Here’s exactly how much coffee to put into a shot of espresso

Those simple pleasures, like perfectly brewed, creamy coffee espresso, Help us get through the dreary winter doldrums. these Cold monthsWhen many of us are stuck indoors, it’s as good a time as any to master your at-home coffee making skills.
We have discussed the nuances of Drip coffee brewingAnd we hope you use it Golden ratio To really nail it. For espresso drinkers, measurements are equally important, although they differ slightly from those used in an American-style drip.

The good news is that when it comes to making espresso, you don’t need a fancy commercial machine because espresso is all about technology. If you brush up on your measurements and brewing skills, you can get high-quality shots, even with Basic model.

As a budding coffee connoisseur looking to level up my skills, I asked an expert about the do’s and don’ts of making espresso at home. Kalina Teoh, co-founder of new york coffee project, She generously shared her thoughts, tips, and common mistakes to consider when packing pucks and making espresso.

Espresso basics

“The word ‘espresso’ itself is not just a drink, it’s actually a brewing method that involves forcing hot water through a compact disc of coffee,” Teoh said, which can be accomplished through a machine with a boiler, or by hand, such as in an espresso pot on the stove. It requires specific calibration of pressure and temperature, but it is not necessary to use a sophisticated machine.

“The two most important things are the ability of the machine to maintain pressure and temperature while pulling the shot,” she said. In most home use models, you may not be able to make any adjustments, but gauges or displays indicating pressure and temperature can be reassuring.

Read more: I tried a $140 espresso machine that pulls out creamy shots and is slimmer than a blender

Make sure you closely follow the manufacturer’s process, which may include heating the water before brewing. Ensuring your espresso machine is clean is also essential to quality control, as regularly cleaning the grounds from the portafilter loading point and periodically rinsing with hot water are crucial steps to maintaining optimal performance.

1. Pay attention to the grinding size

Since espresso is a processing process rather than a drink, there is really no such thing as espresso beans, and you can choose the source and roast of espresso that suits you best, even if it’s light. The grind of any grain you choose greatly affects the outcome of the shot you pull.

“The grind size should be in the fine sand range,” Teoh said, which is smaller than that used in drip, French press or pour-over coffee, but not as fine as the powder used in unfiltered beverages such as Turkish coffee. This element makes it even more important to have a grinder that allows you to adjust the grind size using a dial, rather than just a few preset settings that may not provide the necessary nuance.

More than the coffee machine itself, Teoh recommends using another important piece of equipment to get the best home-brewed espresso. “If you have a basic machine that can maintain pressure and temperature, that’s good enough, but if I have an extra budget, I’ll spend it on mill“Having a good grinder, especially a good burr grinder, is very, very important for making espresso,” Teo said.

Of course, Teoh also recommends using fresh coffee beans to get the best espresso. Grinding to order is great, but you’re also looking for beans that have been roasted as recently as possible, preferably within weeks.

2. Determine the ratio of coffee to water

The “golden ratio” is different for espresso compared to Drip coffeeOr French press or pour over, as you generally have limited control over the amount of water that goes into the drink. Instead, you’re looking for a specific ratio between the amount of ground beans and the amount of liquid coffee that comes out at the end, and yes, professional baristas weigh the finished espresso to ensure quality.

“The coffee to water ratio is between 1 to 1.5 and 1 to 2.5, which means that for every 1 gram of ground coffee we put in there, we want to produce between 1 and a half and 2 and a half grams of liquid espresso in the cup,” Teo said. “This ratio usually gives you a very good value, which is what we call ‘strength’. It won’t be too intense. It won’t be too watery either.”

In order to make easy calculations while experimenting with these ratios, 1 to 2 is the average range to target. The smaller the ratio between ground coffee and liquid espresso, the stronger the coffee.

Espresso: The ratio of coffee to water

water	coffee
2 oz.	1 oz.
3 oz.	1.5 oz.
4 oz.	2 oz. (double shot)

If your espresso machine has controls to adjust the strength of the coffee, try them. If not, other factors you can control, which can influence the result in terms of the ideal ratio, are grind size, consistency and disc pressure.

3. Prepare the disc correctly

After measuring the ground coffee into the portafilter, based on its size and the manufacturer’s recommended measurement for a single or double dose, level it before tamping. “Use your fingers to make sure it’s evenly distributed before you press it,” Teoh said, so you don’t end up with an uneven disc.

She said water will always look for the path of least resistance between the reservoir and your cup, so if there’s an area in the portafilter that has a smaller or less-pressured volume of grounds because it wasn’t even to begin with, that’s where the water will go in the first place, resulting in improper extraction.

You should use a heavy, high-quality tamper, sized appropriately for your portafilter. Portafilters come in different sizes, usually 51 or 54 mm in diameter for home espresso machines. You’ll need to upgrade if your machine doesn’t include a plunger or has a lightweight plastic plunger.

Tamping the disc doesn’t involve using extreme force, but “you’ll want to apply pressure to the point where you feel like it’s retracting,” Teoh said. “You’re not using your full body weight on it, but it’s also not like stamping a card. You want to press down and create a dense, tightly packed disc.”

If you want to be precise with the pressure, some guidelines suggest applying between 20 and 30 pounds. Teoh notices that too Spring-loaded tamper Available, making it easier and more consistent to apply proper pressure.

4. Taste and adjust

It’s your coffee, so your taste is what matters most to the result. Slight differences in coffee freshness and roast, grind size, ground coffee measurement, tamping pressure and consistency, and temperature – to the degree you can control it – will all affect different results.

Experiment with the above modifications to get a balanced drink with a pleasant taste and the right length of flavor, to suit you.

“You may not have experience making espresso, but you have experience as a consumer, so you know what you should taste in your cup, and if it’s not right for you, you know something needs to be adjusted,” Teo said.

Given all the potential variables mentioned above, hopefully it’s just a matter of tweaking a few things rather than needing a whole new system.

How important is cream?

A layer of cream or foam on top of the shot may be desirable. However, this is not necessarily an indicator of the correct shot, nor does it significantly impact flavour.

Teoh said carbon dioxide is trapped in coffee beans during roasting and is then released during the brewing process, creating a foamy crema. However, it is not the density of the tablet that determines whether it will appear during fermentation or not.

“Your crema is not just carbon dioxide, but also oils and insoluble substances in the coffee,” Teoh said. “There are a lot of aromatic compounds in there, but the actual flavor of your coffee is in the dark liquid at the bottom. The crema doesn’t carry a lot of flavor itself, but it helps with the mouthfeel.”

The absence of crema may have less to do with the mechanics of the shot and more to do with the roast itself. “The freshness of the coffee makes a difference, and some coffees, if they are lightly roasted, will also not have as much crema,” Teoh said.

To maximize your creaming potential, you look for beans from a dark roast that have been recently roasted.