How We Test Our Espresso at Handpickers

Our Testing Environment & Professional Equipment

At Handpickers, we evaluate every espresso systematically and with precision. Our demo room is equipped to replicate both professional café conditions and high‑end home barista setups, ensuring that our coffees perform consistently across different environments.

Our espresso testing equipment includes:

• Decent DE1XXL — full control over pressure, flow, and temperature profiling in real time.

• La Marzocco Linea Classic — a benchmark commercial machine, ideal for assessing performance in traditional café conditions.

• Mahlkönig EK43 — exceptional grind uniformity for clean, repeatable extraction.

• Weber Workshops EG‑1 — a high‑precision flat‑burr grinder delivering clarity, separation, and stable particle distribution.

This combination reflects our philosophy: evaluate espresso with the same level of detail and consistency that we expect our customers to experience in the cup.

Freshness Curve: When We Start Testing

After roasting, we begin tasting each espresso on:

• Day 15

• Day 20

• Day 25

This helps us understand:

• When a coffee “opens up” aromatically

• How sweetness, acidity, and body evolve

• When the cup reaches peak balance

• Whether the roast profile needs adjustments for solubility

By tasting systematically at specific intervals, we ensure every espresso we release has a clear and verified sweet spot.

Our Espresso Protocol: Dose, Ratio & Temperature

For consistency across all machines, we use:

• Dose: 18–19 g

• Basket: VST precision basket

• Ratio: 1:2 (36–38 g yield)

• Temperature:

  • 93°C on the Decent DE1XXL

  • 93.5°C on the La Marzocco Linea Classic

This gives us a clear and comparable baseline for evaluating clarity, sweetness, structure, and extraction performance.

Pressure Profiling on the Decent DE1XXL

With the Decent, we use a custom pressure profile designed to reveal the full character of each coffee:

• 4 sec @ 4.5 bar — gentle pre-infusion

• 6 sec @ 6 bar — deeper saturation & even extraction start

• Main extraction @ 8.5 bar — full development of body and sweetness

• Finish @ 6 bar for a few seconds — smooth decline without bitterness

This allows us to taste the coffee at its most expressive and stable state, capturing nuances that traditional machines may overlook.

Testing on the La Marzocco Linea Classic

To compare results with a more traditional, industry-standard espresso setup:

• Temperature: 93.5°C

• Standard 9‑bar extraction

• Same VST baskets & dose/ratio

Testing across both machines ensures that the coffee performs:

• For professional baristas

• For home enthusiasts

• In different water profiles and pressure behaviors

Why This Matters

We don’t want to rely solely on cupping. Espresso behaves differently — it requires specific solubility, balance under pressure, and stability over time.
That’s why we test espresso methodically, across multiple days and with multiple machines:

• To validate the roast profile
• To ensure consistent sweetness & clarity
• To confirm the ideal consumption window
• To guarantee that your espresso — at home or in a café — is as good as we designed it to be