How To Make The Perfect Espresso - Tips and Tricks

Nov 21, 2025

Mark your calendars, November 23rd is National Espresso Day! The base of every great latte and cappuccino (or simply enjoyed black), we’ve spent almost 20 years crafting the perfect recipe and roasting methods to create the best tasting espresso for our cafes and at-home customers.

Espresso has a long history stretching back to the heights of the renaissance in Italy. Espresso coffee was originally invented in Venice back in the early 20th century by Luigi Bezzera, who was experimenting with coffee to see how he could make his brew faster. He discovered that adding steam pressure to the machine not only cut the time it took to create the brew, but it also created a much stronger drink.

Italy began to produce more machines as the country was hooked on the taste, with the term “espresso” entering the Italian lexicon. Nineteenth-century coffee houses were tranquil places but by 1935, they started attracting workers, frequenting them in search of a caffeine hit rather than alcohol!

By 1948, two of coffee's biggest players, Ernesto Valente of Faema and Giovanni Gaggia, were working together to make machines profitable, but disagreed on who to market the machines to. Gaggia saw it as a luxury meant for fancy establishments, whilst Valente wanted to produce cheaper machines for the wider public. In 1961, he released the world-renowned Faema E61, known as ‘the father of modern espresso’, which exploded onto the scene and changed coffee consumption forever. The machine helped convert cafes into social spaces where customers and baristas could chat, leading to growth and popularity of espresso bars and cafés we see today.

Today, espresso is widely enjoyed in all cafes, hotels, and social venues. The perfect espresso shot (to us) is 18g of coffee with an extraction time of 34 seconds.

Espresso Tips and Tricks

Use fresh, whole beans: we might be biased, but choosing high-quality, speciality whole beans will improve the tast
Get a good grinder: Grind your beans fresh before brewing, and use a quality burr grinder specifically designed for espresso to ensure a consistent grind. We recommend Baratza!
Check water quality: Your water's quality is a critical ingredient for good espresso. Use bottled or filtered water to remove any impurities that can affect taste.
Preheat everything: Warm up your machine, portafilter, and cup to ensure your shot doesn't lose heat between steps.

How to make the perfect Espresso

Measure and grind 18g of coffee. Depending on your machine, use either a separate grinder or bean-to-cup machine.
Wipe your portafilter to remove any traces of old coffee and oils - this can dramatically affect the taste! Add your ground coffee to the basket and shake gently to level.
Use a coffee tamper to press the coffee ground into a dense puck, applying even pressure.
Flush the group head to remove any old coffee residue.
Insert the portafilter into the machine, making sure it’s secure. Press the machine button to start brewing right away. If you wait, the heat from the group head may burn your coffee, impairing the flavour.
Aim for an extraction time of 34 seconds. This is the optimum time to extract the depth of flavours from your beans, giving them time to balance and blend together under pressure.