Eclectic Views

    
Evenso I think it might have the same effect, to soften the resins in the 
grounds so that they're more easily leached out by the water that follows.
  

    
More likely it moistens the grounds so they stick together and resist
piping - water eroding a channel and running straight through without
steeping in the ground coffee.
  

    
"piping"!  That's useful; I like it!

Of course, properly compacted grounds shouldn't be displaced much by
water, even water under pressure, but gluing them together first sure
couldn't hurt.
  

    
I've bashed out a lot of grounds from the espresso machine and I've
neve seen piping. I don't think it would happen in an espresso machine.
The grounds are fine and compacted when you press them after you put
them in the basket.

Not at all the same kind of physics that occur in a drip coffee
experience in a Melita or a Chemex.
  

    <scribbled by satyr Sun 17 Jul 05 14:20>
  

    
This made me shake my head and wonder if I were still in Boulder...

        > If God hadn't meant people to eat animals,
        > why did he make them out of meat?
  

    
                So much comes down to 
                whether one perceives 
                a distinction between
                cleverness and wisdom.
  

    
Come the revolution,
first shoot the idiots
that come out of nowhere 
to presume to lead it.