Step by step
- Warm the portafilter and flush the group.
- Distribute and tamp the coffee evenly.
- Measure the yield by weight, not by volume.
- Sour — grind finer; bitter — grind coarser.
Guide
Espresso
Nine bars and thirty seconds
Espresso is about nine bars of pressure and a very fine grind: in half a minute the water pulls a concentrate with crema out of the coffee. The recipe is counted in grams: how much coffee goes into the basket and how much drink ends up in the cup.
- Ratio
- 1:2
- Coffee
- 14–22 g
- Temperature
- 92–94 °C
- Grind
- Fine
- Time
- 25–32 s
What you need
- Espresso machine with a portafilter
- Espresso grinder
- Scale under the cup
- Tamper
What ends up in the cup
A dense concentrate with sweetness and chocolate. Heat, Calm, Thaw and Fog work well.
If something goes wrong
- The shot ran in 15–20 seconds and tastes sour
- Grind finer and check that the puck is tamped level.
- The shot drips for over 35 seconds and tastes bitter
- Grind coarser or drop the dose by half a gram.