Hi Snobs,
After a recent discussion on the matter, I've been pondering on the value of flow control, pressure profiling and pre-infusion and I would love to hear from others. To keep things simple, I am grouping these together as flow-control (FC). I would also add that this is aimed at Medium roasted beans typical to what you would get around Melbourne and Sydney and not Ultralight scandinavian 3rd wave hipster goodness.
Simplistically put, I see 2 theories:
1. FC provides shot quality improvements
2. FC provides shot consistency improvements
Shot quality improvements refer to the idea that with flow control, you can get a shot better than with a flat 9 bar all other things being equal. I do not believe a perfectly dialled in 9 bar shot would be substantially worse than a perfectly dialled in FC shot. The FC shot might be somewhat more clean due to maintaining better puck integrity as a result of pre-infusion and ramping the pressure down at the end of the shot as the buck breaks apart. In a blind taste test, a professional might score the FC shot 5% better than the 9b shot.
Consistency improvements is the idea that your worst shot will have a higher likelihood of being good. Your shots would be more consistent from shot to shot. The ability to slowly pre-infuse to let the puck expand and the ability to reduce pressure at the end of the shot as the puck loses integrity means you can get a more even extraction. This increases your chances of having a good tasting cup. FC also allows you to bloom and work with fresher beans more easily.
Somewhat contradictory to the above, one key challenge with manual FC like direct lever, LM GS3MP (not Decent) is that espresso is complex, and you are adding an additional complexity making it hard to be consistent.
Anecdotally I can add that I have had plenty of amazing shots from both 9b and FC machines.
Here are some opinions I would like to validate with others:
1. Does flow control offer better shots than flat 9b? They can, but 9b shots can be just as good provided good puck prep and no channelling.
2. How much better is the perfect flow controlled shot than the perfect 9b shot? Not much.
3. Can FC shots be more consistent than 9b shots? Yes, FC shots can reduce channelling and help maintain puck integrity making your worst shot good.
4. A well experienced barista would do better with a 9b machine than an amateur with FC? Yep.
5. A well experienced barista would do better with a FC machine than another pro with a 9b machine? Most likely
I would like to asnwer this question as I feel before I had access to FC, I was convinced that was the missing ingredient to god shots. In reality, I simply lacked tasting and brewing experience.
Keen on hearing from others
Happy Friday!
After a recent discussion on the matter, I've been pondering on the value of flow control, pressure profiling and pre-infusion and I would love to hear from others. To keep things simple, I am grouping these together as flow-control (FC). I would also add that this is aimed at Medium roasted beans typical to what you would get around Melbourne and Sydney and not Ultralight scandinavian 3rd wave hipster goodness.
Simplistically put, I see 2 theories:
1. FC provides shot quality improvements
2. FC provides shot consistency improvements
Shot quality improvements refer to the idea that with flow control, you can get a shot better than with a flat 9 bar all other things being equal. I do not believe a perfectly dialled in 9 bar shot would be substantially worse than a perfectly dialled in FC shot. The FC shot might be somewhat more clean due to maintaining better puck integrity as a result of pre-infusion and ramping the pressure down at the end of the shot as the buck breaks apart. In a blind taste test, a professional might score the FC shot 5% better than the 9b shot.
Consistency improvements is the idea that your worst shot will have a higher likelihood of being good. Your shots would be more consistent from shot to shot. The ability to slowly pre-infuse to let the puck expand and the ability to reduce pressure at the end of the shot as the puck loses integrity means you can get a more even extraction. This increases your chances of having a good tasting cup. FC also allows you to bloom and work with fresher beans more easily.
Somewhat contradictory to the above, one key challenge with manual FC like direct lever, LM GS3MP (not Decent) is that espresso is complex, and you are adding an additional complexity making it hard to be consistent.
Anecdotally I can add that I have had plenty of amazing shots from both 9b and FC machines.
Here are some opinions I would like to validate with others:
1. Does flow control offer better shots than flat 9b? They can, but 9b shots can be just as good provided good puck prep and no channelling.
2. How much better is the perfect flow controlled shot than the perfect 9b shot? Not much.
3. Can FC shots be more consistent than 9b shots? Yes, FC shots can reduce channelling and help maintain puck integrity making your worst shot good.
4. A well experienced barista would do better with a 9b machine than an amateur with FC? Yep.
5. A well experienced barista would do better with a FC machine than another pro with a 9b machine? Most likely
I would like to asnwer this question as I feel before I had access to FC, I was convinced that was the missing ingredient to god shots. In reality, I simply lacked tasting and brewing experience.
Keen on hearing from others
Happy Friday!

but the principles of extraction do transfer to alt brewing methods
Comment