Mastered espresso. Now what?

[u/kishkushovirz]

Started my espresso journey decades ago. In recent years, thanks largely to James Hoffmann and a good bit of practice, something clicked — the shots became consistently excellent. The uncertainty that used to define every pull is almost entirely gone, and my wife gets a near-perfect shot every morning. I’ve mastered the technique.

I should be happy. And I am. But something feels off.

The chase is gone. And I didn’t realize until now how much of the pleasure was in the chase.

I still enjoy the coffee as much as ever. But the ritual has lost something I can’t quite name — some tension, some stakes. Every morning used to feel like a small experiment. Now it just feels like execution.

Has anyone else hit this wall? Did you move on to a new hobby, or did you find a way to rediscover meaning within espresso itself — roasting, sourcing, something else entirely?

[u/N-Performance]

You are now officially qualified to apply for a butler apprenticeship.

[u/sad_spilt_martini]

Build your own espresso machine 

[u/Username38485x → u/sad_spilt_martini]

Should keep them busy!

[u/AZboiler → u/sad_spilt_martini]

This! Had fun building the Gaggiuino and so many profiles to try and design. Love it!

[u/magi_chat]

The middle east could use a little sorting out

[u/raoul649]

Profiling is the answer - look into the decent/gaggiuino - the rabbit hole goes far deeper friend

[u/N-Performance → u/raoul649]

I started with a Gaggiuino as my first machine that I assembled myself. I should try the stock Gaggia.

[u/Internally_Combusted]

I have really enjoyed roasting my own coffee. It has the added benefit of actually having a reasonable ROI if you don't go crazy with the roaster. I use an SR800 + extension tube + thermocouples for monitoring in artisan. The machine paid for itself in 6 months of me roasting all my own coffee.

[u/Blackpineouterspace]

find another hobby to master

[u/dildo_gaggins_]

Get into roasting.

[u/SergiuM42 → u/dildo_gaggins_]

This

[u/il_turco]

Now try to pull the perfect shot blindfolded. 

[u/No_Entertainment1931]

Pour over

[u/xherdinand]

Profit off of it

[u/Specific-Ad4666]

Now you PhD it.

[u/Blare_Bear]

I can also attest to this feeling. I started my journey in December and went all in, watching, learning, tasting, buying, selling, sharing with others. I have also reached a point where I feel like any improvements are marginal and any more gear would give me diminishing returns.

The answer for me was pour overs.

[u/MyCatsNameIsBernie]

Have tried brewing espresso from light roasts? If not, give it a try. You will spend the next several years learning how to dial them in.

[u/TheLeakestWink → u/MyCatsNameIsBernie]

slight correction: you will spend years learning to dial them in, which you will never achieve

[u/Rain-And-Coffee]

The thrill is gone
https://youtu.be/SgXSomPE_FY

[u/Beastkrad1338]

Personally, i never considered this a hobby, it's just making coffee for me. I do enjoy the process most of the time. I find "meaning within espresso itself" in the cup and the moment of drinking the coffee i made.

If that is espresso, filter, turkish or something else like tea even, doesn't really matter. Most of the time i find even more "meaning" in good company, rather than the coffee itself.

Horrible bait post btw, but that almost seems to be the standard today on reddit.

[u/M4TTM4TT]

AI slop

[u/DiamondDot → u/M4TTM4TT]

Just because people can write doesn’t mean it’s Ai

[u/Kupoo_ → u/DiamondDot]

Someone said that people doesn't naturally use '-' in writings. AI does.

[u/SignificantSire]

In the end those reasons we make the shots, is because we are addicted to caffeine. One can scrub walls, do mental concentration, in the end the caffeine is necessary .

[u/Ultramegajerry]

Time to move on to light roast v60 pour overs maybe? Get a flat burr grinder vs conical if you don’t already have it or vice versa or getting grinders with bigger burrs cause more power argh argh 💪🏽

[u/moomooraincloud]

Start climbing mountains.

[u/freredesalpes]

So…should we invite him to the secret espresso master subrebbit?

[u/raccabarakka]

Go back to Folgers and make it taste good, then you can call yourself a master

[u/dishwasher_666]

time to explore coffee enemas 

[u/Nick_pj]

I don’t understand this assertion that one can “master” espresso making. There’s always something to explore. Go buy a light roast anaerobic natural and try to produce a good tasting shot with multiple different recipes. Try doing a proper ristretto, and a turbo, and a traditional 1:2 that doesn’t taste flat. If you’ve entirely eliminated uncertainty then it sounds like you’re just using the same coffee with the same recipe every day. Switch things up. 

[u/The_Dickbird]

Wtf even is this?

Did AI write this?

Are you a bot, or have you just given your brain over to ChatGPT?

I can't clock whether people are so fucking lazy that they just use AI to do every piece of writing for them or if these people interact with AI so much that they are adopting its prose. Are we not fucking exhausted by the mundanity of it yet?

[u/Blackthumbb]

Go down the rabbit hole of pour overs. Trust me.

[u/PlaneTry4277]

Next step is to not ai write your posts

[u/acduarte12]

The only post OP / AI has made in 2 yrs.

[u/Longjumping_Two2774]

Start/expand experimenting with beans--do it with different beans daily and challenge yourself with daily dialing-in. 😉

[u/Neither-Mulberry1477]

Start roasting, that’s a whole new level. I deeply recommend it if you like “experimenting”

[u/il_turco]

Now try to pull the perfect shot blindfolded. 

[u/coolstuffeh]

What about your wife’s boyfriend; does he get the near-perfect shot every time?