Tipsheet: What you need to get started
by Bruce Colglazier Pappas
In my opinion, to start you need (at a minimum):
- Burr grinder (electric or manual) - the best you can afford
- Stainless steel tamper - custom-sized to your portafilter is best, though not necessary. Pre-Millennium: 49 mm. Millennium: 51 mm.
- Freshly roasted beans - not pre-ground
- Bean storage - airtight - out of the sun
- Scale - able to read to 0.1 of a gram - with a built-in timer, if possible
- Temp strips or digital thermometer- very helpful, if not necessary - to monitor the grouphead temperature
- Straight-sided bottomless (naked) portafilter - very helpful - to diagnose your shot
- Love and patience
Nothing you do with your LP can overcome stale, poor quality, poorly ground beans. As a starting point, you need beans that are 1) roasted within 2 weeks, 2) high quality, 3) ground within a few minutes of being used, and 4) ground with a good grinder that can create grinds that are fine enough and consistent in size.
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Created 30-APR-2017 | updated 04-FEB-2023 | BCP