Benefits of updosing?

admin

just wondered if anyone knows where the whole 'updosing' debate had got to - I remember Paul Bassett was a big fan, because he felt it gave a slightly sweeter result & I personally do so automatically most of the time, but just wondered where the guru's had got to on this?

WotB

IMO it produces a superior technical shot. Mouthfeel is increased, mostly due to TDS. The shot is more aesthetically pleasing, but not necessarily better flavour-wise. It has a lot to do with the depth of the column of coffee more than anything else, so theoretically, a narrower, deeper basket will provide better aesthetic results than a regular basket, both dosed at the same weight.

Koffee_Kosmo

I have said it before & I will say it again If you want to up-dose "get a larger basket" Dont go squashing the coffee puck onto the water screen of the water feed head KK

askthecoffeeguy

I updose becasue it helps me to produce the best results that I possibly can, and because my espresso machine (my work one anyway) has been specifically designed and built for this purpose - with oversized heat exchangers providing constant temp over the delivery of the shot, and flow restrictors both at the heat exchanger and at the group head restricting to flow of water to the group, allowing for long, slow, and continuous extraction Also the old adage goes that an espresso can be broken up into three parts of 10ml each: the first imparting sweetness, the second body, and the third acidity We use 20gm triple sized baskets at my work - which in theory are big enough to run three shots - but we're only running a 30ml shot for a single, and a 45ml shot for a double. Why? Because I want to be able to impart sweetness and body in my coffee without too much acidity and without overdosing on caffeine - and I think that this works The hardest thing is maintaining consistency between various staff members between consistency with the dosage and the grind - even so triple sized baskets compensate for a lot of factors so even if a coffee is a gm or two short, the average punter is not going to notice a lot of difference in the taste of their coffee - but try being two gms short in a 7gm basket and you end up drinking muddy water! Also if you're going to differentiate yourself in a coffee market characterised by sameness that you could do a lot worse than to consider updosing - it is not without its detractors, however (but you cant please everybody), and it costs a lot more than a 7g coffee to make, but if you can get each of the elements right it makes for a great cup of coffee and bodes well for return patronage P

FreshCoffee2

Each to their own blokes each to their own! I too use "updosing" as my personal technique on my chosen machines. It's ok on some and no good on others. Rgdz, A.

Dry_bean

I updose, 18 grams in a double basket, I prefer the mouth feel along with increased richness/intensity of flavour. As Attillio said, to each his own. 🙂

mycuppa

Some interesting experiences with updosing. Some machines suit updosing better than others. Of course, technique can help compensate. Design of group assembly and portafilter. Some machines prefer a finer grind and lower dose height as the disbursement screen setup may not distribute water evenly, by having 2 or 3 pin holes above the screen. Some machines also have mechanical preinfusion and it's important to identify how this may affect the heat on the top section of the puck to avoid scalding taints. Flow restrictors are also an interesting area. With larger doses, a restricted flow may mean you need to run a different temperature to manage extraction in the bottom half of the portafilter, or adjustments in grind to compensate. In my travels, I've seen updosing used to mostly success. Have seen a few cafes mistakenly jam these monster baskets into their standard double portafilters, with the outer 15% of the filter basket obviously hard up against the bottom of the portafilter to create some interesting channeling. Updosing has a dependency on good technique and yes it can work wonders with great coffee.

o

But from what point are we upping. This is a muddy topic in the sense of flow rate and profile of espresso you are trying to achieve. It really in my opinion comes down to dosing technique. and changing the coffee volume accordingly (and visa-versa). Quite challenging to consistantly free dose low. So method often will dictate volume. Or.......dose measured grinders. Electronic or carousel. (obviously, but just making a point)

Ronin

I use to updose but found that I was updosing too much. Post extraction puck inspection revealed some dry spots = uneven extraction.

Lovey

I used the 'updosing' technique when I had my Giotto, but when I got the La Spaz, I had all sorts of trouble with my pours. After a bit of experimenting, after being pointed in the right direction, my pours are much better/tastier using 15-16g for a double. It turns out that I was using about 20g for a double before I got the scales out :o.

coffeehorse

depends on the basket. depends on the bean. depends on the grinder, and the machine. try it, if it's better for your setup, use it as a starting point when you try a new coffee. J

RichardM

coffeehorse wrote:

depends on the basket. depends on the bean. depends on the grinder, and the machine.

Depends on the tamp, depends on the user, depends if the customer is a total loser. I do believe updosing helps to make the coffee something else 🙂 (I do not know if your rhyming was planned, but I thought I'd give a hand to continue the rhyming in this thread, before I retire off to bed).

plantation_coffee

wow.. some very interesting points to keep in mind we have to remember either way weather you updose or down dose , the moment water comes into contact with the particles of coffee , it expands - the rate of which is determined by the size of the particles themselves. The finer the particles (the more surface are to volume ratio) the greater the rate of the puck of coffee rising. knowing the method by which coffee particles expand, to a point up dosing will give you an increase of solubility in hot water traveling through the column of coffee particles meaning more flavour/ml/minute but the flip side is should the puck rise to the shower screen to such an extent it actually shatters , thats going to obviously ruin the shot coming out by literally providing an empty space ,draining out all hot water coming through giving you an under extracted shot. keeping all that in mind is probably too much , you simply cant be standing there running calculations while running a shot , one thing is certain though as the first portion of the shot pours out dark coloured compounds called tannins , the next phase occurs when the stream swells and very shortly after slows down this i believe is the point where the puck has risen to full volume , sealed top and bottom and along the wall of the basket. This is also the point at which the extraction is saturated which is where the body originates from , after this point saturation begins to reduce dramatically. with all that in mind some origins will rise faster or slower than others and expand faster or slower and more importantly AGE will be a big factor in all this Let your sight and taste guide you but understand why that puck of coffee shatters in response to overdosing overdosing for me , provided a lot of flavour but i couldnt explain shattered pucks , both horizontal and virticle cracks , i personally find balancing dosage also balances flavour profiles. i tend to dose according to orgin/blend , primarily by sight and more importantly taste , achieving a balance in dosage gives you unbiased results