# What the puck!?



## Lewis. (Sep 8, 2014)

Pucks - wet or dry, talk to me!

Is it better to have a really dry puck at the end of a shot, or a sloppy wet puck (ooo err)?! I bought some coffee from pact recently and notice the puck after I pulled a shot was super dry and solid. Normally my pucks are dryish but not like this. The grind was for my AeroPress so not as fine as it should be for the Gaggia, but i was amazed how dry it was. Can someone give me a rub down on the pros and cons and how dry ones puck should be? Ta.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

How did it taste?


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Lewis. said:


> Pucks - wet or dry, talk to me!
> 
> Is it better to have a really dry puck at the end of a shot, or a sloppy wet puck (ooo err)?! I bought some coffee from pact recently and notice the puck after I pulled a shot was super dry and solid. Normally my pucks are dryish but not like this. The grind was for my AeroPress so not as fine as it should be for the Gaggia, but i was amazed how dry it was. Can someone give me a rub down on the pros and cons and how dry ones puck should be? Ta.


it's difficult to say when there is limited context, dry might be fine, wet might be fine, or something in between, it depends?

*
I'll give you some examples of things that affect the pucks wetness or dryness: *


Single or Double basket

Overfilled or not

Pre ground or do you grind yourself

What Coffee was it

How fast was the shot

volume or weight of shot

Weight of coffee used

Freshness of the coffee

extraction pressure

extraction temperature


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## DavidBondy (Aug 17, 2010)

For what it is worth, I have found that darker roasts have wetter pucks than lighter roasts if all other parameters stay the same. As a dark roaster, I am used to it and as Jeebsy says, if it tastes great does it really matter? I do not think that there is an answer to your question!

David


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## aFiercePancake (Dec 8, 2013)

Some of my machines leave wet pucks, others do not. I get equally good shots from both. As Dave points out, there are several factors that can leave users with wet pucks; my experience is that some machines and setups are more prone to dry or wet pucks, but neither necessarily correlate to good or bad shots. If it tastes good, don't worry about it.


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