Final score is the average of a scorecard of 7 metrics (Sharp, Rich, Syrup, Sweet, Sour, Bitter, and Aftertaste). These scores were subjective, of course, but they were calibrated to my tastes and helped me improve my shots. There is some variation in the scores. My aim was to be consistent for each metric, but some times the granularity was difficult.

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) is measured using a refractometer, and this number combined with the output weight of the shot and the input weight of the coffee is used to determine the percentage of coffee extracted into the cup, called Extraction Yield (EY).

Intensity Radius (IR) is defined as the radius from the origin on a control chart for TDS vs EY, so IR = sqrt( TDS² + EY²). This metric helps normalize shot performance across output yield or brew ratio.

Further readings of mine:

My Future Book

Collection of Espresso Articles

A Collection of Work and School Stories

Personal Stories and Concerns

LEGO Story Splash Page

Photography Splash Page

A Summary of the Staccato Lifestyle

All ArticlesTotal Dissolved Solids Meter Compared to Groundtruth in Coffee
My Links
The Fellow Shimmy Sifter: A Data Driven Review
Starting a Successful Coffee Kickstarter
Don’t Buy a Cheap DeLonghi Espresso Machine
“Raise” is the Best Starting Word for Wordle
Evaluating the Kruve EQ Cup for Espresso
Staccato Espresso on a Super-automatic Machine
Improving Coffee Extraction Metrics: Intensity Radius
Sifting vs Imaging Coffee Grind Distributions
The Lazy Staccato Espresso
Staccato Espresso Preparation Tips
Moisturizing Green Coffee Before Roasting
Double-Blind Coffee Studies
Simple Clumps and WDT Test: Espresso
Comparing Methods for Measuring Extraction Yield in Espresso
Shredded Cloth Filters in Espresso
Peeling Back the Mystery of Espresso Extraction in Staccato
The Woes of Black Ice
The Coffee Sneeze in Espresso
Symptoms of O-Ring Failure in an Espresso Machine
Farewell BoJack Horseman!
Tamp Pressure for Espresso: Redux
Stability of Grounds Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Samples in Spent Coffee
Comparing Kruve Coffee Sifters: New and Old
Superfine Staccato Espresso
Repairing a Rok Coffee Grinder
Does Chaff Impact Taste in Espresso?
Kim Express vs La Pavoni: Espresso Face-Off
Oil Analysis for Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Readings in Coffee
Humidified Coffee over Time
Rok Beats Niche? Another Angle to Grind Coffee
My Kickstarter for Coffee Data Science
Staccato Pasta
Kim Express Espresso Machine Instructions
Head Space for Espresso
Overcoming Fear to Write a Coffee Book
Espresso Coffee Farts: Examining Gases in Staccato
Fines Migrate in Espresso, but Not Far: Part 3
How much I got paid for 600k+ views on Medium
Inside-Out Staccato Espresso
Fines Migrate in Espresso, but Not Far: Part 2
The Root of Anti-Mask/Anti-Vax is Gun Rights
Cold Brew Coffee with Kompresso
Fines Migrate in Espresso, but Not Far: Part 1
COVID, You forced me to move without letting me say Goodbye
Comparing Coffee Grounds with LBP and K-means Clustering
Staccato Espresso is Fundamentally Better than Regular Espresso
Coffee Grounds Expand with Water
Increasing the Pressure for La Pavoni: Espresso
Humidified Coffee for Faster Degassing and Better Espresso
Cavitation for Cold Brew Espresso
Salami Coffee Grinding
Bottomless vs Spouted Portafilter for Espresso
Channeling in Espresso on Purpose
Variables of Espresso
An Allegory of Techology by Johannes Vermeer
Blowing an O-Ring on a Lever Espresso Machine
Espresso Baskets: Precision vs. Regular
Housing Turnover as a Metric for Home Buying
Shower Screens for Espresso
Brew Ratio for Espresso
ROK Defeats Niche Zero Part 3
Pre-Infusion for Espresso
ROK Defeats Niche Zero: Part 2
Water Temperature for Espresso
ROK Beats Niche Zero: Part 1
Forcing Bimodal Coffee Distribution for Espresso
Cross-Sectional Espresso Puck Slicing
Tamp Pressure for Espresso
Metrics of Performance: Espresso
A Taxonomy of Lever Espresso Machines
Espresso Coffee Flow: Pre-Infusion
Dose Settings for Espresso
Not a Scandal, just a Crime Against Humanity
Grind Settings for Espresso
Cloth Filters for Espresso over Time
Grandma’s Death and Reincarnation into a Goose
Post-Shot Quality Metrics for Espresso
Culture Shock Leaving the US and Upon Return
Espresso Puck Analysis from the Bottom
The Lost Potential for Super-automatic Coffee
Linearity of a Coffee Grinder
Spicy Coffee Grind Distributions
What is Espresso Powder?
Extraction Potential across the Espresso Puck using Grounds TDS
The Frequency of God-Shots
Rebuking Fines Migration in Espresso
Writing Process for ADHD
Don’t Filter Coffee TDS Samples
Estimating Coffee Extraction Across Particle Size
Building a Raised Garden
Other Coffee Measurements using a Refractometer
Adding Baking Soda to Espresso
Varsity Blues: A Review
Tiger Stripes in Espresso are Signs of Channeling
Refurbishing an Enrico of Italy Espresso Machine
Coffee Flow Analysis By Shot Type
Examining Single Filter Baskets for Espresso
Hourglass: a Book Review
I felt like an Idiot in High School
Metal Meshes and Espresso
Green Coffee Selection Process
Kids are Messy: a Camera Technique to Help Cope
Particle Distribution Per Coffee Bean
Determining Peak Flavor of Coffee using Bean Density
Improving Chores using Data
Glow in the Dark Espresso in Search of Fines Migration
How Zero is the Niche Zero?
Variability in Coffee Particle Distribution Measurement
Drying Out an Espresso Shot
Measuring Extraction and TDS across Coffee Grind Settings
Measuring Coffee Grounds vs Jonathan Gagné’s Technique
The Death Knell to Fines Migration
So you spilled your fresh roasted coffee beans on the floor…
Producing Good Spent Coffee Grounds for Experiments
Does a Good Short Shot predict a good Lungo Espresso?
Dye Colored Espresso Shots
Designing the Double-Double Sudo-Staccato Espresso Shot
Debunking Fines Migration in Espresso
Niche Coffee Distribution across Grind Settings
Flow Analysis over Multiple Espresso Shots
Regrinding Coffee: Particle Distributions
Conical vs Flat Burrs: Initial Data
Coffee Grinder Comparison via Particle Distribution
Ode to Memories
Decent Tamper vs Generic for Espresso
Diagnosing Bad Espresso Shots
Post-Espresso Shot Coffee Particle Distribution
Can a Pressure Cooker Brew Coffee with Whole Beans?
Retractable LEGO Wheels
Fines in Coffee Grinds: Searching for a Source
Retiring My ROK Coffee Grinder with a Niche Zero
A Summary of the Staccato Lifestyle
Measuring Coffee Grind Distribution
Working at Apple Pizza
Improving Coffee Grind Distribution using Adaptive Thresholds
Photographing Coffee Grounds for Grind Distribution Analysis
Lane Identification using an Adaptive Filter
How to make Sudo-Staccato Espresso with a Niche Grinder without a Sifter
Do You Feel Successful?
Measuring Fines in Coffee Grounds using Advanced Image Processing
Staccato Espresso Ritual: A Layered Approach
Improving Coffee Grind Measurement using a Sifter
Comparing Coffee Q-Graders
Measuring Coffee Grind Particle Distribution using Image Processing
Water into Coffee: Espresso
Paris: Photos Capturing an Instant in Time
What not to do with a Lever Espresso Machine
Cloth Filters for Espresso
Parenting Adults in the Wild
Espresso Basket Rumble: Robot vs Pullman vs Decent
Collecting a Hobby Dataset: Coffee
OCD Tools don’t work for espresso
The Duality of Coffee: An Extract and a Filter
Should we protect LGBT students? Circa 1999
Espresso Pre-wetting as Opposed to Pre-infusion
Espresso Puck Analysis
Caring for a LEGO Hospital
Apple’s best product
Experiments with a Transparent Portafilter for Espresso
LEGO Church
Robert’s Collection of Stories
A Collection of Work and School Stories
Data Science Splash Page
Work Character Splash Page
Wild Data Splash Page
Fruit Company Stories Splash Page
Job Search and Career Experience Splash Page
University Lessons Splash Page
A Collection of Espresso Articles
Espresso Baskets and Related Topics Splash Page
Espresso Opinions Splash Page
Transparent Portafilter Experiments Splash Page
Lever Machine Maintenance Splash Page
Coffee Extraction Splash Page
Coffee Reviews and Thoughts Splash Page
Coffee Experiments Splash Page
Coffee Roasting Splash Page
Improving Espresso Splash Page
Coffee Beans Splash Page
Paper Filters for Espresso Splash Page
LEGO Story Splash Page
Modeling Coffee Grinders
LEGO Adventures
Personal Stories and Concerns
Data Splash Page
Childhood Splash Page
Miscellaneous Splash Page
Family Splash Page
Cooking Splash Page
Photography Splash Page
Engineering Legos*
Launching a LEGO Rocket to the Moon!
Stumbling in Water: Espresso Water Experiment
Pompeii: Walking in an Instant in a Distant Time
Reusing Paper Filters for Espresso
Men taking Baby Bonding Parental Leave
The Paradox of Putting the Toilet Seat Down
Can Espresso be Turbo Charged?
How to Not Suck at Resumes
Goldilocks Paper Filter for Espresso
Yosemite: Photos Capturing an Instant in Time
Espresso Soak Test
How do Paper Filters Improve Espresso: Flow Rate
A Dangerous Way to Learn How to Drive
Data Review: Acaia Scale PYXIS for Espresso
Specialty Coffee: Comparing Grading Methods
Building an Education in Coffee using Data
Amantea: Photos Capturing Instants in Time
Comparing Coffee using Pattern Recognition
The Farm: Photographs capturing an instant in time
Shooting for Stronger Espresso: Intenso
A Review of Coffee Data: Grades and Flavors
Face Recognition: 3D Face Recognition from Infancy to Product
Re-Grinding Used Coffee for Espresso
Can Vacuum Jars Remove Gas from Coffee Beans Faster?
The Under-Representation of Women in a Disney Book from 1983
An Affordable and Simple Transparent Portfilter for Espresso
Fines don’t migrate during an Espresso Shot
How to Rate Sweet Maria’s Coffee Cupping Metrics for a Good Comparison
Coffee Bean Storage: Vacuum vs Sealed Containers
Failing My Ph.D. Qualifier
Comparing Q-grades of Coffees: Regions, Years, and Processing
Coffees by Region, Process, Grade, and Price
Extraction over the Life of the Coffee Bean
Cupping Coffee with 10,000 People Worldwide
Data Presentation Essentials
The Economics of Home Roasting Coffee
Extracting Data from a Spider Graph
Simplifying Coffee Distribution for Espresso
Grading the Usefulness of Q-Scores for Coffee Grading
Balancing Creativity and Focus
Filter Syringes for TDS Coffee Measurements seem to be Unnecessary
Fighting to Own My Patent
The Effects of Roasting on Coffee Bean Hardness
Coffee Bean Degassing
Southern Indian Coffee
Coffee Grounds Freshness for Espresso
Teamwork in Practice: Humility
Crema, huh, what is it good for?
Interviewing Ph.D.’s
Espresso Extraction by Layer
Thoughts on Leaving
The Diminishing Returns of Tamping for Espresso
My First Week at Apple
Brewing Coffee Residue
Deconstructed Coffee: Split Roasting, Grinding, and Layering for Better Espresso
The Subtle Racism in Fun with Dick and Jane
Espresso Filter Comparison: Pesado vs VST
La Pavoni Lives!
Magical experience on my wrist
Can Kompresso get 9 Bars of Pressure for Espresso?
Hawaiian Coffee is Over-Roasted
Summer Vacations: Then vs Now
Pre-infusion for Espresso: Visual Cues for Better Espresso
The Shape of Coffee
Espresso Measurement: Solubility
I’m not a racist! I just benefit from racism
Espresso Baskets (VST): Ridged vs Ridgeless
Do Black Lives Matter? Do White Lives Matter?
To Stir or To Swirl: Better Espresso Experience
Economic Impact of Infection: COVID-19
Espresso Preparation: Grinding, Distribution, and Tamping
My Deaf/Blind Heros
Coffee is Not Round
Tips on Learning New Languages
Espresso Parameters: Pre-Infusion, Pressure, and Water Temperature
The Myth of Becoming Made
Coffee Extraction Photography: A Novel Way to Photograph Espresso
Eureka! An Accidental Improvement
Spicy Espresso: Grind Hot, Tamp Cold
Data in Living Color
Hot Breakfast: The Privileged Life of My Children
IMS Superfine vs VST: A Small Sample Espresso Filter Comparison
Handling Criticism
Staccato Tamping: Improving Espresso without a Sifter
Hello, is this still a good time to talk?
Improving Espresso with Paper Filters
Effective Circle Cutting to add Paper Filters to Espresso
The Shoulders of Giants
Pressure Pulsing for Better Espresso
Remote Working: Lessons from PC Days (Pre-COVID19)
Working From Home with Kids: A Problem unique to Corona Pandemic
Espresso Machine Donuts: Deeper Analysis into Extraction
Decisions by Consensus
Ode to Espresso: A Journey into the Cup
The GRE: A Scam of Graduate Proportions
Joffrey’s Disney’s Aulani Coffee Blend: A Review
The Responsibility of an Academic Rigor
For the love of image processing
Networking is Time and Patience
Affordable Coffee Solubility Tools (TDS) for Espresso: Brix vs Atago
Interviewing Tips
Getting Naked: Making My Portafilter Bottomless
Data Science: Essentials
Speaking Their Language: Becoming Multilingual
Measuring Espresso Extraction across the Filter
How to break into Data Science the easy way
The Ultimate Espresso Barista Challenge
The Duality of Good Culture and Good Management
Are Prince Harry and Princess Meghan pulling a ruse to distract from Prince Andrew?
Dissertation Regret
An Adventure in Olive Picking and Curing
Lion Gold Roast: Espresso Review
A Day in the Life of a Data Scientist
Espresso Simulation: First Steps in Computer Models
Sports without the Emotional Hangover
My First Programming Language
The Best Starbucks drink on the Hidden Menu
Coffee Solubility in Espresso: An Initial Study
Elevating Kale Cuisine
A Blade Grinder for Great Espresso
A Michigan Fan in an MSU Family
Rejected except for one: Graduate School
Kim Express: Reborn
Why 12oz bags of Coffee beans?
Coffee Data Sheet
Nathan’s Dad and the Dinosaur Bone
Scamming Phone Scammers: A Journey
Learning how to drive in my 30’s
The Cost of Coffee: Cafe vs Home
Managing a Hostile Manager
LEGO’s: Stories of Destruction
Moka Espresso: The Advanced Course
Kruve Coffee Sifter Tips
Crash! Goes the rock through my living room window
Go High or Go Home
How to run a marathon without training
Explosions with Espresso Machines
The Lego Slum
Privacy in Machine Learning: PII
Staccato Espresso: Leveling Up Espresso
Grandma Died and turned into a Goose
Kruve: Further Analysis on the State of the Art
Espresso Machine Maintenance (or lack thereof)
Why Starbucks makes burnt coffee
Kruve Coffee Sifter: An Analysis
Portable Espresso: A Guide
Espresso Filter Baskets: Visualized
Coffee Fruit Tea via Flair Espresso
Espresso Filters: An Analysis
Trent Reznor: From Idol to Human
Espresso: grouphead water temperature analysis
For the Love of Paris
Affordable Coffee Grinders: A Comparison
Going sugar free, sort of.
How I fell in love with cooking
My Green Thumb
Buying a car: an analysis
How to Cook Artichokes
Double Culture Shock
Everything fits in the Fit and the Fit fits everywhere
How bullying potentially ruined MY birthday
Tips for New Dads
Dancing with the Stars (DWTS): Score Inflation?
Tomato Sauce: an Art and a Process
Cockroaches: a fear, a paranoia
The Tale of a Stolen Espresso Machine
The Correct Way to Drink In-N-Out Milkshakes
Ode to Red Ink
Abandon Ship: How a startup went under
Traveling Tips for Business & Pleasure
The Ultimate Guide to Highly Efficient Meetings
Outer Space: A Perspective
The Origins of the Cold War: Different Views
Tales from the Megabus
Overly Complicated Espresso circa 2018
Artisan Coffee is Overpriced
Overdressed for an Interview at Apple

My Links

A Compilation of Key Links

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Latest Videos:

Latest Articles:

Other Links

Equipment/Technique

Metrics of Performance

Further readings of mine:

All Articles

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