ESPRESSO #1 - Grind

We often think that what makes a good espresso is the flashy stainless steel machine...

And yet...

Once we have a grain that we know is fresh and of good quality, the final step is the grinding we give it. It's about finding the perfect fineness to ensure that the water doesn't pass too slowly or too quickly through the coffee bed.

To achieve this, the most important thing is to always put the same amount of ground coffee in the filter holder (in grams), so yes a scale will be required to ensure that the exercise is successful.

As an indication, it could take between 7 and 10 seconds before seeing the first trickles of liquid extract from the filter holder. If the water takes less than 5 seconds to come out, adjust your grinder finer. Conversely, if after 10 seconds there is still no coffee at the bottom of the cup, the grind will need to be adjusted more coarsely.

Also, you should never adjust the way you tamp (tap) the coffee into the portafilter. If you need to press harder for the extraction to work, adjust your grinder finer. Again, conversely, if you have to reduce the force you put into it, your grind is too fine. We'll talk about the technical details about tamping in a future post...

In short, if you were thinking of investing in a new espresso machine to improve the quality and consistency of your coffees, I would strongly suggest making sure you have a quality grinder on hand that produces an even and consistent grind. Otherwise, it's literally money sent down the drain...

Don't worry, all this doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.

My pleasure,

Dan