Is it me or is everyone else a little surprised at the lack of discussion of pressure profiling?
Most of the interesting discussion, if not just about all of it, has been over at home barista where various people are building pressure profiling units for their one group machines. Still much of that discussion remains more about how to build it, than about desirable profiles.
Pressure profiling is undoubtedly going to become more readily available. Though the capacities of the Slayer, the Strada and Cimbali’s new machine are all different, they are all chasing the ability to manipulate pump pressure to improve espresso. A lot of this desire comes from the profile of espresso produced by lever machines, which have a very different pressure profile compared to a pump driven machine.
Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised, given my own experiences with pressure profiling. I was asked, a little while back, about why I hadn’t posted anything about it and I thought I would take this opportunity to explain: