Dialling In Espresso - Episode 3

This is an ongoing series exploring dialling in espresso. My Patreon audience chooses the machine, the grinder and the coffee. I do my best to dial in and talk you through the process. New episodes are added every month or two. If you make espresso at home often, then hopefully there's something here for you.

The big takeaway: if your grinder doesn't do a great job of distributing into the basket, then dose into something else and transfer. It'll probably help.

Dialling in returns! This time with:
Some coffee...

Music:
"Good Morning" by Laxcity

Links:

Neewer Products I Use:

[TomLWard]

These videos really are a blessing and a curse. On the one hand I'm making far superior espresso by constantly adjusting the ratios in/out, brew temp and time taken to pull a shot. On the other hand, I've doubled the amount I spend on coffee in a week and don't see my friends.


Thanks, I guess.

[JohnDennery]

Discovered James’ videos during quarantine: caffeine tolerance is at an all-time high

[MicoGorres]

So when are we dialing in the 1970s coffee for espresso?

[nyan]

That random "Oh hai" gave me Joshua Weissman vibe

[potatotr]

James, I noticed a little sibilance and mouth sounds in your audio setup. Try a roll off on the high-highs in your audio editing and maybe move an inch or two further away from the mic if you can maintain your signal to noise ratios. Loved the video - here's to hoping you do a review of the sette eventually, but more so I'd love a trip down the road of diminishing returns and the look at grinders in that regard.

[frajzorlul]

I would love to see a dialing in on a La pavoni lever machine 😍

[Speedster]

Love your vids. I can't get enough of the ones involving dialing in espresso. But I have to tell you that as a home "barista" it is difficult for me to understand what adjustments are needed to make the espresso dialed in to the level that you are doing it. I got the basics down but it's hard to tell for instance, if I need to dose 1/2 gram more or 1/2 gram less. If it's "ashen" what is the taste? Then what is the fix? If it's "astringent", what does that taste like and what would be the correction for that (am I tasting astringent or sour)? What about "hollow?" How do you know if the espresso is not "balanced?" This could go on but you get the point. This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.

[CarsMusic]

Love this series! What would be really helpful (for me anyway) to see is for you to keep making adjustments after you're completely satisfied, and show us what happens when you get greedy. What does too seconds too long taste like? What does two degrees too high taste like? That way we'd get to see how wide the windows are, as well as just where they are

[gurito]

How to dial in espresso:
- make bad espresso
- make different bad espresso
- repeat 12 times
- realize that you dont have any more coffee
- cry

[ahmedrhh]

These episodes are gems. Rare and beautiful. Always thankful for this knowledge

[griplove]

That was fun to watch. I appreciate you’ve broken this down in such an easily digestible way. Thank you for sharing.

-Joe

[SirMayyson]

James, I hope YOU have a great day! Thanks for the informative video!

[jordanculver]

More, please! These dialing in videos are both helpful and oddly fascinating.

[Straightfromshibuya]

Recently I’ve been trying Italian style shots, 7g in 14-21g out yes a proper ristretto. What I noticed is that my brew temp should be lower and my grind size definitely smaller. However it gave me so much flavor because of the less coffee the water had to travel through in the puck and about the same amount of resistance. I find this to be quite lovely with lighter coffees such as a fruity Ethiopian hambela as well as maybe a very floral high altitude Colombian. My current setup is a profitec 700 pro as well as a Astoria slap grinder. Loving this series though.

[simongreenland-smith]

The tables with the stats and tasting notes as well as the action required were very helpful!

[alliefdxproductionservices]

This was really enjoyable. The Decent gives some really good insight into the brewing process.

[MrCakers]

Good Morning is one of my favorite songs and using it here seems perfect.

[GeorgeDemner]

Coming back to this a year after my first watch, still just as good! Would love to see more videos of you doing this!

[ndcoward]

I don't make espresso, but I feel these videos really take the mystery out of perfecting espresso at home.

Now if I could just find my way past the hurdle of spending $3000 on equipment.

Great video James. Voiceovers with good audio are much appreciated.

[Mooza]

Could you please keep doing these? I'm learning so much.


I really wish you would give some electric grinder and espresso maker recommendations - just tiers of gear you think is good. Some of us are casual coffee people, and just don't know much. Your recommendations could help us narrow down our shortlist.


Also, I want a Cafelat Robot!