#pre-infusion

Modbar (pin-board)

This a relatively new addition to the coffee industry and a radical departure from past espresso machines in design concept. Unlike most espresso machines, the Modbar is mostly hidden from view under the counter. It is only the actual grouphead, steam wand, and drip trays that are exposed.

This allows for more room for creativity and efficiency in espresso bar design, as well as greater opportunities to advance the barista theater in 3rd-Wave coffeehouses.

In addition, the Modbar is also designed for excellence in terms of flavor extraction, as it gives the barista precise control the the temperature, pre-infusion and pressure, and length of the pull. Unlike most other types of espresso machines that give the barista such control over the pull (manual lever, E61, manual paddle), the Modbar not only gives tactile control, but also electronic control. This means that once the machine has been dialed in, it can be programed to repeat the parameters for the extraction. While there are a few companies, like La Marzocco, that do have electronic paddle espresso machines on the market, these are still rare at this time.

The Modbar is so new to the market that I only know of one place in Milwaukee (Stone Creek - 5th-Ward) that is using one and I have heard that Metropolis Coffee in Chicago is planning to install a Modbar in a upcoming coffee bar redesign.  

Pre-Infusion Video

Here is a video on Pre-Infusion that gives a little history on the different methods for achieving this. The oldest methods is in the manual lever machines and the E61 groupheads and the newest methods are achieve by way of gradual pump pressure increase in manual paddle machines like the LM Strada MP.

Although the video does not cover this much, I would add that the LM EP and Modbar are pushing the quality of pre-infusion even further by allowing programmable profiling, including different ways to ramp up and down the pressure.  

There is wide range of opinions on which method of pre-infusion is best and what is the best practice terms of amount of pressure and the duration of the pre-infusion. In the end, however, it is universally accepted that pressure profiling single origin espresso and higher quality espresso blends draws out more of the nuanced flavors.