How to Make Espresso Like A Barista

How to make espresso like your local barista

All you need

• Espresso machine
• Coffee Beans
• Grinder
• Scale
• Cups
• Tamper

1. Grind 22 grams of coffee beans and place them into your portafilter. This is called the dose.

Some home coffee machine portafilters don’t take this amount. If this is your case, you can start with what fits most comfortably in yours and take note of the dose’s net weight.2. Distribute into an even surface and tamper.

When you tamp the coffee into the portafilter, don’t overdo it, otherwise it will be pressed too hard. Push it down until you feel a natural resistance.3. Place the portafilter in the group head and start the shot.

With 22 grams of coffee, it should take between 35-40 seconds to produce roughly 45 mL of espresso. If your dose was a different size, you can use our timing as a reference and figure out how long you need to wait.

If it extracts much faster than that time and tastes sour and salty, it means you need to ground your coffee finer. If it takes much longer than this and tastes ashy and rough, you will have coarsen the grind. 

What are the fundamentals of a good, quality espresso?

• Good quality fresh coffee, well roasted. We have 37 different blends of freshly roasted coffee that you can choose from. 
• A quality coffee grinder , which gives an even and stable grind.
• Correctly ground beans.
• A good espresso machine. We recommend having a look at our selection of coffee machines that represent the best brands in the market.
• The amount of coffee, in general, is between 16-22 grams of ground coffee for a 58mm portafilter.
• The pressure bar of the equipment: 9 to 9.5 bars. 
• Water filtered by a suitable filter and designed for your equipment: an espresso is 98.7% water, therefore the water should not have any smell or taste, as it will directly affect the taste of the coffee . The filter will also protect against minerals, which form lime in your equipment. The accumulated lime modifies the temperature of the water and accelerates the degradation of the device. 
• Water at a temperature between 92 and 98 ° C.
• The maintenance of your espresso machine is also the key to a good espresso: for equipment requiring this action, periodic descaling is important.  
• For all espresso machines, cleaning the water tray, filter holder, basket and steam nozzle using the right products every week allows for fresh extraction of the espresso in clean equipment. 

The best way to master your coffee making skills is through a professional training course - you can sign up to Bepe’s Coffee School and learn everything you need to make the best coffee at home!