Ode To The Puck

The puck, the puck, a mess of refuse and muck
The last to be seen of Arabica Devine.

Roast, rest and grind the coffee beans journey goes
Tamp, spin and pull 'till demitasse but overflows.

The crema flowed richly, smoothly filling the cup
Coating the taste buds with nectar so fine.

But what of the puck, wet flat rounded puck
Is this all there is, the end of the grind?

No lessons to learn, no knowledge to glean
No hints for tomorrow, to better the bean?

The secrets lay hided, embedded in rhyme
Seeking the answer, grind-tamp-pull one more time.

As posted on Sweet Maria's Home Roast List June 20, 2003

by miKe mcKoffee

In reply to Kenneth Roberts' List query:

I know I derive some aesthetic satisfaction when, with a single knock, the spent coffee grounds pop out of the portafilter in one well-proportioned puck.
The question is, is that any indication that all was well (or bad) espresso optimization wise--right temp, grind, tamp etc?  I know the cup is the "arbiter elegantiarum," but what else can we see in the grounds (besides
the future?)
 Is the puck (or the mound) simply a function of things that happen after the pull--how long you wait to knock it out, or knocking at just the right force--with no correlation to the setup and shot?
 Is a puck just a puck?