How to make the best espresso at home
How do you make your coffee at home? What equipment do you use? What's the trick?
These are some of the most common questions I get asked by parents at the playground or by a curious friend, aka the everyday man/woman on the street.
I use a Lelit Elizabeth dual-boiler home espresso machine and a Mythos One grinder; it is a bit of a hybrid home/commercial setup, so it's not what I'm recommending for most specialty coffee enthusiasts.
However, this isn't a blog post about equipment, but rather some of the common mistakes people new-ish to coffee make.
Let your coffee rest
For eons, we've been subjected to marketing about 'freshly roasted specialty coffee'. Some customers have even got upset when they receive specialty coffee two weeks past the roast date, but this is the period when coffee starts to open up and taste really good.
After roasting, trapped carbon dioxide is slowly released from coffee that makes the flavours taste muddled, sour, weak and savoury. It's really not good; if you pop this in an espresso machine, it spits and sprays all over the place. So wait two weeks, ideally a month, before you use it! But try from week 2 and taste it every day, make a note as you go, and see if you think it improves over the course.
Ratios! Why they matter
A double shot is usually a ratio of 1 to 2, meaning 17g-19g of coffee in, and 35-45g out, these are rough numbers, but you get the picture. In Portugal, it's common to see espresso machines keep running way past a double shot- café cheio- but you're just extracting bitter flavours and empty coffee. You can kind of get away with it for Delta, but you're ruining you're single origin Rwandan. So either make another double shot if you need a serious caffeine kick, or simply add some hot water or make a filter.
Invest in a good grinder
If you're using a cheap blade grinder or a bean-to-cup machine, you're not going to get the best out of the coffee. You're looking for a burr grinder with micrometric adjustments. Any Google search of this term along with best budget option will lead you in the right direction. Feel free to message if you need more support.
How to dial in your specialty coffee grinder
You're aiming for a shot time of 25-30 seconds, from when you press the button (not when coffee starts flowing through the portafilter). If the coffee is coming out too fast, then adjust the grinder to a finer setting. Nothing coming out for ages, grind coarser.
Note! Most grinders retain a certain amount of beans and ground coffee around the burrs, so the adjustment you make usually shows 1 or 2 shots after. So if you adjust again after just one shot, you may end up going too far.
And one more important thing… Every coffee requires a different setting. With experience, you'll start to see certain origins and roast levels have similar parameters for dialling in. For example, Brazil is grown at a lower altitude and usually needs to be ground a little coarser than, say a high-altitude light roast coffee from Huila, Colombia that will probably favour a finer grind.
Different coffees have different densities, roast levels, and bean structures. What worked for one might not work for another. You have to "nudge" the grinder slightly. It's normal and actually quite fun—every coffee teaches you something new. Water water water Your coffee beverage is mainly water so it counts.
Great-tasting specialty coffee requires great-tasting water. It also helps preserve your machine.
Water makes up more than 90% of every espresso. Yet, many people overlook it. At the same time, it has a massive impact on the taste of coffee, the lifespan of your machine, and the overall brewing experience. Ideally, use clean, medium mineralised water with TDS around 80-120ppm.
This is especially important in Portugal, where water hardness varies by region. At the bare minimum, use a Brita water filter for your tank, especially if you live in a place with very hard water.
Dialling in
Dialling in your coffee requires patience; you can be lucky and nail it the first time, but don't be disheartened if it takes a few attempts. It's all part of the process, and with experience with your equipment and varietals of coffee and roast levels, you'll get closer quicker.
Non-dialled-in shots can be used on the oat milk drinkers in your household who, let's face it, won't taste much difference.
If you need any help or advice, drop us a message at info@clifftopcoffee.com