Author : Daniel Moranville, KOHI

 

We often think that what makes a good cup of espresso lives in the state-of-the-art stainless-steel machine...

 

And yet...

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Once we have a fresh bag of great specialty coffee beans, the next step is how we grind it. It's about finding the perfect grind size to make sure the water does not go too slow or too fast through the coffee bed.

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To get there, the most important thing is to always put the same amount of ground coffee in the portafilter (in grams), so yes, a good old kitchen scale will be needed to ensure that the process is successful.

 

As an indication, it could take between 7 and 10 seconds before the first drip of liquid gets out of the portafilter. If the water takes less than 5 seconds to get out, adjust your grinder to a finer setting. Conversely, if after 10 seconds there is still no coffee in the cup, the grind should be adjusted coarser.

 

Also, you should never modify the way you tamp the coffee in the portafilter. If you need to press harder for the extraction to work, adjust your grind finer. Again, conversely, if you have to reduce the strength of your tamp, your grind is too fine.

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In the end, if you were thinking of investing in a new espresso machine to improve the quality and consistency of your coffees, I would strongly suggest you make sure you have a good coffee grinder that produces a uniform and consistent grind. Otherwise, it's literally money down the drain...

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Don't worry, all of this does not have to cost a lot.