If you are an espresso pro (barista) and like to extract maximum sweetness to enjoy a pure black espresso (adding a bit of water, tonic or orange juice is fine!) I can reccomend my #extractmorewiththecoffeenose espresso routine.
1. Spray or drip 1-3 drops of water on the beans before grinding (RDT)
2. grind fine - 30sec+ shot is no problem, lighter roasts need more time to extract
3. Use a professional WDT tool like the original Duomo WDT to distribute the coffee in your basket and remove static (it's an investment, but totally worth it!
4. Use a leveller like NCD (it's not really a distributor, but really a leveller) or Motta to lock your puck preparation
5. depending on the depth of your leveller and how soft or hard you insert the portafilter in the grouphead you can use a tamper to further lock in the puck preparation and compress the puck more. This step is optional and can greatly influence the shot time both positively and negatively. It can both avoid and create chanelling. Yes, indeed, good things (shots) never come easy 😁
6. Use a puck screen. This helps even wetting of the puck and, especially beneficial for the home barista, keeps your shower screen more clean. This is also optional and like the tamping can work both ways. It has to fit also your basket size and puck height.
7. Use a chilling ball, use a thick ceramic cup from the freezer or use a professional chilling tool like Paragon. Optional, but highly recommended!
8. A few ml water at the bottom of the cup can help open up the espresso. Experiment with how much water you like (depending on the beans/blend). You can go all the way up to americano (nowadays often called long black). If you can not put a tall glass under the portafilter, use a shotglass.
What about the basket? Lately there has been lots of hype online about precision baskets. If it's worth it to spend hundreds on baskets is up to you. Upgrading from a standard basket that comes with your espresso machine to a VST basket does pay off.
Do it naked, feel free and see everything 😉. If you are not yet into bottomless brewing with a naked portafilter give it a try. With an optional mirror you can see without sitting on your knees.
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more tips from the CoffeeNose👃