Espresso is the shortest and strongest drink on the coffee horizon. As small as the cup is, the myths, traditions and expectations surrounding the perfect espresso are just as varied.
This article is about making espresso. Let's leave the story aside and focus entirely on how to brew good espresso using simple means.
The best way to learn how to make espresso is to stand in front of the espresso machine with someone and try it out together and then taste the coffee. We recommend our barista courses . Since not everyone wants to come to Basel, we have recorded some videos that also help you make good espresso. You can find them embedded here in this article.
Which espresso type are you?
The experience of a good espresso is very, very subjective. This is mainly due to the pronounced strength of espresso. There are between 7 and 10% dissolved coffee particles in the small cup and make the drink a concentrated explosion of flavors. If the espresso were ten times less strong, it would be less challenging. But in this concentration, if you are sensitive to bitterness, the bitterness will take your shoes off. If acid makes you uncomfortable, then an espresso with a pronounced acidity will make you run away.
Without going into it any further, because that brings us back to the context and history of espresso: the success of capsule coffee can be explained, in addition to the convenience principle, by the fact that the “espresso” from the capsule is less concentrated and is therefore easier for many people to enjoy .
The classic, traditional espresso from the (southern) Italian coffee culture focuses more on the bitter facets of coffee. Central European, northern Italian coffee is more balanced between sweetness, acidity and bitterness. The third wave movement and more modern espresso bars that rely on lighter roasts use roasts that convey more pronounced acids and many notes of origin.
The principle of preparation is similar. Our article “Which coffee tastes best?” can help with your own classification. This will help you find out what kind of coffee type you are.
The distinction is very important. If the espresso you make is too sour or bitter for you, it doesn't have to be because of how you prepared it. The reason often lies in the choice of roasted coffee.
The starting point is the sieve – the espresso-to-coffee ratio
There are several variables that can confuse you when you start setting up espresso. That's why I recommend you: first decide on one, namely the amount of coffee powder used.
Your sieve - this article assumes that you are working with an espresso machine - is made for a specific amount of coffee. In some cases the amount of coffee is specified, for example with a 17 mm VST sieve. If this is not specified, you can find it out. The portafilter should be easy to clamp with an appropriate grind level without the coffee powder touching the shower sieve. There should still be 2 - 5 ml of space between the coffee bed and the shower so that the powder can expand when moistened. If the grind is significantly too coarse, the volume of the coffee will be larger, which is why I write appropriate grind.
In this guide we always brew with the double sieve for two espresso portions. We generally recommend using the double sieve because the taste result is always better. The geometry of the 1 sieve simply does not fit well with the espresso machine and prevents even extraction of all the coffee powder.
If you don't have any information and are unsure about your sieve size, then start with a coffee quantity of 17 grams for an espresso machine with a Faema E61 brewing group. However, with devices like the Delonghi Dedica EC 685 that would be at least 2-3 grams too much, which you do notice immediately when you try to give up the 17 grams.
We are fixing these 17 grams until further notice. Based on this, we aim for an amount of drink that is proportional to the amount of coffee powder used . You definitely need a scale to make the following settings. You can also use a letter scale. It is good if the scale reacts relatively quickly to changes in weight. In the next steps we will also measure the amount of espresso, which of course changes over the extraction time.
Next, you have to decide for yourself whether you like thick, strong espressos or slightly weaker, easier to balance flavors. If you choose the strong variant No. 1, then we brew in a ratio of 1:2, i.e. following the example above, 17 grams of coffee powder in the sieve and a target amount of 34 grams of espresso in the cup. The weaker balance would be a ratio of 1:2.5, i.e. 17 grams of coffee powder in use and 42.5 grams in the espresso cups.
If you are used to espresso from capsule machines or fully automatic coffee machines, then you can also work with a ratio of 1:3. The result is still strong compared to the espressos you are used to.
Weighing the coffee and the espresso process
You unclamp the portafilter, which is well preheated by the machine. It is best to clamp the portafilter while using the machine to prevent it from cooling down. Cold portafilters reduce the temperature of the brewing water.
Use a measuring cup to grind 17 grams of coffee or your selected amount of coffee into the measuring cup. This amount should be corrected precisely, for example by subsequently adjusting the weight with a spoon.
You can adjust the meal of your mill later. However, it doesn't make sense now, as the grinding quantity will change again as the grinding level is adjusted, which will inevitably happen. Therefore, the easiest option is to weigh the amount of coffee. Anyone who works with a mill like the Sette 270 Wi or an Etzinger now has it easy. The scale is already installed there.
We usually recommend starting from the status quo when it comes to the grind. Just use whatever the mill gives you. If you know for sure that you are much too fine or much too coarse, you can of course make adjustments to the grinding level now. Otherwise, more on that further down in the text.
Then put the amount of coffee into your portafilter. Make sure that the coffee powder is evenly distributed before tamping it. Otherwise there is a risk that the brewing water will seek the path of least resistance. This channel formation means that the coffee is not extracted evenly. We have recorded a detailed video on the topic of “ Channeling ”.
Press firmly and evenly to compress the coffee. It is not match-deciding whether you press 8, 12 or 15 kg hard. It is more important that you always press roughly the same amount of force. And if you're roughly in this range, then that's fine.
Now clamp the portafilter, place one espresso cup on the scales under the spout and the other next to it and start the extraction. You keep an eye on the scale clock or count the seconds in your head.
You stop the extraction shortly before the desired drink ratio is reached, i.e. the desired 34 or 42.5 grams have ended up in the cup. The speed at which the water flowed through the coffee gives you a reference about your grind level and the next steps.
If your espresso was in the cup in less than 15 seconds, then the coffee was definitely too fast. If the extraction took longer than 40 seconds, then it is most likely too slow. In these cases we have to make corrections to the grinding degree. If you are in a narrower range, then the fine tuning begins.
Find the grind level for espresso
Coffee powder in the sieve creates a natural resistance for the water flowing through. The finer the grind, the greater the resistance and the harder it is for the water to flow through the coffee powder. A good example of a very fine grind is flour. If we make a well in a pile of flour while baking, we can even pour water into the well without it finding its way out. Unless we push it too hard and a channel is created - which brings us back to channeling.
The coarser the coffee is ground, the easier it is for the water to flow through the coffee. If we do the heap example with millet or rice, the water will burst straight out and submerge the worktop. No matter how hard we press, the grain size is too coarse.
The right grind for espresso creates appropriate resistance so that the brewing water is not held up too little or too much. And we are looking for this degree of grinding in the next steps.
Of course, the espresso grinder used also plays an important role, which we won't go into further here. What is important, however, is that not every coffee grinder is suitable for grinding espresso finely.
Did your espresso go too fast?
If your espresso ran significantly too quickly, we can adjust the grinder finer. Depending on the grinder, adjusting 1 to 2 digits can have a big impact. Start slowly at first to get a feel for your mill.
Important: when fine-tuning the mill, never fine-tune too many levels at once without grinding in between. Otherwise there is a risk that your grinding discs will misjudge.
After you have set the grinder finer (for many mills, finer means that the numbers on the mill decrease, for example from grinding level 5 to 4), you grind at least one dosage into your measuring cup and pour it away. This coffee does not yet correspond to your “new grind”, but rather the grind somewhere between the old and new.
Now grind the 17 grams of coffee into the portafilter again and follow the same procedure as above. If everything went correctly, your espresso should now run slower. Succeeded?
Did your espresso run too slowly?
If your espresso ran significantly too slowly, then the grind was too fine. We have to make the mill coarser. For most mills, coarser means that the numbers on the grinding level display become larger, for example from grinding level 5 to 6.
Grind at least one measuring cup of coffee that you are not using. This amount of coffee does not correspond to your new target grinding level, but rather a mixture between the old and new grinding levels.
You grind 17 grams of coffee again and brew an espresso following the procedure above. The coffee should now run faster.
Of course, the brewing temperature also plays an important role. However, since this is fixed at less than 2000 CHF/Euro for most portafilter machines, we have not gone into it further in this article. A good brewing temperature is around 94 degrees and can also be adjusted depending on the roast.
The fine adjustment of the espresso
By changing the grinding degree, the resistance in the sieve and the speed of the water flow have changed. Now that you have mastered this adjustment, we can now move on to the fine adjustment.
Maybe your espresso has already reached an extraction time of 20 - 30 seconds. Most coffees taste good in this area. Espresso tastes good when it is balanced. When balanced, espresso tastes inherently sweet.
With darker roasts, the balance of the espresso is often found with shorter extraction times of 20 - 25 seconds. For lighter roasts, a good target range is closer to 25 – 30 seconds. I'm going crazy with numbers like that because coffee can taste so different. This cannot be diagnosed from a distance down to the seconds or the gram. Ultimately you will find the truth in the cup.
You have various options for making the fine adjustments. Here are some guidelines:
- Shorter extractions are more likely to emphasize the acidity of the coffee. That's why this is often not the right approach for coffees that already have a lot of fruit acid (light roasts, coffees from Ethiopia or Kenya).
- Longer extractions emphasize the bitterness and heaviness of the mouthfeel (body). That's why a long extraction is often not a good way to achieve balance for coffees that are inherently bitter.
- If your coffee is too watery, I can change the drink to coffee ratio. If you have brewed with 1:2.5, you can reduce the amount in the cup step by step. Attention: in order to achieve a suitable brewing time, the grinding level must of course also be adjusted (finer).
- If your coffee is too strong (concentrated), you can increase the drink to coffee ratio, for example change to 1:3. The grinder should then be set coarser so that the larger amount of water flows through the coffee cake in a reasonable amount of time.
Once you have brewed your “perfect espresso”, you can program the grinding quantity on your grinder. Because then no further adjustment needs to be made.
Then have fun trying espresso and experimenting. In almost all cases you have to change the grinder when you change the coffee and there can be fluctuations from day to day. Don’t be surprised – this is normal!
If you haven't reached your goal yet or are noticing fluctuations, be sure to watch the video below on the 20 reasons why an espresso doesn't taste good.
If you get stuck, write to us or subscribe to our coffee information. We regularly send out tips, tricks and instructions and will also hold courses at different locations in the future.
Actually, making espresso is not that difficult. It's really easy to learn. But of course mistakes can occur. We have summarized the 20 most important mistakes when making espresso.
