Brewing Espresso at Home…

Most home espresso machines are designed to be turned on for use and then turned off directly after use (consult your manual on exact instructions). You will also have to fill the boiler with water. Most machines heat up the water on their own while warming up, so it is a good idea to pour the water in the boiler as soon as you turn on the machine.

Setting the grind is paramount to successful espresso. Part of the art of espresso is negotiating the exact specifications of the grind for the particular time, place and machine that you are brewing espresso on. More important than in any other brewing method, espresso requires a burr grinder in order to ensure the type of specificity you are looking for in the grind. An espresso grind is a fine grind, finer than drip coffee or press pot coffee. Your burr grinder should have guidelines and settings for how fine to grind for espresso, but again, find the grind that is right for you.

The exact amount of dosing for espresso varies from machine to machine. Consult your manual for the right amount. That said, taking the portafilter out from the espresso machine and wiping out the basket with your bar towel, you should dose your coffee so that there is a slight mound of ground coffee at the top of the portafilter basket. Try to disperse the grounds as evenly as possible. After you have dosed, take your forefinger and level off the excess grounds from the top, leaving a flat and uniform dose of coffee in your portafilter.

Most likely, your home espresso machine should come with a tamper. You should start tamping by placing the portafilter on a flat, steady surface. Next, take the tamper in hand and tamp with your forearm vertical and your elbow bent at a ninety degree angle. You should push with 25 to 30 lbs of pressure, the result being a fairly condensed puck of coffee in the portafilter (you should be able to turn it upside down and not have it fall out).

Before you attach the portafilter back into the espresso machine, make sure that your water is hot and pressurized by pushing the extraction button on your machine. Water should come out hot. Turn it off and insert the portafilter. Place your preheated demitasse cups underneath the spouts of the portafilter and turn the extraction button on. The espresso should come out slowly and smoothly in a dark, syrupy brown strand flecked with shades of red. If it comes out too quickly and in a light shade of creamy tan, your grind is too coarse and you should adjust accordingly. If the espresso comes out slowly and not dripping in a continuous stream, your grind is too fine. It will take a while to find out what exactly is the best-tasting cup of espresso, so do not be discouraged if your espresso doesn’t come out perfectly every time. It is an art form and like all great art, it takes time and dedication to reach perfection.

If you aren’t ready to sip straight shots of espresso (although we recommend you try it), you might want to make a macchiato, cappuccino or latte. In order to do this, you will need to steam milk. Most home espresso machines have steam wands for milk steaming but don’t have big enough boilers to support both extracting espresso and steaming milk at the same time. Again, consult your manual for information on how the boiler and steam wand in your home espresso machine works. Fill your steaming pitcher a little under halfway with milk. Before placing the steam wand into the pitcher, purge it by turning it on. This not only lets you know if it is ready for use, but also gets rid of any excess residue that might have accumulated. Place the pitcher under the steam wand and turn it on full. Hold the pitcher as steady as possible. You should notice a sprinkler sounding noise at the beginning. This is the foam being created. For more foam, slightly pull the pitcher downward. Milk should not be steamed over 155 degrees or it starts to go sour. You can buy a thermometer if you like, but most baristas gauge the temperature simply by the feel of the pitcher and the sound of the milk frothing. After you are done, pour milk into the espresso and enjoy!

You should clean your espresso machine immediately after every use. Once you have extracted your espresso, take the portafilter out, remove the puck of coffee and wipe out the basket with your bar towel. Also, if you used your steam wand to steam milk, take your bar towel, dampen it with water and immediately wipe off any excess milk and purge the wand by turning it on and off. Cleaning your machine is essential to successful espresso brewing and should be done meticulously. Consult your manual for any other cleaning procedures you might need to do in order to keep your espresso machine functioning at the highest level possible.

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