Must watch clip

I think some people just actually enjoy the hobby of espresso more than the espresso itself. The research, prepping, experimenting and the purchases that go with it.

That’s obviously fine, you see it in every hobby. Guitarists who build an enormous library of effects pedals, tweaking all day but not really actually playing. Guys who spend more time obsessing over speaker wiring and inch-perfect placement than sitting down and listening.

And then those who just want to get to the coffee with as little effort as possible and enjoy the drink itself for what it is.

Perhaps there’s also a mixture of the two.

I’m too cynical to believe that these guys who go to the nth degree to ensure absolute espresso perfection sit down with a triumphant exhalation and go ‘mmm that is a perfect coffee.

dfk41 I love Division Bell. I know that not all agree but I think thad David something brilliant with it.

Wish You Were Here for me.

As far as I’m concerned Shine On You Crazy Diamond is a masterpiece!

HarveyMushman I find it amazing that people who love good (should I say great instead?) coffee are also the admirers of Pink Floyd-esque music.

dfk41 I think that’s kind of the point to all this prep work - to control what you can. Sure the other variables will alter the taste but the aim of consistent prep is to reduce the inconsistency from that.
As part of my last machine purchase I ended up with a moonraker/porcupress/the force tamper. As a result I’d say my prep work is quite fast and very consistent - how much difference it makes? Who knows? I do like a process though…

I think cooking is a helpful analogy. You could simply estimate the amount of ingredients you require and might still get a great product. But if you want it to be consistently good, then weighing each ingredient will help. Doesn’t necessarily mean that the end product will be good though as there are other variables to consider. Similarly WDT/shaking increase the probability of getting consistently good espresso.

Emc2

I assume someone made a point that we’re talking single origin at least. Less chance of variations cup to cup as those who use blends surely .

And as for the Analog(y) comments

Dark side still sounds best on vinyl ☕🤔😜 DTS 5.1 for the terminator every time though.

Adrianmsmith Dark side still sounds best on vinyl ☕🤔😜 DTS 5.1 for the terminator every time though.

I would have loved to play the DSOTM on vinyl, unfortunately I could not get one, whence the Immersion 😀

Tal definitely not the only one. If I don’t wdt then the shots are wildly different. Wdt gets them much more consistent but not completely. Mine would never look like the shots on this video shot to shot without wdt. But then I prefer medium to light roasts.

I didn’t bother listening to the video. I scanned through it and got the drift. These kind of guys just prattle on and on and on, like everyone really wants to spend more than 10 minutes listening to their voice. It’s like those product reviews where they go on and on about the box; can you just open the darn thing up, stop talking and talking, move your hands out of the way so I can actually see what the product looks like and then clearly show me how it works.

It’s one thing if the author is conveying alot of very useful information within a short video (like Dave did on the Lelit Elizabeth), it’s another to drone on and not convey much substance.

Anyway I watched his extensive and long tamp nutation and tapping technique and it’s no wonder that his shots channel. If he has any time left to drink the coffee. Double tamping just causes double the trouble, though I suppose the puck is as compressed as it will get.

I just carefully and consistently WDT and then levelly tamp at the same pressure every time, using an EazyTamp. Others shake. You can pretty quickly tell if your distribution technique works or not, by watching the shot or checking the puck. But I perfected my technique a long time ago and the EazyTamp got rid of the tamping variable. CoffeeTime helped me sort out alot of things in a friendly (no question is too dumb to ask) environment.

YouTube seems to make authorities out of everyone. I feel for folks who are new to a task or hobby; how do you know what is actually the correct approach? I once watched a video on how to remove a scratch from a ski google using toothpaste, which is a real dumb idea. I tried it on an old pair of junk googles first and it scratched the heck out of them.