by A step-by-step instructions guide for espresso newbies.
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Congratulations! You just bought a new espresso maker and a grinder, and you are ready to pull your first shots of velvety dark liquid. If you are like me when I started, you probably wonder how to make your first espresso shots and where to start without wasting a lot of delicious coffee in trial and error.
What do you need to get started with espresso shots?
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it contains the essential tools required.
- An espresso machine, obviously! Here are some best value options,
- An espresso coffee grinder; you can consult this article for some recommendations,
- A kitchen knife,
- A kitchen scale,
- A tamper,
- A brand new bag of inexpensive coffee beans (Aldi has two good options, find out more here) because you’ll go through a lot at the beginning,
- A shot glass or an espresso cup.
Are you confused and scared? I have been there too.
There are so many parameters to control to make a good shot of espresso. Getting started can be a confusing and somewhat stressful experience. I will provide you with a guideline to narrow down the variables. So, you will be able to pull a good espresso shot and, more importantly, reproduce it each time. I am not promising that you will get the perfect cup, but following these recommendations should help you quickly get a satisfying result. From there, you can start tweaking all the parameters to improve your outcomes. It is the beginning of a fun journey!
The basic parameters to control your first espresso shots
When using a semi-automatic espresso machine and a grinder, the main parameters that will affect your results are:
- Which filter basket: single or double?
- The amount of coffee you need in your portafilter,
- The importance of pressure you will use with your tamper, and how do you tamp your coffee puck,
- The quantity of liquid you will extract,
- The time you will let your extraction run to obtain the above amount,
- How fine do you grind your coffee?
These are your basic parameters. You could change your brew temperature or brew pressure if your machine allows it but let us leave that aside for now.
Get ready for your first espresso shot. Lock your grind setting and be a scientist!
Like any scientific experiment, eliminating most variables and only changing one parameter at a time will allow you to narrow down to a recipe that works and that you can reproduce consistently.
The idea here will be to lock all the parameters and only adjust the grind size to reach a good result. You understand better the importance of using whole beans with a grinder and not pre-ground coffee. Of course, the other reason is freshness, as abundantly explained in my previous article.
Which filter basket?
Your machine probably came with multiple baskets: a single and a double. Some manufacturers include a set of pressurized baskets (with a small number of holes). Store your single and your pressurized baskets in a drawer and forget them. From now on, you will mostly work with your regular double basket.
Pressurized baskets are simpler to use if you use pre-ground coffee, but they won’t allow you to tweak things as you want and get great results.
Single baskets are notoriously tricky to use to get great results. They may be a fun experiment in the future when you are perfectly comfortable with the basics.
The amount of coffee in your portafilter?
Before we decide how much coffee you need to use, let us talk about “brew-ratio.” A typical reference with espresso is to use a brew-ratio of 1:2. If you use 15g of ground coffee, you want to extract 30g of espresso. A double basket will typically hold between 14g and 18g of finely ground coffee.
My recommendation is to obtain a certain level of easy consistency. I fill my filter with lose ground coffee, and I level with a knife blade against the filter’s rim. In my case, that always results in 15g of ground coffee, give or take half a gram. Your filter may give you a different result. The idea is to use the same amount every time. Most professional baristas and enthusiasts weigh each shot with a sensitive high precision scale for best results. Honestly, I don’t do that because I do not find it enjoyable as a part of my daily routine, and I have consistent results with the method described here.
Dial your grinder at the recommended setting for espresso, if provided by the manufacturer, otherwise use the medium setting. Now grind your coffee.
Grinding in portafliter. Photo by Beans and Burrs. 
Dose with a blade. Photo by Beans and Burrs.
Weigh your ground coffee and double that number to know how much liquid you will need to extract.
Tamping your first espresso shots
Now comes the part where everything could go South: tamping. Tamping your coffee ground allows you to prepare a nicely compressed coffee puck. There are so many ways to use a tamper that will impact your final result. If your machine comes with a plastic tamper, I would strongly recommend treating yourself with a nice heavy metal tamper: it is more fun to use and will make the whole process easier. I would suggest checking the following video to find a consistent tamping method.
You want to tamp as flat and even as possible. Water will always try to find the easiest path; if one side is more compressed than the other, water will go through the less compacted grounds and extract more from that side. The result of an uneven shot is a mediocre taste. So, try to tamp as straight and even as possible. You do not need to press hard. Stop when you feel that the tamper is not moving anymore. The critical thing will always be to use the same tamping pressure to remove that variability. Once pressed, you can make a little rotation with your tamper to “polish” the surface of your coffee puck but don’t overdo it. The idea is to have a nice flat and smooth surface.
The quantity of liquid you will extract
You want twice the weight of your coffee dose. Pick your favorite espresso cup or shot glass and pour water to get the desired quantity.
For instance, if you have 15g of coffee, you want to fill 30g of water. Have a good look at the level in the cup.
In the next steps, you will stop your shot each time you reach that level.
The time you will let your extraction run to obtain the above amount
Now it is time to attach your portafilter to the machine. Put your cup under the spout.
The ideal time to pull a shot is between 25 and 30 seconds.
Open the stopwatch app on your phone. Start your shot with your machine and immediately start the stopwatch. As soon as you reach the target level, stop the shot and check the time.
Ongoing espresso extraction. Photo by Beans and Burrs. 
Target quantity obtained in 25 sec. Photo by Beans and Burrs.
Trial and error
If you filled the desired quantity in less than 25 seconds, your extraction was too fast, and you will need to grind finer. Your espresso will likely taste sour and be too thin.
If it takes over 30 seconds, your extraction is too slow, and you will need to grind coarser. Your coffee will probably taste bitter and look a bit oily.
After a few iterations, you should extract a shot within the 25-30 seconds window. Congratulate yourself and taste your coffee. Hopefully, the taste and texture are right. Your grinder is at the right setting for this specific coffee. This process is called dialing in espresso.
You will likely waste some coffee to find the right setting for your grinder, and you may want to use inexpensive coffee beans at first. Note that you will probably need to tweak your grinder’s settings again when you use different coffee beans, keeping all other parameters identical.
I have a confession to make. My wife, Audrey, who heavily contributes to this blog, had never made espresso before. She wanted to test the above recommendations’ clarity by pulling her first shots without any other help. I am proud to report that she got it right on the 3rd attempt.
The bottom line
The above is not THE ultimate guide. It is a starting point to get good results with most coffee choices, machines, and grinders. Once you have the right product, the fun part is to tweak the parameters and see for yourself what works best. Then, go ahead and explore all the delicious coffee beans out there.
Understanding the parameters and eliminating the variables will make it easy to reproduce good and consistent shots. The combination number of possible parameters makes the espresso journey fun and full of possibilities, but it is overwhelming. Using these simple rules and eliminating the grind size parameters will help you get excellent and consistent results. You will enjoy your espresso every day with no guesswork.
