5 Common Espresso Mistakes You Didn’t Know You Were Making

If your home espresso machine is failing to deliver the perfect shot, you could be making one of these five common mistakes. Read on to perfect your technique.

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When making coffee, sometimes you will make some mistakes that lead to unsatisfactory results. To have a delicious cup of coffee, just right, avoid some common mistakes that coffee makers often make as follows.

1 Not taking enough coffee

Usually, a single shot will need about 7 – 9g of coffee powder and a double shot will need about 14 – 16g of coffee powder. If you take less coffee than the standard, it will lead to under-extracted (i.e. underextracted). At this time, your cup of coffee will have a light crema layer, the espresso flavor will also be light and not strong.

But if you take more coffee than necessary, your cup of coffee will have a very strong taste, not smooth and lose its aroma. The sign is that the coffee is very dark in color, the flow when extracted is small, even intermittent or dripping, the crema layer will be very dark in color.

To overcome this situation, you should use a small scale to weigh the amount of coffee needed for each brew. This method is extremely useful for those who are new to using coffee makers.

Not taking enough coffee

2 Uneven distribution of coffee powder in the filter basket

If you do not tamp evenly and distribute the coffee powder unevenly in the filter basket, the coffee cake will become skewed. From there, the extracted espresso will not have good balance.

Therefore, when taking coffee, you should spread the coffee powder evenly in the filter basket, you should sweep the coffee powder on the surface so that the gaps are filled and at the same time, remove excess coffee.

Uneven distribution of coffee powder in the filter basket

3 The fineness of the coffee is not yet up to standard

The fineness of the coffee greatly affects the quality of the espresso. If the coffee is moderately fine, the espresso will be extracted in about 20 – 30 seconds and will have the best flavor. Therefore, coffee powder that is too fine or too coarse will make your espresso unpalatable.

The fineness of the coffee is not yet up to standard

4 The pressure on the coffee is not suitable

After measuring the amount of coffee into the filter basket, you need to compress the coffee powder, the pressure is about 15kg is optimal. If you tamp the coffee too tightly, it will cause over-extraction, but if you tamp it too loosely, it will be under-extracted.

The pressure on the coffee is not suitable

5 Tap the coffee handle after tamping

Many people have the habit of tapping the coffee handle after tamping to remove excess coffee powder from the rim. But this will create a groove in the coffee cake causing channeling, making the flavor of your espresso unbalanced, the crema layer will have an uneven color.

Tap the coffee handle after tamping

Here is the information about 5 common mistakes that many people often make when making espresso coffee that we want to share with you. Hopefully, the article has provided you with a lot of useful information.

Frequently asked questions

Spread the coffee powder evenly in the filter basket and sweep the surface to fill gaps and remove excess coffee. This ensures a balanced extraction and prevents an uneven coffee cake, which can affect the flavor and crema layer of your espresso.

The ideal fineness for espresso is moderately fine. This is because the fineness of the coffee directly impacts the extraction time and flavor. Coffee that is too fine or too coarse will result in an unpalatable espresso.

The optimal pressure is approximately 15kg. Applying too much pressure will cause over-extraction, while too little pressure will result in under-extraction. This affects the balance of flavors in your espresso.

Tapping the coffee handle creates a groove in the coffee cake, causing channeling. This affects the flavor and crema layer of your espresso, making the color uneven and the taste unbalanced.

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