Coffee School
Experiments & Testing
Pushing boundaries and questioning everything we think we know about coffee.
15 lessons
- Extraction Showdown: Which Puck Prep Is Actually Boosting Your Espresso?We put the common puck prep steps head to head and measure the results.
- No Tamp Routine: Can it Work?We skip tamping entirely to find out whether it is really necessary.
- Maximalist vs. Minimalist Puck PrepWe compare elaborate puck prep against the bare minimum to see what actually pays off.
- Why Your Espresso Shots Are NEVER the SameThe variables that quietly shift day to day, and how to control the ones that matter.
- Pulling the Longest Espresso ShotWe stretch a single shot as far as it will go and taste what happens along the way.
- Puck Screens: How Much do They Really Impact Extraction?We measure what a puck screen actually changes about extraction.
- MAXIMUM RDT: Is More Water Better?We push the Ross Droplet Technique to its limits to find where more water stops helping.
- Do You Really Need WDT?We test whether a WDT tool earns its place in your workflow.
- The Salami ShotSplitting one shot into stages to taste exactly how extraction changes over time.
- How Much do Fancy Baskets Really Affect Extraction?We test premium baskets against standard ones to see what the money buys.
- Bigger Isn't Always Better: Rethinking Basket SizeWe revisit the case for large baskets and find the limits of going bigger.
- Weber Workshops Espresso Paper Filters: Will They Improve Your Espresso?We put paper filters in the basket to see whether they clean up a shot.
- Weber Workshops Bean Cellar: Experimenting with Freezing CoffeeWe freeze coffee with the Bean Cellar to see what it does to freshness and flavor.
- Conical or Flat Burrs? An Experiment With Frozen CoffeeWe freeze coffee to isolate what burr geometry actually changes about a shot.
- Headspace: Espresso's Invisible Enemy?How the gap between your puck and the shower screen affects the shot.