WHAT ESPRESSO MACHINE IS BEST FOR YOU?
If you know for sure you love espresso, but aren't sure on the right machine style for you, take this quiz!
Espresso Machine Boiler Types
Learn everything you need to know about boiler types before assembling your espresso set-up.
Pour Over Brew Method Demystified
Learn the art of pour over. The end result is balanced, complex, and—if you’re lucky—a meditative state.
What is Drip Coffee?
Discover the nuances of coffee brewing and get the right brewer for you.
A Beginner's Guide to Coffee Grinders
Get a grasp on grinders. Know their burr type, materials, and the features your machine needs to brew a consistent shot.
Coffee Flavor Affected By Grinders
Learn about coffee grinders affect the taste of your coffee.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHOOSING COFFEE
Start your journey into the wonderful world of specialty coffee and espresso with this diverse collection of beans.
Shop our collection of coffee products
Browse our extensive selection of gourmet coffee and espresso beans. Whether you’re looking for whole bean, pre-ground coffee, decaf, single-serve capsules or ESE Pods, we have it all.
Scale in Dual-Boiler Machines
For proper machine maintenance, we stock genuine parts and premium care products.
Support Library
Don't know what part you need? Check our support wiki for part diagrams and guides to help troubleshoot issues.
BWT Water Filters for Espresso Machines
Build the perfect coffee bar and make sure it stays that way with a state of the art water filtration system.
The Importance of Espresso Tampers
Choosing a quality tamper is often overlooked as an important consideration of brewing good espresso.
Technical Support
Discover useful specs, troubleshooting guides, and brewing tips from our huge support library.
Whole Latte Love on Youtube
With over 1,000 videos, our channel has everything from espresso machine reviews, tech and maintenance guides, coffee recipes, and more!
Machine Video Library
We’ve taken our expert YouTube videos and carefully collected them into specific playlists for each machine.
Profitec Pro 500 PID vs Quick Mill Arnos
It's time for another showdown between two great espresso machines, this time in the heat exchanger category.
Whole Latte Love Blog
Advice, staff picks, mythbusting, and more from the Internet’s leading coffee experts. Let us help you.
by Marc Buckman Updated: August 26, 2019 2 min read
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It’s a question we get all the time: What setting should I use on a grinder to get the right fineness for pulling espresso? In this Quick Tip we’ll give you the basics on how to get the right grind for espresso.
So what’s the right grinder setting for espresso? Well every grinder is different. A setting of a 5 on one grinder has no correlation to a 5 on another. Your goal is to produce a 2 to 2.5 oz double shot of espresso in 20 to 30 seconds. That timing and volume is the Golden Rule of espresso.
It’s where most coffees are at their best. Where they produce the most crema and are not under-extracted and watery, or over-extracted and bitter. To get there, start with a grind that is a little finer than granulated sugar. Pull a shot, adjust and repeat. If your extraction is to fast grind finer. To slow, grind courser. This is called “dialing in a shot.”
When dialing in shots, all other variables must stay the same. So, grind fresh for each shot, use the same dose, control temperatures of brew water and equipment and tamp with the same force. That’s the key, you only want grind size to change. So make sure your machine is up to temperature and ready to brew and keep your portafilter on the machine when not in use so it stays warm.
When you change grind size run your grinder for a moment to push out any leftovers. And measure the dose using the same technique every time. You can weigh it, use a measured scoop or just fill the portafilter and level it. But use the same dose for every extraction.
You’ve also got to tamp with the same pressure for every shot. About 30 pounds of force is recommended. The actual force you use is not as important as using the same force every time. And that’s probably the hardest part.
It takes practice to tamp with a consistent force. You can get a feel for it using a scale, with the Smart-Tamp which gives you a readout out of actual tamping force or by using a calibrated tamper like this model from Espro.
The key is to be consistent with all other variables as you change the grind. And be aware; a grind setting for one coffee may not be the same for another or even the same coffee on a different day.
Marc is one of Whole Latte Love's resident experts on everything coffee. He built our YouTube channel from the ground up in 2009, demystifying the world of coffee for upwards of 250k subscribers by producing over 1,600 in-depth videos. Marc enjoys hiking, scuba diving, and saving the lives of his coworkers when the kitchen runs out of coffee by sharing some of his own.
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