Dialing In Espresso and Milk
Bridge the gap between basic button-pressing and barista craft. Learn to diagnose extraction defects by sight and taste, manipulate grind and yield variables, and steam silky microfoam with repeatable speed.
Like Duolingo, but for Dialing In Espresso and Milk. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 11 levels across 2 sections, about 22 minutes end to end, roughly 4 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Diagnosing and Controlling Extraction and Milk Physics and Station Workflow. It assumes you already know the basics.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Dialing In Espresso and Milk
- Water cuts localized tunnels through the bed instead of saturating evenly.
- Early blonding and spraying indicate high-velocity bypass flow.
- Channeling paradoxically yields underextracted, sour, and weak liquid.
- Tamping only compresses existing density variations without breaking clumps.
- Needle tools like WDT de-clump grinds so water encounters uniform resistance.
- Dense clumps force water into surrounding low-density micro-fissures.
- Salts and organic acids dissolve first, dominating quick extractions.
- Balanced shots extract sufficient sugars to counterbalance natural acids.
- Salty, puckering sensations indicate insufficient contact time or yield.
- Overextraction pulls harsh polyphenols that cause mouth-drying astringency.
- Lingering, scratchy bitterness on the back palate signals excessive brew time.
- A chalky, sandpaper-like finish results from dissolving heavy tannins.
- Excess headspace between puck and shower screen leaves pooled standing water.
- Three-way solenoid valves pull surface water only when puck fill is optimal.
- Puck texture reflects basket fill volume rather than extraction efficiency.
- Headspace changes alter puck compression and cause erratic channeling.
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Dialing In Espresso and Milk the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
You look under your bottomless portafilter and see fine sprays alongside liquid turning pale blonde after just 12 seconds. What is happening?
Get it right to open this lesson and 10 more in the app.
Where Dialing In Espresso and Milk takes you
- 1
Diagnosing and Controlling Extraction
- Spotting Extraction Flaws in Real Time
- Manipulating Dose, Ratio, and Grind
- 2
Milk Physics and Station Workflow
- Microfoam Architecture and Pour Dynamics
- Station Ergonomics and Bar Flow
2 sections · 4 units · 11 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
Dialing In Espresso and Milk is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start Dialing In Espresso and Milk today.
Download Tomo, search Dialing In Espresso and Milk, and play your first lesson in under a minute.