Making Espresso

Here are my Espresso making methods. If you have questions or suggestions for improvement, please comment. These instructions should work for just about any espresso machine. These instructions generally assume a semi-automatic machine. That is a machine with a pump and thermostat.


1. TEMPERATURE - Let the machine heat for at least 30 min to 1 hour with portafilter attached. You want every part of the machine very hot.

2. GRIND & DOSE - Put some beans (Mocha Java from Whole Foods in my case) in the grinder and grind at a setting of 10 into the portafilter (this will be different for different roasts. You just have to experiment with the grid settings before you get the one that works best.)
Fill the portafilter above the top a little. I used to measure with a gram scale, but after time I got to where I was good enough to see and feel how much of a dose was enough. I used a ridgeless filter basket. The ridge on the baskets that ship with most machines just gets in the way. Always put just the amount of beans into the grinder for the task at hand and once you start this process, you cannot stop. It only takes a few minutes for those precious grinds to lose the oil. moisture and aroma in the open air.

3. TAMP - Level the grinds off with your finger and be careful not to pack the grounds in any way. You want your dose to be consistent.
Use a tamper and apply 30 pounds of pressure and turn and then spin lightly to polish the top. After this, I take a give it a gentle blow to remove the excess coffee from the rim and the top of the cake.

Put the portafilter into the machine and lock it around tight enough for a seal, but not too tight. You'll get the hang of this. If you see what coming our around the sides when you make your espresso, then are not tight enough. Too tight and you will ruin the seal gasket underneath and will have to replace it.

4. TEMPERATURE - I make sure that my temperature is 218, before I hit the switch to pull the shot. It should already be there since, the machine has been warming for almost an hour. In reality, it only takes a few minutes for the temp to reach 218, but it takes 30 minutes or more for the entire machine to heat up since it is almost entirely stainless steel and believe me, you want it hot. I often hit the switch just before I take the portafilter out and let hot water run through the portfilter. This heats up the group head and the portafilter even more. I then switch off, remove the portafilter and dry it quickly before I grind. The temp will come back up before you are ready for your shot, unless you ran out a lot of water. (Make sure the glass that will be receiving the espresso is also hot.)

5. EXTRACTION - Hit the pump button and the espresso should flow in a few seconds, you should see tiger striping since the crema and coffee are coming out together into your espresso cup. Depending on what your portafilter is, you will have different cups.


A. Single Shot = 1 shot Glass
B. Double Shot = 2 Shot Glasses
C. Double Shot with naked portafilter = 1 Espresso Cup Glass
D. Triple Shot with nake portafilter = 1 Espresso Cup

The Golden Rule
Double shot = 2 to 2.5 ounces in 20 to 25 seconds

Let the Espresso flow. If your making a double shot, you should almost fill the two shot glasses in around 25 seconds. If it comes out in less than 15 seconds, then you need to tamp harder or grind finer so that the water has to fight it's way through the grounds. If it comes out greater than 25 seconds and the machine is struggling, your grind may be too fine or the tamp too hard. This part is all experimentation, since all coffees are different. I went through about 5 or 6 different kinds of coffee before I settled on Mocha Java from Whole Foods. What also works well is Illy Espresso grinds in the can. It is not as good as a fresh grind, but it is the best you will get in a pre-ground format.

After the espresso has poured, you should see the thick crema on the top and it should look very golden with maybe some striping in it. The espresso should be consumed immediately because if it sits for too long, the oils evaporate and it will be bitter.

The crema should be a golden brown tan and the crema itself should be thick, about 1/3 of the espresso cup. If you have tiger striping on the top of the crema, then you should have a perfect shot. If you have the perfect crema, it will follow that your espresso will taste perfect, but it is not always the case. The quality of your coffee can also dictate the taste as well. Sometimes you can do everything right and the coffee just tastes bitter.

Another problem you may run into is you feel like you are doing everything right and the crema is thin or nonexistent. This is a good sign of a poor choice in beans or the beans are too old. You want beans that are freshly roasted within about 5 days. Ideally the beans should be roasted between 3 - 10 day for making the espresso. This is the butter zone. Too young or too old is very bad for a decent tasting espresso.

If you drink espresso straight, then enjoy. It should taste creamy and almost sweet. If it is bitter, then some part of the process has gone awry, probably extraction was too long. I mix in a little flavored cream and splenda into mine sometimes for something different. I frequently pull a double and then just drink that as a pick me up. I will pull a triple shot and mix it with boiling water to create Cafe Americano (Coffee). I'll make a Flavored Latte or Cappucino by using the milk frother on the Rancilio to create the appropriate mixture of steam and frothed milk.