Thank you for these videos! Can you explain why the flow would be guided through channels if the coffee is too fine? I thought channeling happens when espresso finds a path of least resistance.
Never saw this comment, sorry! That's a tough question, and I'm not actually sure that it's known by anyone why that is. Maybe the way to think about it is that when you have a coarse grind, there are not many particles getting dislodged to plug up the holes between particles and create a blockage. When you have a fine grind, there are lots of particles to block small holes between particles. It's unlikely, however, that lots of small particles will balance in a way that blocks big gaps, though, so those get all the water flow. The small particles can't work together to close big gaps, so that's the path of least resistance. With a finer grind you can get both more channeling and more resistance. Hope that convinces you, though I'm not sure its the real reason.
![Delicious Espresso Series-Pulling the Shot [3/3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eFDzCk4sK5c/mqdefault.jpg)
![Delicious Espresso Series-Pulling the Shot [3/3]](/img/tr.png)
Thank you for these videos! Can you explain why the flow would be guided through channels if the coffee is too fine? I thought channeling happens when espresso finds a path of least resistance.
Never saw this comment, sorry! That's a tough question, and I'm not actually sure that it's known by anyone why that is.
Maybe the way to think about it is that when you have a coarse grind, there are not many particles getting dislodged to plug up the holes between particles and create a blockage. When you have a fine grind, there are lots of particles to block small holes between particles. It's unlikely, however, that lots of small particles will balance in a way that blocks big gaps, though, so those get all the water flow. The small particles can't work together to close big gaps, so that's the path of least resistance. With a finer grind you can get both more channeling and more resistance.
Hope that convinces you, though I'm not sure its the real reason.