Coffee Grinding Research week, a five-day coffee tasting, was held from October 17 to 21, 2022 and featured a panel of coffee experts from Italy and Switzerland, engaged in tasting more than 200 espresso coffees, ground with different grinding technologies and extracted with different espresso extraction technologies. The working group was coordinated by Andrej Godina, PhD in sensory analysis of espresso, who outlined the work program and chose the equipment for the research.

This first week of work stems from the need to deepen the quality of espresso coffee grinding technology with flat grinders with a diameter of 64 and 65 mm. To make the research scientifically valid, with the working group, we addressed all the possible variables that can affect the quality of the espresso and we worked to keep them fixed so that the only discriminating variable could be the coffee grinder. The works were guided by the desire to photograph the state of the art of grinding with 4 coffee grinders among the best sellers in the world extracting the espresso with the three most important extraction technologies: the lever, the one which contributed to the birth of the espresso coffee as we know it today, a portion of liquid topped by a surface cream, with 53 mm diameter filters. The machines with electric pump respectively with the 58 mm filter of Faeamina and with the filter from 54 mm from the Dalla Corte Studio. The espresso drink is by far the one that is most affected by any small variation in the extraction parameters that can significantly affect the flavor. For this reason, the espresso machines with volumetric pump have been chosen for their extreme precision and thermal stability in order to guarantee constant and repeatable extractions. The tasting panel was able to perceive evident differences in flavor with the same roasted coffee extracted with only 0.5 °C of difference between one and the other.

The first appointment of the season for the Academy Days of IMA Coffee,

the new format of events dedicated to training and research on coffee that will host coffee experts, roasters and international producers. A unique opportunity to bring the coffee supply chain together in the spaces of the IMA Coffee Lab, to share projects and experiences on coffee-related issues. The program of the day was full of important presentations and workshops, starting with the roasting sessions of Specialty coffee with roasting curves dedicated to espresso, followed by sessions to compare the analysis of the particle size distribution produced by different grinding technologies and live coffee tastings along with the panel of tasters of the Coffee Grinding Research Week.

The Academy Day of October 19th was the perfect opportunity to present the new Coffee Lab pilot plant, a complete, small-scale plant capable of processing coffee starting from reception and cleaning, passing through the various roasting and degassing technologies, grinding and finally packaging, in bags or capsules. An event that involved many professionals in the world of coffee, starting with important Italian roasting companies who were enthusiastic about taking part in the day of exchange and training between professionals.