I’ve been overdosing baskets the whole time
I tried to maximize puck depth because I learned that puck depth = good.
But for some beans, I kept getting thin and sharp shots and I couldn’t find out why. The shots always looked perfect. But I noticed that the flow rate started to increase rapidly after half of the desired shot time. I thought that’s just how those beans are.
Well…
I then watched the infamous „Dose by volume, not weight“ video and did the coin test. Oops… On some beans I don’t even need to do the coin test, the shower touches the coffee-bed without a coin.
Now I dose properly. I just finished a shot of Passalacqua Harem. Dosing by volume, I put 13.6g into my 14g basket. The shot maintained a consistent flow rate with only marginal speedup throughout the 40 seconds of the shot. The resulting espresso was fantastic. I feel like I unlocked a new level of coffee. Don’t get me wrong, I made good espresso before as well, but I didn’t account for headspace and a proper dose as another variable.
I wish I could say sorry to all the coffee I've wasted on subpar espresso.
So, my takeaways: A good looking shot doesn’t actually mean that you have a good extraction going on. My shots always look like you’re watching an instagram reel but they didn’t always taste like it. And maximizing puck depth only works when you’re within the limit of your basket and machine combination.