6 min read
How to Dial In Espresso
Find your perfect shot in five steps
Dialing in espresso means adjusting grind size, dose, and yield until the taste is balanced. Here is a straightforward method that works with any machine and grinder.
What does "dialing in" mean?
Dialing in is the process of adjusting your grind size, dose, and yield to produce a balanced, flavorful espresso shot. Every new bag of coffee requires dialing in — even if you used the same grinder setting yesterday. Beans age, humidity changes, and roast profiles vary. The goal is to find the sweet spot where your shot tastes neither sour (under-extracted) nor bitter (over-extracted).
Step 1: Start with a recipe
Begin with a standard recipe: 18g of ground coffee in, 36g of liquid espresso out, in about 25–30 seconds. This 1:2 ratio is a reliable starting point for most medium roasts. Weigh your dose with a scale — consistency matters more than precision here.
Step 2: Grind and distribute
Grind your coffee directly into the portafilter basket. Use a WDT tool to break up any clumps — this is one of the simplest upgrades you can make to your workflow. Then level the grounds with a distribution tool before tamping. Even distribution leads to even extraction.
Step 3: Pull the shot and taste
Lock in your portafilter and start the extraction. Watch the flow — a bottomless portafilter lets you see channeling in real time. If the shot runs too fast (under 20 seconds), grind finer. If it chokes or runs too slow (over 35 seconds), grind coarser. Taste the shot. Sour means under-extracted (grind finer or increase time). Bitter means over-extracted (grind coarser or decrease time).
Step 4: Adjust one variable at a time
Change only one thing between shots. If you adjust grind size, keep dose and yield the same. This way you can isolate what each change does to the taste. Most of the time, grind size is the primary variable you will adjust.
Step 5: Lock it in
Once you find a shot that tastes balanced — sweet, with pleasant acidity and no harshness — note your settings. Grind setting, dose weight, yield weight, and time. This becomes your baseline for the rest of the bag. You may need to make small adjustments as the beans age over the next week or two.
Recommended Tools
