Espresso is an incredibly popular drink, and you have to do a lot of steps all for a 1.5 oz drink, but is it worth it? Espresso lovers tend to think so!
How Do You Make An Espresso?
First off, you will need an espresso machine! There are a lot of different machines out there you can buy, it will be tough to respond to so many options. If you already have an espresso machine, let’s begin!
Fill The Water Reservoir
We recommend using filtered water with low mineral content for these two reasons:
- The taste will be better
- You will prevent the buildup of limescale
Wipe Your Portafilter basket
Weigh Out Your Coffee And Portafilter
You will need a scale that weighs in grams (to at least 1 decimal point), the amount of coffee beans you are required to use will largely depend on your recipe. It’s usually expressed as the weight of your ground coffee to the finished espresso.
- The ratio be somewhere between 1:1.5 to 1:2.5
- Single espresso shot – 12g of ground coffee to make 18 grams of espresso
- Double espresso shot – 21 grams of coffee to make 32 grams of espresso
You should also pre-weigh your portafilter as well!
Time To Grind Your Coffee!
Don’t have a good grinder for coffee? Check out this one here!
Weigh out your coffee again
As previously mentioned, you will want to make sure your coffee weight is as close as possible to the required weight. We recommend you try to get it as close as 0.1 grams.
Tamp It! Tamp It Real Good!
Tamping is an important part of the process. This will make the overall quality of the espresso shot even better and you shouldn’t skip it! Pack the grounds down so they are evenly compressed by the tamp.
Weigh Your Coffee Cup (optional)
Flush Your Machine
Turn it on and flush it with water, doing so will produce a couple benefits:
- The components will be pre-heated
- It will also clear out any old grounds
Lock the Portafilter In Place
Insert the portafilter in the machine as it is stated in the instruction manual, make sure it feels secure.
Remember To Time It
Virtually everyone has a phone with a timer, if not you probably have an alarm clock somewhere! Grab your preferred timer and set it for 27-29 seconds. If your machine has a preferred run time, use that instead for best results.
Run The Machine!
Frequently Asked Questions
Did your machine brew to much?
Try a finer ground, or be more firm in the tamping process!
Did your machine brew to little?
Have a grind that is a bit more coarse, and try to tamp it less.
