IS THIS THE FUTURE OF ESPRESSO?: What Is and How to Dial In a Turbo Shot.

Science has shown us another intriguing way to create espresso. Give this video some time, think about it, and if you're feeling crazy, give it a go!

*this can be done on any machine whose OPV you can change or any lever machine! I used a decent in the video for the graph.

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Check out James Hoffman's video on this from over a year ago (the existence of this video was made aware to me three days ago, so not claiming originality in the slightest):

Works cited:

Michael Camera IG- @strivefortone (he recently did a series on all of this on his IG- worth a look)

Dr. Hendon IG- @chhendon

Discord referenced- Espresso Afficionado Discord:
EAF Resources:

Jonathan Gagne Blog on Hydraulic Pressure w/ Aeropress Filter:

[LanceHedrick]

If you haven't, I'd love to take a minute to ask you to hit that subscribe button! Would mean a ton! And if you enjoyed the video, hit that like! Thanks so much. More videos to come!

[paskoh]

This made my day. A few days ago I accidentally pulled a turbo shot without knowing it when I was trying to dial in my ROK grinder. Didn’t know this was actually a thing. I tasted it and it was one of the best shots I pulled. I couldn’t understand it. I dosed 18g which ran way too fast and yielded 60mls in 19-20s. Luckily I tasted it instead of throwing it out. I loved it so much I’ve been doing this every day this week. Repeatable. I’m even doing this on a simple bambino! Only thing I don’t have control of is the bar pressure but I feel like this is what is going on here - an inadvertent turbo shot 😄

[adamshufan]

When first adjusting my opv on my barista express, I adjusted it too low, and because the grinder is a part of the machine I also accidently adjusted it too course. The result? A 3 bar shot that tasted like heaven. Perhaps one of the most tart-acidic shots I've ever pulled or tasted, and while I can now dial in my shots traditionally to taste fantastic, I never managed (or really tried) to repeat that.

[nickborghesan]

I’m poor so I use a modded base model delonghi for my shots. They have always been fast and I thought that was bad… but then I thought “how could it be bad when they taste so good”. I think I have unknowingly been doing turbo shots all this time. Makes me feel better about the mess it makes too

[sergn]

Love it! This was so easy to replicate on BDB, no mod needed! I got a medium-light roasted coffee with which I've been trying to produce a less sour espresso for several days now, to no avail - super sour even with 3:1 ratio and longer extractions (35s+). I almost gave up on it. Watched this video and figured I'd give it a try - I went just 3 notches higher on the Niche for a turbo shot - and boom, 6 bar / 18 sec for 17g in 52g out. The shot turned out "refreshingly acidic", not "sour", and a lot more balanced - a pretty good interpretation of the tasting notes on the bag.

[hodgesmt]

Came for the coffee knowledge, stayed for the finger guns. I have a DE 1XL and may have to try some turbo shots after watching. Again an amazing video. Your delivery, sense of humor and quality of content is amazing. I appreciate all the time and effort you put into educating yourself and all of us.

[MrJhchrist]

These are fun, easy and intuitive in a cafelat robot where you can physically feel what's going on and steer the shot on the fly. Even things like the "blooming turbo" profile is pretty easy. Funny how these nerdy shots are most approachable on the highest and lowest tech machines, but much more problematic on most normal machines.

[jurzydls]

It totaly makes sense. In brewing beer, you also get lower EY, if you grind the malt to fine. The liquid gets stuck between the grains, I asume same thing happens in the puck, when grinding to fine and the pressure is high.
As long as we are talking about extraction, this is it. As soon we switch to extracting flavour profiles, I think math can't help us with the models.
Anyway, so much interesting stuff here, glad I found this channel Lance 🍻

[KaineTube]

This explains a lot. I've been having grinder problems (need to level the burrs again i think) and getting really fast shots (15 sec 15g-30g) that actually taste really good. Had a bit of spray on them but somehow didn't taste like they had channeled badly. I'll have to try pulling to a 3:1 ratio and see how it tastes. Might need to go a tad coarser though.

Using my hand grinder yesterday and today, pulled a couple of great traditional shots (same dose, but 25-30 sec extraction) and the shots were definitely more full bodied, but still a similar taste profile.

Coffee is a dark Ethiopian single origin from a local roaster.

I think something that's not mentioned in this video, but could be a massive game changer, is that not needing to grind as fine potentially opens up a huge range of more affordable grinders that will be capable of producing great turbo shots. A big win for making good coffee more accessible!

[Na]

I have a flair pro 2 (my only machine) and one day i was cleaning my hand grinder and didn't do a proper '0' allignment on it. I accidentally grinded way coarser than i used to and pulled this one really watery, gushy espresso that i was prepared to throw away. I didn't know exactly what was going on but the taste was really really good, the best i had out of the flair.

I haven't been able to reproduce that same shot, but this 'turbo shot' must've been what i accidentally performed. Thank you for the knowledge sharing Lance!

[MuhammadAamir]

I accidently pulled such shots on my very cheap machine and then tried the same espresso at the café. I preferred my shots more and i always thought i might be lucky but now i know what was happening. Thanks Lance for amazing info. I think turbo shots are easy to be pulled out of lower end setups as opposed to those so called ideal shots.

[brunocyclist]

Lately I've been using cut-to-size paper filters on the bottom of my Cafelat Robot's portafilter because I wanted to filter out the cafestol.
Speeds up the flow, produces a nice clean cup full of flavour.
First I tried grinding extra fine to get a 30-40sec flow time, with varying results in taste.
This video inspired me to go coarser again, with more consistent flavour as a result.
Thank you for the excellent practical breakdown of the paper. 🙏🏼

[murhode]

Just tried this on my Europiccalo. Wow... Thank you so much. 9 in 30 out 15 seconds. Rather coarse grind. Really impressed. Finally an excuse to use my single basket.

Thank you so much.

[KOZ-kp]

I love espresso and I love the scientific method. So simply overcome the historically accepted convention with a new method. Can’t wait to start experimenting with it.

[hanzohcafe.]

Loving the look of your coffee bar set up! 🔥

[Mus.B.E.]

I noticed you talked faster just after your first sip, that's turbo ~

[Hartvigson]

Very interesting. The part with too fine grinding causing channeling and resulting in high pressure shots is something most of us have experienced. Thank you for the video.

[jamiemacdonald]

Thanks for the most informative and entertaining videos on the internet! There are very few people who I would love to have a beer with, but you are one of them. Keep up the great work!

[apostlefamily]

I’m a little lat(t)e to the party, found this from my HomeGrounds email and loved the video. Very informative and yet easy to digest 😅. Thank you and kind regards. Subscribed

[incitatus]

I tried so many different shots to dial in my new beans the regular way, but the first turbo shot was very nice. Absolutely ridiculous and cool that this works so well.