Espresso U | Pressure & Flow Profiling with Lance Hedrick

In this installment of Espresso University from Flair Espresso, ‪@LanceHedrick‬ discusses Pressure Profiling--what it is and how you can perform it. Should we be referring to this as 'pressure' profiling, though? Lance argues that you can’t have pressure without input flow and resistance, and therefore without a puck of coffee, ground fine enough to create resistance when the water is forced through it, there would be no pressure in the system to start with. For this reason, he surmises, it is more correct to refer to this as 'flow profiling.'
For more on this and other concepts such as pre-infusion, infusion and taper, watch on!
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:31 Is it really pressure profiling?
01:38 Bloom
02:01 Pre-infusion
03:12 Taper
04:16 9 BAR profiles; one of the worst things to happen to espresso
05:33 Putting it altogether
09:21 Replicating extractions
10:18 Depth of bed's effect on grind size
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Companion Blog Post: flairespresso.com/blog/espres...
Flair PRO2 flairespresso.com/product/pro-2/

[@TheExtravagant]

I want him explaining everything in life. 3:46 is just top quality explanation.

[@NicolasDery]

Thank you so much. You can really understand what is going on with the puck, and so why do this and that. That tampering step is what I've been missing. Definitely upped my shot game with this. And the Flair espresso has been a superb journey in the coffee world.

[@omarpixel9176]

Thank you for this! I've already been trying this with light roasts over the past couple months and the shots I've been producing are fantastic every time.

[@kevinking1391]

Good Job Lance! Good information. I still have the very first Flair I got about 4 years ago. I'm still enjoying that espresso. But with this one you're showing me, it's a whole new level with the hand lever.

[@theperfectloaf]

Fantastic explanation. Thanks for this video!

[@johnwilliamson9453]

Excellent presentation!

[@brab927]

This video is a gem! I know so much more.

[@cheekster777]

Awesome! Cheers.

[@daniellangner2418]

Thanks for the interesting video 👍🏻

[@therichieboy]

Interesting. I've been upping my flow rate to maintain pressure towards the end of the shot then a deliberate drop to 6 bar for the last 5-10 grams of the shot. I'll try this next. I saw you got a few spurts as you ramped up after the pre infusion. I prefer to bring the pressure up slowly after pre infusion.

[@whiteonblondecoffee4583]

Thanks a bunch! Your science behind it helps me a lot as a barista. Sometime gotta explain to the customer why I do what I do. Many clips are follow along. I know there is little chance u read this but question to u and other fellas. Im happy with I pull so far using your techique however, as I go finer and finer, I find my puck is muddy. I know I shouldnt worry as long as the taste is right but cant help being curious. May be I put to much water? May be I shall put water only enough for my shots + puck absorbtion? Or I shouldnt worry about it as I mention above.

[@stephengelinas4155]

Great easy to understand video. I do have a question.I also have a Flair Pro 2 and a Niche grinder.How much more do you enjoy espresso with the 58?I am thinking of upgrading assuming the larger portafilter size and finer grind will bring forth much better flavor.

[@victorceicys7140]

Lance, because you are discussing pressures, are you also using aSmart Espresso Profiler pressure transducer to generate your discussed pressures? Are you evaluating both the pressures and the espresso brew weights together on your road to producing better espressos.

[@EdGodoyPlana]

Excellent video ! I ordered and already received the smart profiler with a Y shape pressure to be able to use the Flair 58 pressure gauge at the same time as the smart profiler with my Acaia Lunar scale and the SE profiler app. My Flair 58 is expected to be delivered hopefully sometime in the next week or so. I can wait to try all this out! I currently have a La Marzocco Linea Mini but I can’t wait to try the Flair 58 with the smart profiler etc! Thanks again for an excellent video! Does anyone know of anywhere to exchange smart profiler settings for different shot profile? The SE profiler app has preloaded a few profiles but it would be great if there was a mechanism to be able to exchange profiles.

[@miin108]

Really have been getting nice shots with this profiling. Not until recent that Ive done one with beans that i forgot to keep in a well air tight container for almost 3 weeks, ive gotten that slight after burnt taste but not bitter. I thought it would be over extracted so I tried a turbo shot and got the same results but less body (as what expected from turbo shots). Is it because of the beans not kept properly? What I am planning to donis coarsen the grind and downdose.

[@eSdarkenrahl]

This Normcore scale seems to be the perfect fit for 2 cups under a PRO2 split spout ! Would you confirm ?

[@iafan3997]

Flair, do everything with Lance please

[@kitcraft9516]

So, I know this is an older video but I apricate it a lot. This is kind of the natural profile I use on my upgraded neo. I learned it with muscle memory from before I had a gauge. I slowly plunge to 1-2 bars until I see drips and hold it there for about 10 seconds and then slowly ramp up to about 7 bars. I hold at 7 until, as you said, I can feel the puck start to erode then I back off and ramp down slowly. I find that I like about a 45 second pull including pre-infusion with a ratio of about 1:2.5. Anyway, I wanted to point out that while this is what I was doing I started reading online (too much maybe) and decided that I needed to pull 9 bar shots. So, I did pre-infusion for 10 seconds and ramped up to 10 bars and held it until the puck started to erode. For me, this makes noticeably worse shots. I suppose that is subjective though. Regardless, I found it interesting. Makes me wonder how I am going to like the shots from the bambino plus I have coming in the mail. I suppose my puck prep game will need to get better.

[@mrdisco8616]

you can adjust the opv or mod the pump to control flow, then it's more like the flair ;)

[@ant-alltime]

Why is it you found 10 bars worse? Is it bitter or acidic? I just bought a Flair signature, and I’m having trouble pulling good shots, I tried 6 times tonight, no luck: extremely bitter and acidic.

[@kitcraft9516]

(I want to preface with the fact that I have not been into espresso for very long and am still learning.) The shots tasted over extracted. Not bitter in the sense of a darker roasted coffee but astringent. Like the flavors were too concentrated, overwhelming and muddled all at the same time. Drying on the tongue. I got overly acidic shots when I first got the Flair because I wasn't preheating enough, fwiw. I will say that the pressure profile, if you will, may simply have been what matched what I expected espresso to taste like at the time with the coffee I was using. If I were you, I'd just play around until you find what works for you. Currently I am using a Bambino Plus.@@ant-alltime

[@ant-alltime]

@@kitcraft9516 Thank you so much for letting me know, I should get it right now, exactly what’s happening to me, very acidic and extremely sharp, I can’t even taste anything

[@84rsmh]

Good

[@michaelaugustynik]

Where can I buy this “Funnel” for the Stagg EKG? Haven’t found it on their website. Thanks

[@arshirartish8506]

Cool

[@kaczan3]

If this guy was a secret agent, the enemy could capture him and make him reveal any secrets by torturing him with instant coffee.

[@stevengarman9112]

Was this the smart espresso profiler shown on the graph? If so I must have missed the install

[@MichaelBxl]

Can my really hot preheated basket create "heat damage" to the ground coffee while I am preparing the puck?

[@acalendrier]

What scale are you using ?

[@mattscarf]

I’d love to see the flow graph for that tapered pressure graph. I think I need to taper pressure down to get the *same* flow rate through the shot, but I get the sense that you’re saying that pressure *and* flow should taper. Sadly I don’t have a SEP so I can’t graph pressure while graphing flow with my Decent scale! Or are you’re saying that if you maintain pressured, flow will go up, so you need to reduce pressure so flow goes back down to the rate it was? And ideally, you taper in a way that flow never goes up from the rate it was when you first reached your highest pressure? You talk about lessening flow through the puck, but is that flow into or out of the puck?

[@FlairEspresso]

Pressure tapers to stabilize flow

[@sebaba001]

Nice video. I wasn't ever sure if during pre infusion you actually push through the water and drips or if you just slowly wet everything then push hard on the first few drops (like Hoffman did). Both seem different I'll try this one. Although I gota admit with the neo/classic the drips can ooze out to the sides because the inner bottomless thing is not 'popping out' and it can be messy 😭

[@BBB_025]

I wonder if a side benefit of using a paper filter at the bottom of your portafilter would be to control the mess you are talking about. Jonathan Gagne talks more about the main benefits of using a paper filter and he and Lance just did a video about it on Lance’s channel.

[@sebaba001]

@@BBB_025 Thanks i will check it out. The side dripping seems to be completely random. Fairly annoying actually, anyone that asks ID recommend the pro2 precisely because of this.

[@rvn912]

thanks for the video, beside the portability and other features, how does flair 58 compare to pro 2, just in terms of esspresso body and taste ? Does it worth the extra money ? I'm looking forward to upgrade my pro2 to 58 if the difference worth it.

[@FlairEspresso]

a solid grinder will be key to getting good results with the 58. this question gets asked and answered a lot in Brew With Flair group so you can see what real users have to say about it bit.ly/BrewWithFlair

[@stevenpowers2032]

Does any Bluetooth scale work and is the app free?

[@ElectTheChopStick]

Hello everyone so i have a question. When we talk about a recipe and an amount of time (for example 40 gr of liquid in 35 seconds) do we consider pre infusion in that time or do we start counting after pre infusion?

[@MrDschaen]

That is always your output so the amount "in the shot glass / cup" and that starts as soon as liquid hits the cup (most scales with automated shot timers start counting then). Depending on how much liquid is released in your pre-infusion (shouldn't be much), that can have an effect on particular timings but these are mostly ballpark-estimates to find a good starting point!

[@blutcherama]

Lance, would you recommend 1:3 and a similar profile on the Flair 58 with a dark roast?

[@FlairEspresso]

Dark roasts fair better in tighter ratios due to higher solubility

[@sebaba001]

1:2.5 is good for me for light roasts, while 1:2 sometimes is too much for me with dark roasts. Definitely shorter. Darks extract easily, experiment and stop before the bitterness hits.

[@alexyates7166]

4:26 Hello

[@FlairEspresso]

😂

[@fabiomalheiro8152]

Thanks for the awesome video! Which scale is that?

[@LanceHedrick]

Normcore!

[@dawgman2256]

@@LanceHedrick re-watched the video and if I understand you correctly, the graphs were recreated after the shot was pulled (IE not in real time) using pressure and output flow? I do believe that the normcore scale is in fact not bluetooth enabled, and therefore cannot be paired with the smart espresso profiler app? can you confirm that please? Acaia, decent scales, and a few others that are bluetooth enabled can be paired directly with the app for real time (output flow) results, correct? Once again thank you for your wealth of knowledge - I very much appreciate it!

[@alexyates7166]

@@dawgman2256 It was a pressure graph, which requires an expensive bluetooth pressure sensor. A smart scale will only get you the flow graphs.

[@dawgman2256]

@@alexyates7166 but I didn’t see the external pressure sensor on the flair (besides the stock flair manometer) and that’s why I was asking. I know you can buy the pill looking smart pressure profiler for about 460 bucks but I don’t think that’s what we have going on here.

[@alexyates7166]

@@dawgman2256 Yeah I noticed that as well, I thought it must be a flow graph until I saw it labeled as pressure. Maybe he's showing pressure from a different take using the sensor?

[@mattc825]

Can we add more grinds and then tamp the puck down multiple times?

[@FlairEspresso]

but why?

[@JS-tf3zb]

Just received my lunar 2021 edition, but the se profiler app doesn't seem to recognise it. Is there any info about an update or should it be supported? Maybe I do something wrong, but it seems pretty straight forward

[@FlairEspresso]

Reach out to the developers through the app. They might need to update for compatibility.

[@JS-tf3zb]

@@FlairEspresso Thank you. I mailed them

[@DanielSanchez-ys9df]

How many clicks do you recommend to comandante grinder?

[@FlairEspresso]

It's dependent on many variables but try 10-13

[@z00011001]

I don’t understand why everyone underrates temp stability of manual machine. Steel is pretty good insulator so temp should remain as good as any big bad electronic machine. The issue I see is with pressure head that is not heated (the manometer) and that must be causing drop in temp. Plus the head stand would start absorbing heat. One of these would be taken care in 58 with or without electric model Also, in my personal experience I find lower dia to be better and more forgiving. Eg. 51 mm got me much better than 57mm. Obviously the height matters and 57 had much lower one. Why don’t we talk about puck stability the way we obsess over temp stability? I go far far finer with automatic machine…. So fine that I see first drop of coffee in 15-35 seconds… anything less than 15 seconds and I know it will be too watery and I run it far longer to make it bitter and cancel it with cold milk. Otherwise espresso only. I run medium roast to 47 seconds post first drop… though I run up to minute and 17 depending on yield. Normally any coffee taste best at 1:1… My light roast runs at least minute and 17 for 1:1 to 1:1.5…. 1:2 is manageable but anything more and I grind finer to restrict flow.

[@Divelucaya]

Am I missing something? As you ramp up, you can see the bottom side of the needle as you approach 9 bar. As you ramp down the needle never moves. @7:42 when the camera zooms out the needle can still be seen but it doesn't move until just before you release the lever. The other thing is when the needle is at 9 bars the needle looks like it is pointing more like 5-6 bars as 9 bars has the needle almost straight up. Maybe a redesign of the pressure gauge? Also, where did you get that scale? It looks like it fits perfectly in the base. Although I'm not sure if it'd fit my Flair because from what I've seen it looks like some (older?) bases are more oval-ish while my base looks more "squished." I've learned a lot from watching you and a couple other coffee experts. However, I'm still looking for a really good shot. I'm doubting my tamp and hopefully with a barista scale I can lock in my time and yield.

[@FlairEspresso]

bit.ly/BrewWithFlair

[@uij8439]

What happens when pulling shots at 10 bars?

[@TheGroundedCoffee]

The higher pressure of the water leads to more compression in the puck and flow rate decreases. Then when water inevitably finds more channels to run through it will do so with more force, leading to wider channels and eventually more astringency in the cup.

[@NotSafeForWork420]

Hi Matthew, how are you tonight?

[@Richard.Mayston]

Lance, you state that you prefer lower pressure with lighter roasts for 'Puck Integrity', and higher pressure with darker roasts. This advice appears wrong to me. Higher pressure extracts more, lower pressure extracts less. Lighter roasts need as much extraction as possible to avoid sour under extraction. I'll have dropped my dose to 14g to maximise my ratio to 1:4+ more solvent water, used 15g vst basket, and grind fine and get that pressure up to 9 bars for a good long 30 sec despite the low dose. Dark Roasts are the reverse, lower the extraction to avoid overextraction bitterness. I'll have maximised my dose to 25g so I can reduse my ratio to 1:1 using less solvent water. Used a 25g vst basket. Grind coarser, reduced pressure to 6 bar and reduced time to 20 sec. These are the extremes of course, but the principles apply accross the range. Pressure is one of the tools to increase or decrease extraction. I'm not sure what Puck Integrity is, or why you need it.

[@ElectTheChopStick]

The comment i was looking for. I m pretty curious to actually learn what puck integrity is.

[@FlairEspresso]

"Higher pressure extracts more, lower pressure extracts less" is not truism or else all machines would be set at 16 BAR, or some other unreasonably high pressure. The gauge on a Flair is reading at the top of the group and much closer to the puck than what the majority of machines actually measure. The typical 9 BAR reading on those machines is more related to pump pressure, quite a ways upstream. On a Flair, this same "9 BAR" would be closer to an 8-8.5 BAR reading on the gauge for instance. Puck integrity refers to how well the puck hold together and resists the input flow. Higher pressures will stress the puck more than lower pressures. Using 6 BAR or thereabouts can increase extraction because you have a better chance of extracting the entire puck evenly. Localized areas of extraction may be higher or lower than the mean. Extraction numbers should be seen as an average of the whole, and isn't necessarily representative of what is going on throughout the puck as a whole. Hope that helps clarify.

[@user-yp6yr9te7l]

"Higher pressure extracts more, lower pressure extracts less." That is not a true statement. Pressure is just one aspect of extraction. Your recipe for dark roasts, while you do in fact want to minimize extraction, there are various ways in doing so. My recipe is entirely different, and also bean-dependent. Most recently, my recipe for Caffe d'Arte's Capri blend (which is a Naples, Italy type blend, hence very "Southern Italian"), was a brew ratio of 1:2.5. Contrary to popular belief, ristretto isn't the way to go if you don't want bitter Neapolitan style espresso. You actually want to go towards 1:3. Preinfusion is barely required, and I pull at 9 bars for ~27sec. Water temp is 88C. The result is thick, rich and syrupy, not bitter.