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Your guide to exceptional espresso

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  • Announcements
  • HB: Welcome new sponsors J-Town Coffee and Coffee Courses. Hint: Be on the lookout for HB member-only discounts in the Marketplace.
  • Quotable Quote:
    "The idea that the puck should be firm and knock out neatly is not just wrong, it's actually bad. The finer the grind; the sloppier, gooier, and wetter the puck. But for good extractions, you want a fine grind. A major point of pressure profiling is long preinfusions with grinds so fine they would stall out an ordinary espresso machine." --Jim Schulman, Lelit Bianca User Experience
  • Quotable Quote:
    "Sigh... I should have remembered the first rule of bulletin boards: never give advice to anyone who already knows what they want to do." —Jim Schulman, Comments on Niche Zero Review
  • RapidCoffee: The Decent Espresso DE1+ Review has begun!
  • Quotable Quote:
    "The idea was to come up with a direct relationship between taste and refractive index, this might work for some roast levels and coffees but has proved to be less than reliable." --Rich Goodin, Why TDS/extraction yield measurements are not a good way to evaluate taste profile/quality?
  • Quotable Quote:
    "Hobbyists might have very different goals, but until one can get to the point where they ... get consistent results, they have no business trying for accidental coffee nirvana." --Alan (Almico), Finding balanced cup in pourover
  • HB: Jake_G joins Team HB!
  • Quotable Quote:
    "How many of you dare to do a blind tasting, while upgrading or just comparing machines, and not drinking a shot knowing which one is which, automatically think 'yeah it tastes better, because it's better technically, double boiler, profiling, more expensive machine, etc, so it must be better'?" --Martin, Blind tasting espresso machines in the cup
  • Quotable Quote:
    "I feel a bit deflated, as some part of me was glad that this meant there were no more step ups possible and I had the best of the best. Now it'll only be the entry level best." --Claude, Kafatek hints about new Conical Model
  • Quotable Quote:
    "Chasing extraction yield is a great and worthwhile effort - and will probably teach you a lot. Just be careful of the subjective assessments gleaned from objective measurements." --Assaf Litai, Lelit Bianca vs DE1+
  • Quotable Quote:
    "It isn't about right or wrong. We won't know what right is anyway. It is about repeatability and unambiguousness." -- Assaf Litai, Looking for a Simple Measure of Preinfusion
  • Quotable Quote:
    "If you want both high extractions and espresso porn shots, you have begun on an endless quest for magic baskets and grinders." --Jim Schulman, Looking for a Simple Measure of Preinfusion
  • HB: Welcome 1st in Coffee to the roster of HB sponsors! They cater to discerning coffee drinkers like us. :-)
  • HB: Welcome new HB sponsor iDrinkCoffee! They're introducing themselves with an autumn sweepstakes with over $5000 in prizes. Woohoo!
  • Quotable Quote:
    "Ultimately it really is - people like what they like. Sometimes I feel people like what sounds interesting vs tastes good but that's another thread." --Richard Gregory, Light Roasts - Are they losing their luster?
  • Quotable Quote:
    "Coffee roasters are like drivers; no one seems to think they are bad at it." -Alan (Almico), Roasting coffee with evenness
  • Quotable Quote:
    "I do a lot of things that aren't really worth it because I think my cost-benefit analytical skills are broken." --Walt Tani, Compak K10 WBC has landed!
  • Quotable Quote:
    "Just five years ago, we were happy with the slops served up by George Howell, Intelligentsia, Klatch, Counter Culture, and others of that ilk. Now we await with baited breath the next [Twitter and Instagram] revelation on how coffee should really taste." --Jim Schulman, Fines: Necessary evil, or just plain evil?
  • Quotable Quote:
    "I'm not the kind of person who turns making a drink into a professional Olympic training exercise with hours of practice. For others, that kind of approach is some form of OCD they want to engage in." --David (happycat), Cheapest "God" shot
  • HB: Check out the new feature Helpful Posts from HB's summer intern.
  • Quotable Quote:
    "The lever machine is a Haiku on the economy of means." -- Thomas McIntosh, Building a lever machine.... from scratch
  • Quotable Quote:
    "Moriondo's name only surfaced in 1993, when Ian Bersten exhumed his invention from Italian patent archives in his famous book. His discovery diminished the credit assigned to Luigi Bezzera and Desiderio Pavoni who had been, up to then, commonly cited as the fathers of the espresso." --Sebastien Delprat, In search of Moriondo's espresso machine
  • Quotable Quote:
    "We may sometimes reach premature and incorrect conclusions that lead us to chase "features" in our machines that sound very logical, but may not necessarily translate to better/more consistent coffee." -- Yaseen, Wouldn't an E61 with dedicated PID brew boiler and steam thermoblock be better than HX?
  • HB: Welcome Sam Law to Team HB!
  • Quotable Quote:
    "It could be worse, at least we're not all into boats." --Tom Chips, Has Espresso Become a Hobby for the Rich?
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    Read about current and future offerings from the site sponsors.
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    Last post Jun 15, 2019, 4:25 pm View the latest post
    by naked-portafilter
  • Buying Advice
    Recommendations for espresso equipment buyers and upgraders.
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    Last post Today, 10:33 am View the latest post
    by tv79
  • Tips and Techniques
    Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks.
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    by Moka 1 Cup
  • Espresso Machines
    Need help with equipment usage or want to share your latest discovery?
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    by Mrboots2u
  • Lever Espresso Machines
    A haven dedicated to manual espresso machine aficionados.
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    Last post Today, 10:33 am View the latest post
    by baristainzmking
  • Grinders
    Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
    4179 Topics
    74959 Posts
    Last post 13 minutes ago View the latest post
    by Randy G.
  • Repairs, Restorations & Mods
    Equipment doesn't work? Troubleshooting? If you're handy, members can help.
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    Last post 47 minutes ago View the latest post
    by jenseb99
  • Coffees
    Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
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    Last post 8 minutes ago View the latest post
    by C-Antonio
  • Coffee Brewing
    Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
    1303 Topics
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    Last post Yesterday, 12:51 pm View the latest post
    by friarchambers
  • Cafes and Get-togethers
    Talk about your favorite cafes, local barista events, or plan your own get-together.
    1412 Topics
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    Last post Today, 10:39 am View the latest post
    by tv79
  • Home Roasting
    Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
    3680 Topics
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    Last post Today, 9:42 am View the latest post
    by chuckcoffee
  • Water
    Water analysis, treatment, and mineral recipes for optimum taste and equipment health.
    619 Topics
    6146 Posts
    Last post Jun 16, 2019, 5:19 pm View the latest post
    by Stanford55
  • Knockbox
    Want to talk espresso but not sure which forum? If so, this is the right one.
    2494 Topics
    33656 Posts
    Last post Yesterday, 3:16 pm View the latest post
    by Chert
  • The Bench
    Behind the scenes of the site's upcoming equipment reviews.
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    Last post Jun 13, 2019, 5:45 am View the latest post
    by luca
  • Buy/Sell
    Used espresso or coffee stuff you hope to sell or buy.
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    2148 Posts
    Last post Yesterday, 6:56 pm View the latest post
    by mbenedet