Pu’er Coffee

 A while ago, a friend of mine updated his La Marzocco Home App , and he turned off the pre-infusion function. I asked him why he did that, and he said it felt useless. After I emphasized how important pre-infusion is, he quietly turned the setting back on. Haha. That little incident gave me an idea—why not make a post dedicated to talking about the importance of pre-infusion? To be honest, whether pre-infusion is truly important doesn’t seem to have a single absolute answer. For people chasing the ultimate flavor in espresso, it’s a core variable. But for someone who simply wants a stable, decent cup of coffee, it’s just another machine parameter. Before we decide whether it’s important or not, we should first understand what pre-infusion actually is and what role it plays during espresso extraction. Simply put, you can think of pre-infusion as watering a dry sponge . If you skip pre-infusion and start extraction right away, high-pressure water blasts through the coffee puck im...

 By splitting a single espresso extraction into two or three portions and turning each one into a different type of drink before serving them together, cafés have created one of today’s most popular formats — the Coffee Combo . This trend has taken off because it allows customers to experience multiple “dishes” made from the same coffee bean, while each cup remains small and easy to enjoy without feeling too full. As a result, more and more coffee shops have begun offering Combo sets. But while it looks simple on the surface, many people find that one of the drinks in their combo doesn’t taste quite right — maybe it’s too bitter, too bland, or lacks aroma. Some even ask, “Did I use the wrong coffee beans?” The truth is, any coffee bean can technically be used to make a Combo , because as I mentioned, it’s simply a matter of dividing one espresso into multiple portions and crafting different drinks from it. In fact, most espresso-based drinks are made this way. However, if you wa...