3 Barista Tips to Pull the Perfect Espresso Shot!
PULLING THE PERFECT ESPRESSO SHOT CONSISTENTLY IS EVERY BARISTA’S DREAM! USE THESE TIPS TO BECOME A MASTER!
Third wave espresso is becoming more and more common among boutique coffee shops. At Muse Coffee, we use a third wave blend that isn’t dark roasted. Our espresso has deep complex notes, but is more on the bright side of the flavor wheel. Classic Brazil gives it balance, and Africa coffee makes it a little bright with a hint of fruitiness. This is third wave, this is a form of modern espresso. With that said, you can just grind your blend and hope for the best. It can be challenging to achieve the perfect espresso when you are working with complex flavor notes. Use these three quick and easy tips to fix your espresso.
Tip #1 - The Tamp
Maintain a consistent tamp!
The Tamp is when you use a tamper tool to compress the espresso into a puck. This is the last step before the espresso machine does all the work. Your tamp must be perfect. This takes lots of deliberate practice, but it is all worth it.
What we need is to consistently have the same level tamp. If your tamp is not level and even, water will pool to one side and you will get uneven extraction. You may notice sometimes your shot is perfect, and the very next one is way off. This can simply be your tamp was not level. Also consider always having the same pressure in your tamp. This way, you take that variable out of the equation when dialing in. If your tamp is always firm, with the same amount of pressure, you know you may have to adjust the other variables.
Tip #2 - Adjust with Weather in Mind
Often times, as the day goes on, it can get warmer (or colder, I guess) in the cafe. When this happens, you will surely have to be ready re-dial in your espresso.
Changes in weather (temp or humidity) will change how the espresso grinds through the machine.
If it gets much warmer in the room, you may have to go a little coarser, if it gets colder, you may have to go finer. It all depends on the results you are getting while adjusting.
Don’t be surprised, in fact anticipate this adjustment.
Tip #3 - Adjust your Coffee to Water Ratio
Sometimes I find that adjusting my coffee to water ratio is an easy fix to a tough dial in.
Lets say its taking you a few tries with changing the grind size, and you know your tamp is on point…but you just can’t seem to find the sweet spot. Try adding(or subtracting) 0.5g-1g of espresso to the ratio.
Of course, you still have to pull the shot and see if you need to adjust the water portion as well. I usually find that you don’t have to add more water but ultimately the taste of the espresso is what matters most.
Adjust and taste. Adjust and taste. Play with the ratio only as a troubleshooting tactic.