zero to dialing in my own shots, the order that actually worked
in the order i actually did it, including how long each part took and what i skipped.
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1
The World Atlas of Coffee by James Hoffmann
2
watched part 1 like four times before it clicked. skipped the later lever-machine episodes, not my setup
3
Bought a scale before I let myself change anything
4
Ran the same bag of beans for two straight weeks
boring on purpose. changing beans and grind at the same time tells you nothing
5
Joined home-barista forums to ask when I got stuck
lurked for a month first honestly
6
Bought a bottomless portafilter to actually see the extraction
if i'd only done one thing on this list, this is it. you can't dial in from taste alone nearly as fast as from watching the pour
7
Stopped reading and just pulled shots daily for a month
the part nobody wants to hear. books and videos get you to maybe 60%, the rest is reps, same beans, small changes
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