We’re seeing a surge of anaerobic and thermal shock lots in Q1 offers, and the usual washed/natural dialing heuristics aren’t translating. On a Linea PB with 20g in/44g out at 31s and 91°C we keep aromatics intact, but push past 93°C and it skews boozy — what tasting drills or brew curve tweaks are you building into barista training to keep teams calibrated as these profiles become more common?
We’ve had success with a split-cup fractionation drill: on the Linea PB, switch the stream between two demis every about 5s on a 20/44 @ 91°C and teach folks to cut the shot when the second cup goes “rum/solvent” — a tiny espresso breathalyzer… For dialing, add 3–4s preinfusion and aim 1:2.2–1:2.4 at 90.5–91.5°C; if the roast’s denser/underdeveloped, nudge to about 92°C instead.
Quick example: I’ve been teaching a ‘3-on/7-off bloom’ on the Linea PB for these lots — pump on 3s, off 7s, then run the shot at 91–92°C — which softens the alcoholic edge while keeping the fruit volatile. If it still leans boozy, cut yield to 40–42g with a hair coarser grind to stay about 30–31s.