Why do you need to apply powder to coffee before extraction? How to properly powder espresso?

As we all know, there is a step called "cloth powder" in the making process of Italian coffee. Although its operation is very simple, its importance cannot be underestimated. Because the function of the cloth powder is to make the coffee powder more evenly distributed in the powder bowl, this can reduce the appearance of channel effects. On the other hand, if there is a channel effect during the extraction process of coffee, there is a high probability that the powder is not well laid.

Recently, many friends have reported to Qianjie about this problem, that is, their powder cakes are obviously flat and look very uniform, but channel effects will always occur frequently during the extraction process, and the espresso coffee liquor has been splashed indiscriminately, leaving coffee liquor everywhere. In this case, there is only one reason, that is, the distribution of coffee powder mentioned on Qianjie is not uniform enough. The reason why the powder cakes are flat is only because your filling pressure presses them to the same height, but in fact, the distribution of coffee powder inside the powder cakes is still uneven. There is more coffee powder in some places, and less. This causes the places with more powder to be firmer, and the places with less powder to be looser. Then during the extraction process, hot water will concentrate and flow out of the loose places to form a channel.

There are two reasons for this situation. One is the excessive amount of agglomerated coffee powder (mentioned on Qianjie the day before yesterday); the other is that improper powder cloth action causes deviation in the distribution of coffee powder. According to Qianjie's observation, the latter will cause more problems in the passage, because many people use the handle directly to receive powder. Before spreading powder, we need to first pour the ground coffee powder into a powder bowl. There are two ways to connect coffee powder into the powder bowl. One is to use a powder receiver, and the other is to directly use the handle to pick up the coffee powder.

The advantages and disadvantages of the two are very obvious. The former can make the coffee powder fall into the powder bowl more evenly, but the cost is that it adds an additional step and takes longer to make a cup of coffee; the latter is It can be picked up more quickly, but the cost is that the coffee powder will fall in one place and pile up when picking up. Then everyone needs to straighten out the coffee powder by moving and shaking the powder bowl with their fingers. However, as long as you do not properly smooth the coffee powder, it will cause the coffee powder to concentrate in the place where it initially accumulates. For example, coffee powder accumulates in the middle at first, but after improper operation, there will be more powder in the middle and less powder in the surrounding areas, which will lead to the emergence of channel effects. It doesn't matter. Next, I'll share with Qianjie how to properly smooth the coffee powder. The method of smoothing the coffee powder with fingers can be said to be the most traditional method of distributing the powder. When the coffee powder is poured into the powder bowl, we will use the index finger or the palm to push the extra coffee powder back and forth to let the coffee powder in the "high position" fall into the gap as much as possible, which is a relatively simple distribution of coffee powder. When smoothing, we need to be careful to make sure that our fingers only push the coffee powder forward and not apply force downward. Because if the finger is applied downward, the coffee powder at the place where the force is applied will be first compressed, and it will be difficult to divide the coffee powder at this position to other places by shaking/tapping later. Then there is one more point to note here, and that is-remember to wash your hands.

When we use our fingers to make a simple distribution of the coffee powder, we need to distribute the coffee powder again by shaking or slightly beating. This is also a place where many friends often make mistakes!

Many friends will hold the handle tightly at this time and then tap the handle very hard. What will this lead to? Even coffee powder will concentrate in the direction you tap. Although this practice can indeed make the coffee powder flatten quickly in a short period of time, this is only what it looks like on the surface! Because the vast majority of coffee powder is actually concentrated where you hit it, this will also lead to a channel effect! Therefore, when tapping the handle with our hands, we had better pay attention to not holding and tapping the handle with too much force. In this way, the coffee powder can be distributed as evenly as possible through shaking, and the extraction quality can be improved accordingly.

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