Espresso Masterclass: Revolutionize your Understanding

About this Video

• Video Title: Espresso Masterclass: Revolutionize your Understanding
• Channel: Lance Hedrick
• Speakers: Lance Hedrick
• Duration: 00:17:32

Introduction

This video explains the concept of "puck integrity" in espresso brewing and how it affects the taste of the final shot, particularly when using lighter roasted coffee beans. The speaker addresses common difficulties in brewing light roasts and aims to provide viewers with the knowledge to improve their espresso.

Key Takeaways

• Lighter roasts have less puck integrity than darker roasts: This is due to the cellular structure of the bean, its density, and its brittleness after roasting. Darker roasts are more brittle and produce more fines during grinding, which increases puck resistance.
• Puck integrity is affected by roast level, grinder type, and coffee age: Darker roasts produce more fines, acting like "cement" to hold the puck together. Grinder type significantly impacts particle distribution, influencing puck integrity. Fresher coffee has more CO2, increasing puck resistance.
• Understanding puck integrity improves espresso: Knowledge of these factors allows for better grind size adjustments and extraction times to achieve a desirable shot. The speaker emphasizes that relying solely on recipes from others is unreliable due to variations in equipment and beans.
• Grind size adjustment is crucial for light roasts: To achieve similar extraction times with light roasts as with dark roasts, a much finer grind is often needed. However, grinding too fine can lead to bitterness.
• Nine-bar machines present challenges with light roasts: Nine-bar machines maintain constant pressure, making it harder to achieve optimal extraction with light roasts compared to machines allowing for pressure profiling.