Headspace

The gap between the top of the tamped puck and the shower screen above it.

Filed under

How the basket changes things

What it means

The gap between the top of the tamped puck and the shower screen above it. Good headspace lets the puck brew without being crushed awkwardly into the screen. Too little headspace can disturb the puck surface; too much may weaken the brew environment.

Keep going

Where this leads

Each one pushes this into the cup, compares it, or helps you act on it.

The numbers that define the shot

Dose

Basket choice only makes sense once the dose fits it.

Use a scale for every dose when dialing in. Precision here saves time everywhere else.

How you read the result

Yield

Then read the output to see what the basket did.

Think of yield as the result you are aiming for and brewed weight as the way you verify you hit it.

What people mean when they say "extraction"

Espresso Extraction

Translate basket behavior into taste.

Separate extraction from strength in your thinking. One asks how much was dissolved, the other how concentrated the drink feels.

How the basket changes things

Double Basket

Stay inside how the basket changes things and compare a nearby term before widening out.

Match your dose to the basket you are actually using instead of forcing every coffee into the same gram number.