Espresso extraction
Applies to: any double-shot espresso pull, dine-in or as the base for a milk drink.
Target: 25–30 seconds extraction, dose-to-cup under 60 seconds.
- Flush the group head for 2–3 seconds and wipe the basket dry — residual water in the basket distorts the dose reading.
- Zero the scale with the clean, dry portafilter on it.
- Confirm hopper level and roast date; a new bag or a fresh roast date means a full recalibration, not a small tweak.
- Purge 2–3 g through the grinder to clear stale grounds before the first weighed dose.
- Dose 18.0 g (±0.2 g) into the portafilter basket.
- Verified on the bench scale, not by eye or a timer alone.
- Distribute the grounds evenly across the basket, then tamp level with consistent, firm pressure.
- A tilted or uneven tamp is the most common cause of channeling.
- Lock the portafilter into the group head and start extraction immediately.
- A delay of more than a few seconds between locking in and starting stales the puck.
- Extract to 36.0–40.0 g in the cup, timed from the start of flow.
- Hazelnut-gold crema, a steady even stream that lightens gradually toward the end.
- Judge the clock: extraction time inside 25–30 seconds is in spec.
- Under 25 s and thin/sour → grind finer. Over 30 s and bitter/harsh → grind coarser.
- Serve or combine into the drink within 10 seconds of the shot finishing.
- A shot left idle beyond that window is a dead shot — discard and re-pull, never serve it.
- Crema: hazelnut-gold, 3–4 mm, re-forms briefly after a spoon drag.
- No sour, thin, watery taste (under-extraction) or harsh, hollow bitterness (over-extraction).
- Any shot outside the 25–30 s window is dumped and the grind re-dialed — never served to compensate.
A calibration or dial-in shot is a measuring tool, not a drink — read it, taste it, log the result, and discard it rather than serving it to a guest.