Pull Your Perfect Shot With These 7 Simple Espresso Machine Steps

enjoying the finer things in life that can only be done by hand. This includes making bread, driving a stick shift, and brewing espresso.

Although pod espresso is easy to make, it is not very good. In contrast, making espresso at home offers the best possible connection to your brew.

Although it may not be easy to make a great shot of espresso, there are some tips that can help you avoid a lot of the frustration that comes with learning.

Espresso Equipments

You’ll need several pieces of equipment to brew espresso:

• Espresso machine — obviously, you’ll need an espresso machine.  We have reviewed plenty of espresso machines, including the best for beginners and Breville has a great range of semi-automatic options. 
• Scale — You’ll need a scale to measure the coffee in and espresso out. Choose a scale that measures 0.1 grams and is water-resistant. 
• Coffee beans — dark roasts are best for espresso, as they have less acidity and more oiliness, resulting in a heavier, fuller flavor. Espresso brewing expresses the bean’s flavor, and light roasts are overpowering and sour.  
• Grinder — Espresso is very sensitive to grind size and consistency, so don’t skimp on the grinder. The best grinders have tiny stepped or stepless adjustments for the grind. High-end grinders have timers to help you dose, or a built-in scale that automatically calibrates. Or look at our favorite espresso machines with a grinder. 
• Filter — The portafilter basket, including single-wall (non-pressurized) and double-wall baskets (pressurized). Double-wall baskets are more forgiving on grind size and dose, but you can grind finer on a single-wall basket, which brings out way more flavor. 
• Tamper — You need a tamp to compress your grounds. Use a tamper that fits the portafilter exactly, and choose a stainless steel tamper to get a more even puck.

Using An Espresso Machine

To make a great shot of espresso, you need skills and the right equipment. We’ll guide you through the whole espresso-making process.

1. Turn On And Preheat Your Espresso Maker

Before using your espresso maker, you should preheat the whole machine. Start your machine early if you want it to be done in under 25 minutes.

PRO TIP

If you want to speed up the process, you can remove the espresso from the porta-filter. By pulling this shot into your espresso cup, you are preheating it as well.

2. Measure And Grind Your Beans

Make your grinder’s grind size fine, without worrying too much about what it looks like. We’ll correct it later.

Place your portafilter on your scale and zero the scale, then fill your portafilter with around 20 grams of ground coffee. It is advisable to keep a note of how much you use, in order to maintain consistency while you are fine-tuning your approach.

The ideal amount of ground coffee to have in your portafilter basket is a small mountain. Use your hand to wipe away any excess coffee grounds, push the coffee into the nooks and crannies of the filter, and smooth it down so you can prepare to apply pressure with your tamper.

3. Tamp Your Grounds So The Bed Is Flat And Even

You’ll want your beans roughly evenly distributed before tamping. If you want to evenly distribute the espresso grounds, you can lightly tap the side of the portafilter or level off the grounds with your finger.

To tamp evenly, press down straight so the puck is level. Try using a lot of pressure, even though the 30lbs of pressure advice is probably too much.

You should tamp the coffee grounds until they stop settling and create a level top.

A level tamp will ensure that the coffee is not lumpy. This will help you to avoid channelling and to extract the coffee evenly.

Spin your tamper quickly to polish the top of your espresso puck. Tap the side of your portafilter to remove any coffee grounds that are clinging to it, then you can start brewing your coffee.

PRO TIP

Tamping is a practice that you get better at with experience. Get a journal/noptepad and write down what type of bean you are using and an approximation of how much you tamped it down (e.g. “Pushed down with about 50% force until the coffee grounds stopped compressing”).

This will be very useful when adjusting the shot. If you find that a palm tamper benefits you, it can also help to improve your espresso-making experience.

4. Pull Your First Shot

As you are making this shot, time yourself to see how long it takes to hit 2 ounces. This is the typical size of a double shot. You want to be pulling the bar for 20-30 seconds per pull.

If you’re within this range, you’re technically done—you’ve made espresso. I hope the coffee is rich and dark and sweet and glorious. This first shot is just a starting point.

To attach the portafilter, you’ll need to align the sides with the slots on the group head. Stand next to the machine and pull the filter handle out so it’s at a 90 degree angle to the machine.

The portafilter should be tightened and not loose or close to falling off.

When the portafilter is in position, you can start making the coffee. Some espresso machines have a pre-infusion option, which allows the machine to wet the espresso grounds using lower pressure. This achieves better extraction and espresso flavor.

Put the cup on a scale and tare it. Start the espresso machine and let it run until you have double the amount of water to grounds. Check the options on your machine, as different beans will have different yields.

5. Dial In The Shot

If the pressure exceeds the recommended level, stop immediately and adjust the machine If your machine has a pressure gauge, make sure to pay attention to what pressure it reaches. If it goes above the recommended level, stop using the machine immediately and make the necessary adjustments. You can use this information to improve your next shot by either increasing or decreasing the amount of pressure you apply. The indicator on a good espresso machine will tell you to how well your coffee shot was extracted.

If you don’t have a coffee machine that tells you how much coffee to use, you can figure it out by tasting it and making a decision. Note it down in your journal. If the espresso is being pulled too quickly, it is probably because the grind is too coarse. In this case, change to a finer grind. If your espresso takes a long time to pull, you’ll want a coarser grind.

Ultimately we don’t measure flavor in seconds. If you think your espresso tastes too sour, you should use a finer grind. If your espresso tastes bitter, it means you’ve ground your beans too fine. Try a coarser grind next time.

If you want to change the roast, particularly if you want to go from a light roast to a dark roast, you’ll have to go through the same process again. This means that if you are using a dark roast, you should use a coarser grind, as this will help to prevent over-extraction. Make sure you properly dispose of your coffee grounds, or even better, use a knock box.

You can either enjoy the espresso as is, or turn it into a milk-based coffee. If this is the case, continue reading to learn how to improve your milk supply.

It will take 8 to 12 seconds for a properly dialed in espresso shot to start brewing. The coffee will be dark brown with a golden brown crema and will flow like warm honey.

An espresso that hasn’t been extracted properly will take 1 to 6 seconds to brew. The coffee will have a watery consistency, be light brown in color, have a thin layer of foam, and taste not very strong. If this occurs, use a finer setting on the grinder and increase the amount of coffee used.

An over-extracted espresso will start brewing in 12 seconds. The coffee will drip slowly, and will be a very dark brown color with dark and spotty crema. It will have a bitter taste. This happens when you need to use a coarser grind, and decrease the dose to make the coffee less strong.

6. Steam Your Milk

After you have brewed your coffee, the next step is to steam milk if you are making a latte, macchiato, cortado, or cortadito. Hopefully your machine has a steam wand built in. If you do not have an espresso machine that steams milk, you will have to use a different machine to steam your milk.

Using your machines steam wand

First, pour cold milk into your stainless steel milk pitcher. Start by turning on your steamer wand to get rid of any water that may have built up in it.

After that, hold the steam wand tip just below the surface of the milk. First, turn on your steamer. Then, froth the milk until it reaches the consistency you want. Make sure to keep the steamer wand close to the surface while you’re doing this.

To make frothy milk, steam the milk until it reaches the desired level of frothiness. Then, insert the tip of the steamer into the bottom of the milk vessel and continue steaming until the milk reaches the desired temperature.

After you use your wand, wipe it down and clean it briefly to keep it sanitary. Our milk steaming guide goes into more detail.

The key to foaming your milk is heat. If you don’t use enough milk, your foam won’t stay together. If you use too much milk, your milk will taste burnt and unpleasant. If you keep practicing, you will eventually get better at it.

7. Clean Up the Machine

This build-up will be noticeable in your espresso within one hour. You should clean the machine and all the accessories regularly.

We have a full guide on how to clean, maintain, and descale your espresso machine, which we recommend checking out, but here’s a shortened version:

• Portafilter — This is where the worst build-up happens. You should rinse the portafilter under water after each use and wipe it dry after each use.
• Group head — Purge the group head each time you brew coffee to flush coffee grounds and oils.
• Steam wand — Milk can build up inside the steam wand and curdle, so you should purge it after each use and wipe the exterior with a warm rag.
• Grinder — Remove the coffee from the hopper, and wipe the hopper with a wet cloth to get rid of residual oils. Put the empty hopper back on the grinder, and run the grinder to get rid of residual beans between the burs. Put a vacuum cleaner against the exit chute of the grinder while the grinder is running to vacuum out all the grinds. Wipe the exterior.
• Removable parts — Filter baskets, shower screens, drip tray, and water reservoir should be cleaned from time to time. Some machines have removable parts that are dishwasher safe, or you’ll have to wash them yourself.

You should also descale your machine occasionally. Your espresso machine will let you know when it’s time to descale it.

Espresso Terms to Know

• Brew group — The part of the espresso machine that contains the group head, portafilter, and filter baskets.
• Basket — You put coffee grinds here. It’s attached to the portafilter. 
• Channeling — Happens when the portafilter isn’t properly loaded. The pressurized water finds pathways into narrow gaps in the filter basket instead of evenly flowing through the grounds. This results in subpar espresso flavor.
• Crema — Emulsified oils that sit on top of an espresso. Resembles foam and its dark golden brown color.
• Distribution — A technique that settles coffee grinds in the portafilter.
• Portafilter — Holds the basket with the coffee grinds and is attached to the group head during extraction.
• Extraction — Hot water is forced through tightly packed coffee, which extracts flavors and oils from the beans and results in flavorful espresso.
• Flushing — Action that stabilizes the temperature on some espresso machines, especially as the steaming milk temperature is too hot for brewing, and it has to be flushed out.
• Tamper — Packs and levels the grounds in the filter basket.

Conclusion

If your first shot is perfect, congratulations, you’re one of the chosen ones. If you are struggling to make espresso at home, the first step is to change the grind size.

You will need to try different beans, grind sizes, and single or double shot volume until you find the combination you like the best.