I lock the portafilter into the group head. The coffee is dry, compressed, and almost completely hidden.Before a single drop reaches the cup, I have already begun reading it.I start at two bar for about four seconds, just long enough for water to enter the coffee bed without allowing liquid…

I can give you the full pressure profile for one of my espressos: the dose, every change in pressure, every second.Nothing is lost by publishing it.The numbers are exact. They are also no longer entirely true.They describe where I arrived with one coffee in January. They do not contain the…

I can describe what I look for in espresso: breadth, change, and one clear line that never breaks. But I did not establish those standards first and then search for a bean that would fit them.They came from a few seconds with this Kona in my mouth. The pleasure came…