Had a barista in Denver tell me she refuses to weigh her doses because it 'kills the soul' of making coffee

Been weighing every dose down to the 0.1 gram for about 4 years now, but she pulled me a shot that tasted better than anything I've made with my scale - so which side wins, the precision or the feel?

2 comments

2 Comments

lauras8322d ago

Yo @avery_lopez dropping some real wisdom there! See that's the thing, she's probably pulled so many shots on that same rig that her muscle memory basically IS the scale at this point. I think the best home setups actually benefit from weighing every time since we swap beans and grinders way more than pros do, but once you're locked in on a bag you gotta trust your eyes and hands too. Like when I'm dialing in a new coffee I'll weigh for the first few shots, but after I hit that sweet spot I just go by how fast the drops look and how thick the stream is. Feel and precision aren't enemies, they're just tools for different parts of the workflow.

avery_lopez22d ago

You're asking if it's really that serious after one good shot from a barista who doesn't weigh. I bet she's pulled thousands of shots blind and knows her gear inside out, while most of us are still fumbling with scales. Maybe the real answer is to weigh when you're dialing in and then trust your hands after that.