Aside from using beans that produce coffee with greater body and/or reducing the brew ratio, John (of Decent) voiced the following ideas in one of his videos. Any comments on the voracity of these techniques? Upsides? Downsides? Especially in decaf.
According to John, to produce greater body:
- Use higher pre-infusion flow rates. Ie 6 or even 8 ml/sec, not 4 ml/sec.
- Reduce headspace over the puck (less headspace = more body). Cavaet: More headspace is good for extracting light roasts.
- Narrower diameter but deeper baskets produce more body, due to a thicker puck.
- These types of baskets (typically found in lever machines) produce coffee that tastes better when brewed at lower (ristretto) ratios.
- Too high temperatures cause problems in smaller dose shots.
- The Decent Waisted basket is designed to improve puck integrity with smaller doses.
- The Decent “Espresso in the 80’s” profile is ideal for the 14g Decent Waisted basket.
- An overdosed 20 gram basket can produce similar improvements in body, due to a thicker puck.
Assuming the above is correct, I can apparently get the body I want by using the above techniques, and at the same time extract more flavour by using longer brew ratios than I otherwise would have (but for the above techniques, which apparently produce the body I crave).
Does any of the above make sense? What is your experience? How do you get the best of both worlds (body and flavour extraction)?
PS An experienced barista that I have been chatting with says a pox on all that; just increase the contact time (presumably by slowing the flow).
