Brew guides · Espresso
How to brew espresso with a medium roast
The blend was built for this. A starting recipe that works on most home machines, and the two adjustments that fix almost every bad shot.
At a glance
Dose
18 gin the basket
Yield
36 gin the cup
Time
27–30 sfrom pump on
Water
93 °C
Grind
Finelike table salt
You’ll need
- An espresso machine and a burr grinder that can grind fine
- Whole beans (ground coffee is not fine enough for espresso)
- Scales that read to 0.1 g, and a timer
Method
- Warm the machine. Turn it on 15–20 minutes before you brew. Run a blank shot through the group head so the portafilter is hot.
- Dose 18 g. Grind fine into the basket. Tap the portafilter once to settle the grounds, then level the bed.
- Tamp level. Firm, straight down, once. Pressure matters less than being level.
- Lock in and start the timer. Put the cup on the scales, zero them, and start the shot and the timer together.
- Stop at 36 g. That is a 1:2 ratio. Aim for 27–30 seconds. Under 25 seconds is too coarse; over 35 is too fine.
- Taste it, then adjust one thing. Sour or thin: grind finer. Bitter or harsh: grind coarser. Leave the dose alone until the time is right.
Fixes
Sour, thin, sharp
Under-extracted. Grind finer. If you are already at the fine end, raise the temperature a degree or extend the yield to 40 g.
Bitter, harsh, drying
Over-extracted. Grind coarser. If it is still harsh, drop the temperature to 91 °C or stop the shot at 34 g.
Runs too fast
Grind finer first. If the grinder is at its limit, check the dose: 18 g in a small single basket overflows, and 18 g in a large basket under-fills.
With milk
This blend carries caramel and milk chocolate through a flat white without turning bitter. Steam to 60–65 °C and pour straight away.
Medium roast note. Medium roasts are a little denser than dark ones, so they usually want a slightly finer grind and a slightly hotter machine than a supermarket dark roast. If your last coffee was dark, expect to grind two or three steps finer.