causes of extra bitterness in the espresso as well as how to avoid this problem. Along with this, we also have discussed neutralizing the current bitter brew.

I hope this article will help you prevent from brewing bitter espresso shots. If you like the information I have shared here, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get more espresso-based information like this.

FAQs

1) Does letting espresso sit make it bitter?

Yes, leaving espresso to sit for an extended period can lead to increased bitterness. This occurs due to a process known as oxidation.

When espresso is exposed to air, especially when it’s no longer under pressure, it starts to interact with oxygen. Over time, this interaction can alter the flavor compounds in the coffee, leading to a more pronounced bitterness.

To avoid the bitterness that comes from letting espresso sit, it’s best to enjoy your espresso promptly after extraction. Freshly brewed espresso will showcase the full range of flavors and aromas before oxidation has a chance to take hold.

2) How can I maintain consistency in my espresso shots?

Here are the effective steps to do it:

• Use high-quality coffee beans and ensure they are freshly roasted.
• Invest in a reliable grinder and espresso machine.
• Calibrate your grinder and maintain it regularly to achieve a consistent grind size.
• Measure your coffee dose precisely for each shot.
• Tamp consistently, applying even pressure.
• Monitor the shot time and aim for a consistent range of 25-30 seconds.
• Maintain the correct water temperature within the range of 195°F to 205°F (90°C to 96°C).
• Regularly clean and maintain your espresso machine and grinder.
• Keep your brewing parameters consistent and make small adjustments when necessary.

3) Is bitterness always a bad thing in espresso?

No, bitterness in espresso is not necessarily a bad thing; it depends on personal taste preferences and balance. In fact, a slight bitterness is a characteristic of espresso and can contribute to a well-rounded flavor profile when it’s in harmony with other taste elements.

Bitterness can complement the sweetness, acidity, and body of the espresso, creating a balanced and complex taste experience. It’s often described as a bittersweet note, similar to dark chocolate.

Some coffee enthusiasts appreciate this bitterness as an essential component of a well-crafted espresso.

However, excessive bitterness that overwhelms the other flavors and lingers unpleasantly on the palate is generally undesirable. The goal is to achieve a balanced and nuanced bitterness that enhances the overall espresso experience without dominating it.