Espresso might look simple in the cup, but creating a truly great espresso is no small feat. With so many variables involved, there’s plenty of room for error. The good news is that with the right tools, techniques and a bit of practice, you can brew espresso at home that rivals your favourite coffee shop.
Below is a step-by-step guide to making espresso at home.
Step-by-Step Espresso Guide
Before you begin, you’ll need a few essentials: an espresso machine, grinder, tamper, scales, timer and a cup (or two).
1. Heat Up Your Machine
Switch on your espresso machine and allow it to fully heat up. Depending on the model, this can take 20–30 minutes. Brewing before the machine is ready can lead to under-extraction, resulting in sour flavours.
2. Ensure the Portafilter and Group Head Are Clean
Make sure the portafilter and group head are free from old or stale coffee grounds. Use a brush or clean cloth to keep them spotless. Clean equipment always leads to better-tasting coffee.
3. Grind Your Coffee
Grind your coffee just before brewing. Espresso requires a fine grind, slightly finer than table salt. Every coffee behaves differently, so you’ll need to adjust the grind size to achieve the correct extraction time. This process is often referred to as dialling in. If you’re brewing espresso regularly, using freshly roasted beans makes a noticeable difference — many home baristas choose a coffee subscription to ensure they always have fresh coffee on hand.
4. Weigh Your Dose
Use scales to measure your coffee accurately. A good starting point is 18g of coffee. Most espresso recipes follow a 1:2 ratio, meaning 18g in should yield around 36ml of espresso out.
5. Tamp Evenly to Prevent Channelling
Transfer the ground coffee into the portafilter basket and level it out. Tamp evenly to create a compact, flat coffee bed. Uneven distribution can cause channelling, where water finds weak points and extracts unevenly.
Top tip: you don’t need to press excessively hard. The key is an even, level tamp.
6. Lock It In
Brush any loose grounds from the rim of the basket, then lock the portafilter securely into the group head. This prevents grounds from sticking to the shower screen and going stale.
7. Brew Straight Away
Start brewing immediately after locking in the portafilter and begin timing your shot. A good benchmark is an extraction time of 25–30 seconds, depending on your chosen recipe.
Top tip: brewing promptly helps prevent the grounds from overheating against the shower screen, which can dull flavour and aroma.
8. Clean Up and Reset
Once brewing is complete, knock out the spent puck, rinse the portafilter and flush water through the group head. Reinsert the clean portafilter into the machine. Consistent cleaning ensures every shot tastes fresh.
You can download a copy of our Espresso Brew Guide.
Common Issues and Troubleshooting
Why Is My Espresso Sour?
Sour espresso is usually the result of under-extraction, often caused by water flowing through the coffee too quickly. This prevents enough flavour compounds from being extracted.
Try grinding finer to slow the flow of water and increase contact time. Make small adjustments and check the weight of coffee coming out of your grinder each time you make a change.
You could also increase the dose slightly, but it’s best to adjust the grind size first while sticking to your chosen recipe.
Why Is My Espresso Bitter?
Some bitterness is normal, especially in darker roasts, but harsh bitterness usually indicates over-extraction. This happens when water spends too long passing through the coffee.
Make your grind coarser to speed up the shot. If your grinder runs on a timer, remember that grind changes will affect how much coffee is produced in that time. Always recheck your dose when adjusting grind size.
Espresso brewing is a balancing act. The goal is to find the right combination of dose, grind size, extraction time and flavour that suits your taste.
Get in Touch
Espresso has a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature.
We hope this guide helps you on your espresso journey. If you’d like further advice, feel free to get in touch with us. If espresso is part of your daily routine, you might also enjoy setting up a subscription for freshly roasted coffee delivered on a schedule that suits you. Happy brewing.