Dialling in is what we do every morning before we open the shop. We need to get the espresso tasting amazing before we do anything else and we do this by looking at three parameters that make up a 'recipe' for that particular coffee. These are:
- weight of dry coffee (in)
- weight of shot (out)
- time the shot takes to run
So we start off by looking at the recipe that was used the previous day. We run a few shots through first to get the grinder up and running then we do a test shot and see how it runs.
We only change on variable at a time and in this case it is always grind size we look at first. So we load our shot (say the recipe calls for 18g) and we stop the shot when it gets to 38g out. Then we look at how long that took to run. Our recipe says it should take around 28 seconds.
If the shot is running roughly to recipe we will taste it and then make fine adjustments to ensure that we are getting the best balance between acidity and sweetness and a good body.
If the shot is running too fast we will fine down the grind and try again. If the shot is running too slow we will coarsen up the grind.
Too fast > fine down the grind
Too slow > coarsen up the grind
Once the shot is running roughly to recipe the barista's skills come into play as they fine tune to get the best tasting shot. They do this by making tiny adjustments to the running time and weight out.
Check out this 'Behind the Scenes' video of our daily dial in HERE.