Decent Espresso

Q&A about profiles - questions overview

All chapters

Click to scroll to the chapter and then click on a question to see the answer.

  • 1. Picking the right recipe for the bean
  • 2. Masterclass on how to find the right recipe for your beans
  • 3. All about Blooming Espresso
  • 4. All about Rao Allongé
  • 5. How to dial in Londonium
  • 6. How to do a 100% manual espresso on the Decent and convert it into an automatic profile
  • 7. Pressure vs. flow profiling, and how to convert into an advanced shot
  • 8. Is straight flow better?
  • 9. Easy temperature profiling
  • 10. Are flow profiles better than pressure profiles?
  • 11. What's the advantage of changing the steam flow rate?
  • 12. Why end preinfusion based on pressure?
  • 13. Should you brew espresso at 10.5 bar or higher?
  • 14. How measuring leads to progress

    • All about profiles

    1. Picking the right recipe for the bean
  • What is the relationship between coffee roasting and solubility?
  • How do different roasts affect the physical integrity of the coffee puck?
  • Why do lever profiles perform better on medium-to-dark roasts than flat pressure profiles?
  • What is the "Allongé" recipe and when should you use it?
  • What is the "Blooming Espresso" recipe and why is it useful?
  • How can you adjust your technique for beans that have flavor defects or aren't fresh?
  • What advice is given to beginners regarding puck preparation and extraction ratios?

    • 2. Masterclass on how to find the right recipe for your beans
  • What are the main variables that control an espresso extraction?
  • How does the roast level of a bean affect the espresso recipe?
  • Why does John utilize a 15-gram dose for the masterclass?
  • What happens when an espresso shot "falls apart"?
  • How does pulling a shot shorter vs. longer affect flavor?
  • What is the purpose of the default lever profile?
  • Why does John recommend adding a touch of water or letting espresso cool for tasting?
  • Why does John introduce temperature profiling at the start of a shot?
  • What flaw does John find with the popular "Slayer-style" pre-infusion technique?
  • How do the Londinium and Blooming profiles fix this uneven extraction issue?
  • Why do profiles with longer pre-infusions require a much finer grind size?
  • What is "gushing," and how does John distinguish it from "channeling"?
  • What pressure thresholds does John identify as problematic for peak espresso extraction?
  • Why is the Blooming profile specifically recommended for light roasts rather than milk drinks?
  • What is the "Allongé" recipe, and why is it unique?
  • What flavor advantages does the Allongé style offer for light roasts?

    • 3. All about Blooming Espresso
  • What is a "blooming shot" in espresso making?
  • How does the pre-infusion stage work?
  • What happens during the blooming stage?
  • What is the final stage of the shot?
  • What are the benefits of this brewing method?
  • Why does Blooming Espresso start at such a high temperature?
  • Should you always use a high starting temperature for blooming espresso?
  • Why are the Blooming and Allongé profiles specifically used for light roasts?
  • Which profile is more difficult to master between Blooming and Allongé?
  • Can the Blooming profile be used for roasts other than light roasts?
  • How does basket size affect the success of pulling smaller espresso shots?

    • 4. All about Rao Allongé
  • What is the origin of the Allongé espresso shot?
  • Why do people often mistakenly think a good Allongé looks like a bad shot?
  • What is the primary idea behind extracting light-roast coffees?
  • How does the flow rate of an Allongé compare to traditional espresso?
  • What machinery requirement is essential for pulling a true Allongé?
  • How does a Rao Allongé coffee differ from a Blooming Espresso?
  • What is the recipe for pulling an Allongé on a traditional espresso machine?
  • How should a beginner approach dialing in the grind size for an Allongé?
  • Why is the Allongé difficult to dial in on traditional machines?
  • How does brewing temperature behave during an Allongé extraction?
  • What are the flavor characteristics of a successfully pulled Allongé?
  • Why do the flavor compounds from an Allongé linger so prominently in the mouth?
  • Why are the brewing temperature settings on a Decent Espresso machine noticeably lower than on traditional machines?
  • How does the Decent Espresso machine dynamically control the slurry temperature?
  • How to utilize grind size versus dose for Allongé shot adjustments?
  • Is an Allongé suitable to use as a base for a long black or a milk-based drink?
  • Why do standard pour-over filter coffees often taste unevenly or under-extracted in cafes?
  • How can a barista reduce acidity if an Allongé tastes too sharp or sour?
  • What unique flavor profile does a properly extracted Allongé offer?
  • Why is the Rao Allongé profile so difficult to dial in accurately?
  • How does puck degradation affect the end of the shot?
  • Why is a traditional Americano considered an inferior alternative?

    • 5. How to dial in Londonium
  • What makes the Londonium style profile unique compared to traditional espresso?
  • How does the smart trigger work when moving from infusion to extraction?
  • How do you diagnose your grind size using the machine's "auto-adapt" feedback?
  • What target variables should you watch out for during the preinfusion stage?
  • How can you fine-tune the profile settings to fix balance and flavor flaws?

    • 6. How to do a 100% manual espresso on the Decent and convert it into an automatic profile
  • How do I enable 100% manual control on the Decent Espresso machine?
  • What is the difference between Manual Pressure and Manual Flow control?
  • Can I automate these manual sessions later?
  • Why can't I automatically convert a manual shot to an automatic profile?
  • How do I save a manual shot for reference?
  • How do I create an automatic profile based on a manual shot?

    • 7. Pressure vs. flow profiling, and how to convert into an advanced shot
  • Why is pure flow profiling surprisingly difficult to dial in?
  • What are "Adaptive Profiles" and how do they solve this issue?
  • How do pressure-profiled shots and flow-profiled shots differ as the puck degrades?
  • What kind of flow curves generally produce the best-tasting espresso?
  • How does the machine handle the transition from pre-infusion to extraction?
  • How do you convert a standard profile into an advanced profile?
  • How does the standard profile measure volume accurately?

    • 8. Is straight flow better?
  • Is a completely straight, flat flow rate profile always ideal for espresso?
  • What defines an "ultra-thick" shot when brewing medium-to-dark roasts?
  • How should you adjust the machine's pressure settings to optimize thick shots?
  • What alternative profiling or grinding techniques can open up the flavors of darker roasts?
  • How can a chocolate-preferring barista experiment with lighter roasts?

    • 9. Easy temperature profiling
  • How can you access step-by-step temperature profiling on the edit page?
  • Why does the pre-infusion stage feature two separate temperature settings?
  • How do you edit individual temperatures, and how can you reset mistakes?

    • 10. Are flow profiles better than pressure profiles?
  • How can a flow profile "heal" channeling during extraction?
  • Does flow profiling inherently yield better espresso than pressure profiling?
  • Why is a flow profile adjustment considered a "coarse knob" compared to pressure?
  • What is "secondary puck compression" and how does it ruin flavors?
  • How does new software handle pressure limits and approach targets safely?

    • 11. What's the advantage of changing the steam flow rate?
  • How does a thermoblock espresso machine generate steam without a traditional boiler?
  • What is the mechanical relationship between steam flow rate and steam pressure?
  • Why did a shift to flow-controlled firmware reduce milk steaming times?
  • How does your chosen steam flow rate impact milk dilution?
  • What is the best method for manually dialing in your machine's steam flow rate?

    • 12. Why end preinfusion based on pressure?
  • Why is ending preinfusion based on pressure better than basing it on time?
  • How do you diagnose and fix preinfusion flow issues after knocking out a puck?
  • What is the maximum volume of water that fresh coffee grounds can absorb?
  • What is a "water hammer" and how does it change the style of an espresso shot?

    • 13. Should you brew espresso at 10.5 bar or higher?
  • Can the secondary puck compression effect at 10.5 bar be used to brew better espresso?
  • Why do some baristas intentionally push extraction pressures up to 11 or 12 bar?
  • How does high-pressure extraction alter the flavor profile of light roasts?
  • How do modern profiling machines use a "pressure ceiling" to protect flavor?

    • 14. How measuring leads to progress
  • How do modern profiling machines make it easier to avoid espresso channeling?
  • What is the primary limitation of brewing espresso on traditional machinery?
  • How does live graphical feedback transform a barista's workflow?
  • Why is shifting the coffee conversation from "shot time" to "flow rate" so important?

    • #Q&A #Decent #DE1 #profiles #overview




    mirjam created 2026/07/01, mirjam updated 2026/07/09