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by andreareina 1823 days ago
Back 10+ years ago when I had my machine 21g baskets were all the rage, and I think I remember whispers of larger.
1 comments

Yes, that used to be the case I think. The espresso world backed off of that in the last few years. Nowadays the average dose is trending lower. Possibly, half the reason is that a larger dose is more inefficient (i.e. it drops your extraction rate) and the other half is that coffee costs money and for coffee shops that operate at 5-10% margins, 14g doses (standard Italian double espresso) vs 21g (the ‘third wave’ dose up till a few years ago) does make a meaningful difference in whether the store is under water or not. I think it’s settling around 16-18g.
Operating margins, not gross margins right? Would you happen to know what's a "typical" wholesale cost (i.e. to the café) for third-wave beans?
Yes. James Hoffmann on YouTube talks more about the margins of coffee business if you'd like to learn more, that's where my knowledge comes from for the most part.