DI Y COFFEE

CHASING THE GODSHOT

Pack perfect grounds every time with this hydraulic espresso tamper. By John Edgar Park

Photography by John Edgar Park

Godshot. That’s the elusive goal of espresso fanatics everywhere. Thick with micro-bubble crema and a velvety mouth-feel, and packing explosive flavor, the godshot is pulled too infrequently for my liking. A perfect shot of espresso is the product of many variables, so anything I can do to lock in one of those variables is a good thing. Think scientific method as applied to espresso.

As a home barista, the five factors I worry about most are: beans, water, grind, dosing, and tamping. Here’s a quick overview:

Beans: Use high-quality beans that have been roasted within the past 3 days to 2 weeks.

Water: Fresh water needs to be brought up to proper temperature and pressure by the espresso machine.

Grind: Dial in your burr grinder to fine-tune the coarseness of the ground beans.

Dosing: There’s a prescribed amount of grounds to measure into a standard portafilter basket, but people tinker with this all the time.

Tamping: Once the grounds have been measured into the portafilter and distributed evenly, they should be compressed with 30 pounds of pressure using a tamper. This is difficult to do by hand.

Once these steps have been taken, the portafilter is locked into the group head of the espresso machine and the shot is pulled. This is sometimes accompanied by breath holding, finger crossing, and the like.

Make: 125