After my mental breakdown caused by nasty physics I decided to take a step back and think. Very interesting, you should try it too once in a while! I’m chasing perfection. No compromises. Many before me have failed. But does it make sense to accept nothing less? To go all in, no matter what it takes?

Absolutely! I’ll let the others choke on their compromises while I’ll consume only the most elite, tasty coffee of them all. So while my whiny little paragraph from before might have suggested otherwise, I’m more dedicated than ever to find IT (the holy grail of coffee, not the monster in the sewer).

I’m already close. The new profile is insane. The only problem is that the coffee tastes a bit watery. Sour. Flat. You know what I have to do and I know it too. I sneaked up to the machine. We need a finer grind. But really only a little. I move the grinder setting not even 1 mm. The coffee comes out nicely. First taste. AND BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

There it is. That’s the one. We can all go home now. I FOUND IT. It’s exactly how I imagined it all way long. Creamy, chocolaty, round, strong, but neither sour nor bitter. Insane. I wake up my friend. He tastes the coffee. Same reaction as me. He can barely believe it. We made it!!

So I’m proud to give you my recipe for the perfect coffee:

• Bean: Extrabar
• Temperature: 91 C (Brew Delta on)
• Ground coffee: 19g
• Basket: Standard Gaggia Classic Pro Double Basket
• Water: Filtered (Brita) tab water of Lyon
• Profile: Modified Leva
• Output: 42g
• Grind setting: Aim for a flow of 2 ml / s in the main phase. From there, go by taste.

FTLeva ideal flow

Is this the end? Of course not! But it’s a nice little waypoint in my endless journey. I’ll keep you posted.