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Coffee · Recipe
Espresso at Home
| Pick | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Breville Barista Express BES870XL | Machine and grinder together | $689.99 ↗ as of 17 Sep 2026, 2:18am GMT+0000 Details (paid link) |
| LuxHaus 58 mm Espresso Tamper | Tamper | $24.99 ↗ as of 17 Sep 2026, 2:18am GMT+0000 Details (paid link) |
| Greater Goods Digital Espresso Scale | Scale | $17.99 ↗ as of 17 Sep 2026, 2:18am GMT+0000 Details (paid link) |
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Recipe card
Espresso at Home
Ingredients
- 18gFine Ground Coffee (espresso roast)
- Water (filtered)
Instructions
- 1Preheat espresso machine and portafilter
- 2Grind 18g coffee beans to fine consistency
- 3Distribute grounds evenly in portafilter
- 4Tamp with 30 lbs pressure (firm and level)
- 5Lock portafilter into group head
- 6Start extraction immediately
- 7Extract 36g (2oz) in 25-30 seconds
- 8Stop if extraction is too fast or slow
Notes
- Dial in your grind – adjust finer if too fast or coarser if too slow. Fresh beans are critical.
What the recipe assumes you have
The steps above describe a machine, a grinder fine enough to choke it, a tamper that matches the basket, and a scale that reads to a tenth of a gram. Weighing 18 g in and 36 g out is the whole method; without the scale, steps seven and eight are guesses.
Machine and grinder together
Breville Barista Express BES870XL
Why it fits
It includes the grinder, which for a first setup is the deciding fact: an espresso-capable grinder normally costs as much again as the machine. Thermocoil heating with PID temperature control, a 15-bar pump extracting at 9 bar, low-pressure pre-infusion, an 18 g target dose that matches the recipe above, and a 16-setting conical burr grinder that doses into the portafilter. The pressure gauge gives immediate feedback on whether the grind is right, which is the hardest part of step eight to learn blind.
Limitations
A 54 mm portafilter rather than the 58 mm commercial standard, so accessories are narrower and cost more. Thermocoil means brewing and steaming cannot happen at once. The 16 stepped grind settings feel coarse between clicks once you start chasing lighter roasts, and servicing goes through Breville.
Tamper
LuxHaus 58 mm Espresso Tamper
Step four calls for firm and level. A flat base matched to the basket diameter is what makes level possible; measure your portafilter, since 54 mm and 51 mm machines are common.
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