DavecUK There is always the discussion of clarity…I’ve often wondered if less texture is seen as greater clarity.
I would think of texture as how it feels in our mouth / on tongue? So, I would look at texture as a light bodied cup, medium or full bodied. The light body / mouthfeel is on the brighter, high acidity / astringency sides of the scale.
MWJB summarised clarity as “too vague a term and has too many other potential confounding factors.” Notwithstanding this nice summary of what a clarity is, I like to keep it simple and call clarity as an ability to “separate (detect) the different flavours / tasting notes”, which I think is very difficult if one is pulling 1:1.5 or 1:2. Perhaps, as Rob said, may be one needs to pull an espresso at 1:2.5 to 1:3, assuming it is there in a cup to pick up.
So, when a lot of people pull a shot at 1:1.5 or 1:2, and say the cup is muddled or there is no clarity, I always wondered how is it possible to see through the clarity / flavour in such a highly concentrated liquid? Of course, I have never had a chance to pull shots in conical and flat, say for a light roast, to understand why baristas can pick clarity in flat grinders.
The discussions on these during the last few days suggest that body/mouthfeel, texture, flavour or clarity (if separating flavour notes is clarity), aroma, palette and after-taste all need separating.
In summary, I don’t think texture is clarity, which, if all it all possible to delineate in espresso, rests crucially on the mercy of roasters! I also think we are too busy chasing these as rarities and not, perhaps, enjoying some very good coffee as much as we all should! 😊