5 Easy Tricks To Get Consistently Better Espresso At Home

If you have an espresso machine and struggle with getting a good, consistent extraction, here are some tips that might help you. 

I have worked all these tips into my espresso workflow and had better results with my espresso.

(Note: these tips are based on my experience with my Breville (Sage) Barista Express but are generally applicable.)

Tip 1: Preheat the Espresso Machine and Components

The espresso machine must warm sufficiently to ensure a stable water temperature while extracting. Preheat ensures that all components are warm, including the portafilter and basket. If these parts are not warm, they will pull some heat away from the brewing water, affecting the extraction.

I like to allow the machine to warm up for 10 to 15 minutes with the portafilter on the group head. But sometimes, I forget that it is warming up, so lately, I've set a timer on my phone to remind me of it.

You can reduce the warming-up period by giving the espresso machine 5 minutes to warm up and then running the water through the portafilter to bring the components up to temperature. 

Tip 2: Prime the Grinder

Grinders in cafes are primed and ready to use throughout the day. But they don't start that way. Instead, it takes the Barista a few dialing-in shots to prepare the grinder for the day. 

At home, if you store beans in the grinder's bean hopper, then you could also run through some beans to get the grinder to clear any stale, retained grounds and to get the grinder ready for your actual shot. 

If you single dose, chances will there are old grounds stuck in the grinder. But a unique benefit of single dosing is hot starting the grind, meaning start the grinder, then drop the beans in.

Here is what I do for this scenario because the onboard Breville grinder is not a single dose grinder but I’m using it that way:

• Run the grinder and turn the dial to the largest grind setting. Bang the hopper to release any caught-up grounds.

• Run the grinder and turn the setting to the finest grind setting. 

• Run the grinder on the finest setting.

• Then run the grinder and move to the correct setting for the coffee I'm brewing. (I would have figured out this setting when I dialed it in.)

• Once set, run the grinder then drop in the dose of beans. for a hot start.

Tip 3: Single Dose the Coffee 

My grinder is not specifically a single-dose grinder and has no dosing controls. However, single dosing allows me to control the grinder and prevents wastage.

If your grinder is not gravity fed and does not rely on the beans' weight in the hopper to push the grounds through, you could get away with single dosing.

Tip 4: Double Tamp 

I struggled with tamping using the tamper that came with the Breville. I realized this was the case when I started using a weighted tamper. 

The weighted tamper set the bed almost perfectly, compressing the grounds far more than I could with the Breville tamper.

But sometimes, I would accidentally tamp at an angle, so the bed had a tilt to it. But mostly, I found stray loose grounds on the top of the bed after using the weighted tamper.

So I started following the weighted tamp with the Breville Tamp to reset the bed if required and to take care of those loose grounds. 

This approach resolved my previous tamping issues quite effectively.

Is double tamping acceptable? I've watched an Espresso course that confirmed a second tamp is okay to finalize the bed, but more convincingly, James Hoffman double-tamped in his winning routine at the World Barista Champs.

Tip 5: Use the Manual Extraction Options

Most home machines have pre-programmed shot volumes. 

These volumes are preset and don't factor in the grind size, the roast level, or the dosing ratio.

Letting the machine control the extraction will yield terrible espresso. 

Instead, find how to allow you to start and stop the extraction based on the dosage and the espresso out. 

I use a scale to measure the espresso out. Then, I stop extracting when the espresso weight matches my planned dosing ratio.

Those are the five tricks I've used to get better espresso extractions, and I have worked them into my workflow to improve my consistency.

Try these and see if they can help you get a consistently better espresso at home.