Coffee Data Science
Does Espresso Extraction Produce More Fines?
Let’s find out!
On Instagram, I had a discussion about fines in the cup, and someone asked if I knew or had data to address if the espresso process could break up coffee grounds to produce more fines. I didn’t have data, but I felt like it was a simple experiment.
First, I ground coffee on a coarse setting, and I used the Fellow Shimmy to remove particles less than 300um. Then I pulled a long shot.
I dried the puck so I could sift the spent coffee.
I used the Kruve sifter and a 500um scren. The majority were greater than 500um, and a small amount of grounds made it into the cup.
I measured the particle distributions afterwards. The particles less than 500um had a very tight distribution with few particles less than 300um.
The challenge with this experiment is that coffee grounds will lose their mass during extraction, so I felt like a needed a better design of experiment. Super fine particles weren’t produced or measured in this experiment, but I wanted to be sure.
Stay tuned for Part 2.
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