The Freshness Lab

Use a simple puck preparation routine to reduce avoidable shot variation: match the dose to the basket, distribute evenly, tamp level and compare results.

Opening a new bag? Use a measured starting recipe, make one adjustment based on flow and taste, and confirm the result before saving your espresso settings.

Freshness matters when choosing coffee for espresso, but coffee freshness is not as simple as “The newer the roast date, the better.” Coffee begins changing as soon as roasting ends. Some of those changes are necessary, while others gradually reduce aroma,...

Better espresso starts with the coffee. Before grind size, shot time, or puck preparation come into play, you need coffee that suits the espresso you actually want to drink. That sounds simple, but choosing coffee can quickly become confusing. A...

“Espresso roast” sounds like a specific roast level, as if coffee reaches a certain degree of darkness and officially becomes espresso coffee. It doesn’t work that way. There is no universal standard that defines an espresso roast by color or...

Before coffee can be roasted, the seed inside the coffee cherry must be separated from the fruit and dried. This stage is known as processing, and the method used can influence characteristics such as: sweetness acidity fruit intensity body clarity texture...

“Espresso beans” and “coffee beans” can sound like two different things. They are not. No separate coffee species or special type of bean is called an espresso bean. Espresso is a brewing method, and the beans used to make it...