Espresso is a deliciously thick cup of coffee. It's heaviness brings out elements of a coffee that are invisible in brewed coffee. There is more sweetness and viscosity in espresso than in other brewed coffees.
Here is how much water and grounds you will need to prepare:
Now that we've gathered all we need, let's starting brewing! Follow these step:
With the portafilter in the group head, place your shot glass below the portafilter spout and run some water through the group. This fills the boiler, preheats the portafilter as well as the shot glass, and de-pressurizes the system so we don't surge water through the grounds. Place the shot glass on top of the espresso machine to keep warm.
Remove the portafilter from the group and prep for grounds. Dry off the portafilter basket with a dry cloth towel. Turn on your grinder and fill the portafilter basket with ground, tapping the portafilter once or twice to even the density of the ground within the basket. When full, turn off the grinder. You may have a slight mound above the basket lip.
Using a tamper, press the grounds tightly into the portafiler basket. Then I like to spin the tamper to finish it off, leaving a nice smooth even bed of grounds in the basket.
Flush some extra water from the espresso machine group head for a second or two. Then reattach the portafilter to the group.
Run water into the group for about 3 seconds, then turn it off. This pre-infuses water into the grounds without pressing the water through and out the spout. This infusion of water expands the ground puck in the basket, lowering your chances that water will channel through the basket.
Start your pull by running water into the group. Your pull should last 15-30 seconds. You should try to extract 2 ounces of water in that time frame, then turn off the water. If it pulls too quickly, it is probably too bitter due to under-extraction; this may be because your grind is too coarse or because your tamp is uneven. If it pulls too slowly, your brew is likely over-extracted and sour; it may be because your grind it too fine.