Espresso and Milk Craft
Like Duolingo, but for Espresso and Milk Craft. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
A short one: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Dialing in the Shot and Texturing Milk and Building Drinks. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Espresso and Milk Craft
- A baseline espresso recipe follows a 1:2 weight ratio of dry grounds to liquid output
- A dose of 18 grams yields 36 grams of brewed espresso in the cup
- Target brew time for this ratio is typically between 25 and 30 seconds
- Pressurized water naturally seeks the easiest path through the coffee puck
- Uneven loose grounds leave denser and looser zones that tamping cannot equalize
- Water rushes through the looser side, leaving the denser coffee under-extracted
- Tamping only removes the air space between loose coffee particles
- Once the coffee bed stops giving way, extra pressing force does not compact it further
- Water flow rate is controlled primarily by the grinder's fineness, not excessive tamping muscle
- The timer starts the moment the pump is activated and pressurized water hits the coffee
- Counting only from the first liquid drop misses the crucial seconds water takes to saturate the bed
- Total contact time reflects how much resistance the coffee bed provides against the water pressure
- Crema is an emulsion of coffee oils and carbon dioxide gas pushed out by pressure
- A balanced, smooth flow produces a warm hazel-brown crema with persistent tiny bubbles
- Fast channeling leaves pale, washed-out crema because water bypassed most of the coffee
- A fast-flowing espresso shot running under 20 seconds is under-extracted
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 Espresso and Milk Craft 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 measure an 18-gram dose of dry ground coffee into your basket. Following a 1:2 ratio, how much liquid espresso should you brew?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
Where Espresso and Milk Craft takes you
Learn the essential mechanics of pulled espresso and silky steamed milk. Dial in balanced shots, texture microfoam properly, and pour classic cafe drinks with confidence.
- 1
Dialing in the Shot
- Pulling Your First Balanced Shot
- Diagnosing Taste and Grind
- 2
Texturing Milk and Building Drinks
- Steaming Silky Microfoam
- Constructing Classic Cafe Drinks
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Espresso and Milk Craft 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.
More Food & Drink on Tomo
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The Home Barista's First Shot
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Espresso at Home
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The Craft of the Barista
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Start Espresso and Milk Craft today.
Download Tomo, search Espresso and Milk Craft, and play your first lesson in under a minute.