A lot of decent coffee shops use Mythos One ClimaPro which has some nifty technology inside to help produce the same grind setting and dose throughout the day in a busy commercial environment.

Perhaps @Scotford can elaborate a little more having worked in some very busy coffee shops in his time?

 

Scales and a consistent grinder, basically.

Loads of shops these days are using Mythos 1s. Easily the most consistent grinder when it comes to dosing. Most of the time, you'll end up with +/- 0.5 of a gram straight out of the chute but the effect you'll have on that variance is massive in terms of consistency. Add in a set of scales next to the grinder to make sure that you're within your accepted variance in dose weight (mine is 0.1g) and you're on to a super consistent setup. I use OHAUS Navigator XTs (they actually featured us on their website) as they are super-fast and accurate and come in a range of sizes. What helps for a multi-group machine too is to make sure all the group handles are the exact same weight to save on constant taring.

You'll also find that even without the scales, the Mythos is actually as accurate as some people will need, and if you're smashing out hundreds of shots an hour (think Taylor Street Baristas at Bank or Shoreditch Grind) you're not going to have time to weigh every single dose so random pulling of shots to stay on top of dose weight works very well.

 

although with the Mythos, I find that on a really busy day our programmed dose time (usually sits at around 6 seconds for 18g) will get steadily bigger as the grinder gets hotter and hotter throughout the day.

 

I use scales to set the timer on the grinder every morning and check out regularly during the day to adjust in case of need.

 

And what about beverage weight consistency? I've never seen a barista in a coffee shop weighing the shot - maybe I've been doing to the wrong places

 

And what about beverage weight consistency? I've never seen a barista in a coffee shop weighing the shot - maybe I've been going to the wrong places

Volumetric programming on most commercial machines and some home machines.

http://www.lamarzoccousa.com/tag/volumetric-programming/

Some posh speciality coffee shops even have digital scales custom fitted flush within the drip trays! [emoji41]

 

Weighting each shot is not hard to include in the workflow and I think it should be a common occurrence

 

And what about beverage weight consistency? I've never seen a barista in a coffee shop weighing the shot - maybe I've been doing to the wrong places

Well, this is where having very strict recipes comes in. You use your scales to dial in the espresso yield which the machine will store and repeat very accurately. I have yet to meet a barista who can be as accurate as a volumetric machine is as often.

I still weigh output of all espressos and as many shots as I can through a service but certainly don't pull them manually any more. It's more that I am staying on top of the volumetric programming and constantly keeping on top of the mornings programming. QC never ends.

 

Interesting point, thanks!

Surely with all the technology around with grinders now, why don't they just put scales in the portafilter holder itself??

 

Interesting point, thanks!

Surely with all the technology around with grinders now, why don't they just put scales in the portafilter holder itself??

Mahlkonig have just unveiled their version of grind-by-weight K30(?) that showed a lot of promise. But it took a few seconds to tare the portafilter, then start grinding which I think I recall took a total of 8+seconds for 18g. I also imagine that a lot of scales don't like being strapped next to a high powered motor that's chomping through coffee beans at a rate of grams per second though.

I think the tech is there, it's just the longevity of it that's the main concern.

What we have these days with our desktop scales and grinders accurate to 0.3g (if properly aligned and maintained) is pretty much the fastest process for very high consistency we will have for quite some time I reckon. Especially at the price point.