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ESPRESSO

An espresso recipe should tell you how much espresso to pack into your portafilter basket, how much time it should take to extract, and how much liquid espresso you should expect (yield).

MATERIALS

✓ Espresso Machine
✓ Espresso Grinder
✓ Double Basket Portafilter
✓ Tamper
✓ Scale
✓ Timer

COFFEE SPECS

Coffee to Water Ratio

1:1.5

Coffee

18 to 20 grams

Yield

25 - 31 grams

Volume

1.5 - 2 ounces

Brew Time

24 - 29 seconds

INSTRUCTIONS

1

SET UP

Remove the portafilter from the grouphead. Place on a scale and tare.

Tip:

To level up your espressos, use a gram scale! It makes espresso preparation easier and more repeatable, and you can weigh both your dry coffee grounds and your liquid espresso.

2

GRIND YOUR COFFEE

Grind and dose into the basket.

Tip:

If you do not have a grinder, add the same amount of finely ground coffee.

3

distribute the grinds

Gently distribute the coffee so that the bed is as flat as possible.

4

tAMP

Place the portafilter on a flat surface. Use your tamper to apply pressure downward. Just enough to compact the coffee, no excess force needed.

5

INSERT THE PORTAFILTER

Insert the portafilter into the machine’s grouphead and brew.

6

BEGIN THE EXTRACTION

Your coffee should start slowly and then develop into an even stream. As the shot develops, the color will continue to lighten.

7

STOP THE EXTRACTION

At around 30 seconds, the shot will start to “blonde,” or turn yellow in color. This indicates the end of your espresso’s extraction.

Tip:

You may need to adjust the grind size to manipulate the brew time.A coarser grind size will decrease the brew time and a finer grind size will increase the brew time.

GENERAL TIPS FOR BETTER TASTING COFFEE

Coffee is 98% water, and the quality of the water you use to brew your coffee directly affects the taste in your cup. Running your tap water through a filter like Brita or Pur will affect the taste of your coffee for the better, yielding more clarity and sweetness.

If you are using pre-ground coffee, use less coffee to decrease brew time and use more coffee to increase brew time.

Coffee beans have different densities and sizes, so scooping to measure your coffee recipe becomes less and less reliable. Instead, weigh your coffee on a gram scale to make sure you have the right recipe.

Coffee tastes best when ground right before you brew, and burr grinders give you a much more even grind size. When the grind size is very different, you get a mixed extraction - the water pulls out less from the biggest pieces (giving you the sour flavor of underextraction), and too much from the smaller pieces (the bitter flavor of overextraction)

You may need to adjust the grind size to manipulate the brew time. A coarser grind size will decrease the brew time and a finer grind size will increase the brew timeYou may need to adjust the grind size to manipulate the brew time. A coarser grind size will decrease the brew time and a finer grind size will increase the brew time