Espresso: Dialing in the Perfect Shot
Like Duolingo, but for Espresso: Dialing in the Perfect Shot. 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.
19 levels across 3 sections, about 38 minutes end to end, roughly 8 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Precision Workflow, Sensory and Variables, and Milk and Chemistry. It assumes you already know the basics.
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Key ideas in Espresso: Dialing in the Perfect Shot
- Darker roasts are more porous and take up more physical space than dense light roasts
- Light roasts are less soluble and require more water to extract sweetness
- Volume-based dosing leads to inconsistent puck resistance and unpredictable flow rates
- Dark roasts extract quickly and benefit from shorter ratios to avoid heavy bitterness
- Why weighing the dose is superior to using volume-based measurements
- Adjusting brew ratios based on roast profile
- Shot time as a proxy for grind size
- Manual weight-based stopping
- Why weighing the dose is superior to volume
- The benefit of manual weight-based stopping
- Acids are the most soluble and extract first, followed by sugars
- Understanding shot time as a proxy for grind size rather than a flavor goal
- Bitterness and astringency dominate the end of the shot as solids are depleted
- The benefit of manual weight-based stopping over volumetric timers
- The sequential extraction of flavors in an espresso shot
- Smaller particles create more surface area and pack tighter to resist water
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: Dialing in the Perfect Shot 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.
Why do light-roasted coffee beans typically need a longer brew ratio with more water?
Get it right to open this lesson and 18 more in the app.
Where Espresso: Dialing in the Perfect Shot takes you
Move beyond the basic 'push-button' espresso and learn to manipulate variables like a professional barista. Master the physics of the puck, the chemistry of water, and the sensory skills required to diagnose any shot.
- 1
The Precision Workflow
- The Golden Ratio and Yield
- Managing the Puck
- 2
Sensory and Variables
- Dialing by Taste
- Advanced Extraction Variables
- 3
Milk and Chemistry
- Microfoam Science and Integration
- The Chemistry of the Bean and Water
3 sections · 6 units · 19 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Espresso: Dialing in the Perfect Shot 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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Roast and Extraction: The Espresso Method
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The Professional Barista's Craft
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Start Espresso: Dialing in the Perfect Shot today.
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