Food & DrinkThe BestieIntermediate
Espresso Craft and Extraction Science, a free food & drink course on Tomo

Espresso Craft and Extraction Science

Like Duolingo, but for Espresso Craft and Extraction Science. 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.

23 levels across 3 sections, about 46 minutes end to end, roughly 9 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Dialing In the Shot; Milk Physics and Beverage Balance; and Origins, Roasts, and Water Chemistry. It assumes you already know the basics.

23 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Barista Bennie, the guide who teaches the Espresso Craft and Extraction Science course
Espresso Craft and Extraction Science
with Barista Bennie
23
Levels
3
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Espresso Craft and Extraction Science

  • Yield volume dictates concentration and overall beverage strength directly
  • Stopping the shot later at a higher yield dilutes heavy body and stretches flavors
  • Timer duration alone does not fix concentration if total liquid yield is uncontrolled
  • Shot time reveals how effectively the compressed coffee puck resisted pressurized water
  • Targeting liquid weight on a scale ensures a consistent ratio regardless of flow rate
  • Abruptly stopping at a set second count leaves final yield and strength unpredictable
  • Finer particles expose more bean surface area to extract solids faster
  • Tighter interstitial spaces between fine grounds increase resistance and slow flow
  • Coarser particles reduce water contact area and widen open voids between grains
  • Checking puck prep rules out localized bypass channeling before altering grind settings
  • Locking dose and yield ensures that flow rate and grind become the sole moving variable
  • Fine adjustments increase extraction yield systematically to convert sourness to sweetness
  • Pressurized water flows fastest along paths of least resistance in low-density zones.
  • Over-extracting the channeled path yields bitterness, while unextracted dense zones yield sourness.
  • A visually smooth surface can still hide deep density pockets that split flow.
  • Needles must start at the bottom of the basket to break clumps resting against the filter.
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Espresso Craft and Extraction Science 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.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

Controlling Yield and Shot Time

What directly controls how concentrated and heavy your espresso feels in the cup?

Get it right to open this lesson and 22 more in the app.

Course map

Where Espresso Craft and Extraction Science takes you

Move beyond guesswork to dial in espresso with precision. Explore puck preparation, extraction dynamics, microfoam rheology, and the chemistry behind great beans and water.

  1. 1

    Dialing In the Shot

    • The Core Dial-In Loop
    • Puck Preparation and Channeling Dynamics
    • Extraction Phases and Yield Control
  2. 2

    Milk Physics and Beverage Balance

    • Microfoam Rheology and Steaming Mechanics
    • Drink Architecture and Espresso Ratios
  3. 3

    Origins, Roasts, and Water Chemistry

    • Roast Profiles and Gas Dynamics
    • Processing Methods and Solubility
    • Water Chemistry and Soluble Extraction

3 sections · 8 units · 23 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Bestie

Espresso Craft and Extraction Science 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.

Start free

Start Espresso Craft and Extraction Science today.

Download Tomo, search Espresso Craft and Extraction Science, and play your first lesson in under a minute.