We all love our morning routine, but no one loves it more than the home barista! You know who you are. From geeking out on grinder calibration and the new PID in your home espresso machine to drooling over new accessories like distribution tools and espresso stirrers made with walnut wood handles. Regardless of what gadgets and tools you have at home, all home baristas must understand and practice dialling in to get the best out of the equipment and coffee with every espresso shot. So what exactly is dialling in? and why is it so important?
The term “dialling in” is used to describe the procedure of tweaking the parameters to produce the best tasting espresso on hand. What we mean by parameters here are basically dose, yield, grind size and time. Some people have more control over other parameters such as water temperature and pressure, but for this article we will only focus on the former four.
One thing to note here is you should always play with one parameter while holding the other 3 constant. The goal is pretty simple: Get the best tasting espresso possible. The method is calibrating the equipment at hand to optimise the extraction process of the coffee. Let's jump right into it!
Dose
By adjusting the dry dose, or amount of dry coffee, you are adjusting the ratio of coffee:water and the rate of flow. When you are using an excess of dry coffee with the same amount of water and time, you are essentially decreasing the extraction process.
Too little coffee: Over Extracted
Too much coffee: Under Extracted
Time
This is how long it takes for the water to pass through the dry dose and create the yield. When weighing the yield, this can help indicate the rate of flow and can help to improve extraction.
Too long: Over Extracted
Too short: Under Extracted
Grind Size
When changing the grind size of the coffee you are, in-essence, changing the particle surface area of the coffee.
The finer the grind, the greater the particle surface area, and the more accessible the water soluble properties of the coffee are. The coarser the grind, there is less surface area and the water soluble properties of coffee are harder to access.
Too fine: Over Extracted
Too coarse: Under Extracted
Yield
A well balanced yield will have a dry:wet ratio of 1:1.75, which means for every gram of dry coffee weighed, you would get 1.75 grams of espresso. Anything over 2x the dry weight, you risk over extraction. Anything below 1.5x the dry weight, you risk under extraction.
Too little coffee: Under Extracted
Too much coffee: Over Extracted
Let's talk more about extraction. Under-extraction occurs when water has not had enough time to draw out solubles from the coffee. There are still compounds left behind that could balance out undesirables in the cup.
SOUR / LACKS SWEETNESS / SALTY / QUICK FINISH
An under-extracted espresso shot will taste overly citrusy, acidic, salty, and sharp. An overwhelming sourness will hit the tip of your tongue and feel very heavy. Instead of having a delicate sweetness, there will be an overpowering salty flavour and disappear from your mouth quickly after finishing the espresso shot.
Over-extraction occurs when too many solubles are drawn out from the ground coffee. The bitterness from the second half of the shot outweighs the sourness from the first.
BITTER / ASTRINGENT / HOLLOW
An over-extracted espresso shot will taste unpleasantly bitter and will hit the back of your tongue. It will be incredibly astringent and dry, creating a desire to smack your lips and an urgency to drink water. The espresso will feel empty and lack any depth or character. It will be difficult to decipher any tasting notes from the espresso.
A well extracted espresso will contain the perfect amount of coffee solubles and water to create a well balanced and sweet shot.
SWEET / ROUND / COMPLEX ACIDITY / LINGERING FINISH
A well extracted espresso will taste pleasantly sweet and have a round, full body. The acidity will be balanced out by an enjoyable bitterness, and a sweetness will linger in your mouth long after you have swallowed
the espresso.
We're big fans of The Espresso Compass created by Matt Perger at The
Barista Hustle. It guides you though the dialling in process based on the taste results you're getting. Here's the high resolution of The Espresso Compass
