Pro tip: stop chasing new gear and learn your grinder first

Everyone in this hobby keeps telling new folks to drop $500 on a new machine, but a guy named Marcus at a cupping event in Portland last spring pulled me aside and said my problem was technique, not hardware. He had me pull three shots on my $120 setup without changing a single thing but my tamp pressure, and the third one tasted better than anything I ever got from a cafe. What is the one free change that made the biggest jump in your cup?

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julia_patel14d ago

Learn your grinder first" is good advice but I want to push back on one thing. Tamp pressure barely does anything once you're in a normal range. Like 20 lbs vs 30 lbs, almost no taste difference. What probably changed your shot was the beans, the grind setting, or your puck prep. Marcus might have just had you slow down and pay attention, which matters way more than the actual pressure you used.

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