DC filters and the Coffee Caliber
Feb 27, 2020
Here in Dalla Corte we are constantly researching new sources of innovation, technological perfection for our commercial espresso machines and new ways to provide baristas with the necessary tools to work at their best.
Our obsession is for the perfect cup, this is why we have so much technology to support something that is crucial to the barista: repeatability. We also wanted to perfect those tools that are necessary to work with our machines, studying the pre-infusion phase during coffee extraction: when we start an extraction and the first drops of water wet the coffee grind, the coffee cake in the portafilter will absorb the water and the coffee will start expanding, increasing its volume. If the coffee cake doesn't have enough room to expand in, it could damage the shower and create channeling, which reduces the aromas' extraction. Under-dosing coffee instead would protract the pre-infusion phase, extracting negative aromas.
In order to have an ideal space in the extraction chamber, we recommend a distance of 2 or 3 mm between the coffee cake and the shower. But it's not easy to identify the right quantity of coffee or which filter would be optimal for our espresso.
By using the Coffee Caliber, the exclusive tool created by our R&D department, we can have an approximate indication of how much room there is in the extraction chamber, allowing us to choose between the 5 optional baskets we provide with our machines: 24mm, 26mm (standard), 28mm, 30mm and 32mm. We've developed this wide selection, in order to give baristas the opportunity to use the desired quantity of coffee to extract their best espressos, without reducing the extraction chamber.
The Coffee Caliber is really easy to use! You just need to open the two practical supports and place the tool on the portafilter, the measuring element in the middle will lie on the coffee cake. The incisions on the Coffee Caliber will allow to intuitively understand whether the distance between the coffee cake and the shower is correct or we need to switch to a different filter.
A tool that works as a reference point, to chase perfection in every step of the extraction.
