Espresso at Home
Our guide to brewing espresso at home, please note that every machine and grinder are different, reach out to us at our coffee lab at 203 Colonnade for in-person assistance!
Espresso preparation, while seeming simple can be anything but.
If you have a machine with an adjustable PID temperature, the water should be around 94.5c for lighter roasts, and range in the upper 80s/low 90s for darker roasts. Your recipe will also depend on the size of your filter basket, as some machines are supplied with smaller baskets. It’s important to make sure you aren't over-filling your basket, as this can cause several issues when brewing.
Specialty recipes usually use anywhere from 18-22g of ground coffee, with a ratio of ~ 1:2 (e.g 18g of ground coffee in, 36g of brewed espresso out) lighter roasts will often suit a slightly longer ratio to help balance out the acidity if you prefer a more mellow shot.
Most coffees will taste great at 18g of ground coffee with a 40g yield run over 28-30s
A 4-second pre-infusion can be added to the beginning of the shot if you’re working with a compatible machine. These 4 seconds should be counted towards the 28s total shot time.
In general:
Grind 18g of coffee into portafilter basket
Distribute as evenly as possible with available puck preparation apparatus, or by tapping the portafilter. Tamp with moderate pressure to compress the ground coffee.
Lock the portafilter into the espresso machine and start the group head pump
Allow to pour until the shot scale reads ~38g, which should result in the shot reaching ~40g after the remaining water runs through.
If the shot time is between 27-30s, it should taste great! If the shot ran too quickly (under 26s) make a small grind adjustment to grind finer. If the shot ran over 30s, make an adjustment to grind coarser. So much of this is subjective, so be prepared to play around to find the shot you like the best!