Espresso compass

Dial In Your Espresso

Shot tasting off? Tap where it lands and get the fix. Then lock your ratio, time your shot and tune for your beans.

How did your shot taste?

Tap the square that matches. The pink one is the goal.

Your fix appears here

  1. 1Pull a shot and taste it, no milk.
  2. 2Tap the square that matches.
  3. 3Change one thing, brew again, repeat.

Your Recipe

Enter your recipe. Click a ratio to lock it.

Dose

grams coffee

Ratio

Yield

grams espresso

0.0s

Stop at 36 g
(18 g in)

Start when you press the button on your machine, stop when the scale reads your yield. Time is a guide; taste decides.

Your Coffee

Enter what you know about your coffee for personalized espresso tips.

Sour or Bitter? How to Tell

Many people confuse these two. The difference is in when and how you feel it.

Sour

Hits you immediately. Sharp and biting. Disappears quickly. Often accompanied by a salty taste.

Test:Taste lemon juice and notice how it bites immediately then fades.

Bitter

Creeps up slowly. Heavy and deep sensation. Lingers for a long time. Dries out your mouth.

Test:Taste cocoa powder and notice how it slowly builds up.

Water: 87-93% of Your Espresso

Bad water = flat taste + scale that kills your machine. This is the #1 thing home baristas overlook.

TDS (Total Dissolved Solids)

0 ppm75 ppm150 ppm300+ ppm
Too soft

Corrosion risk

Ideal ✓

Balanced

Hard

Scale risk

Very hard

Scale + flat

Magnesium (Mg²⁺)

Brings out fruity, bright flavors. Great for light roasts. But: causes scale in your machine.

Ideal: 10-30 ppm (or skip it)

Calcium (Ca²⁺)

Adds body, chocolate, nutty notes. But: the #1 cause of scale buildup in espresso machines.

Ideal: 20-40 ppm (or skip it)

Bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻)

Neutralizes acids. A little helps balance, too much makes everything taste flat and boring.

Keep it low: 10-40 ppm

Hard tap water (>150 ppm)

Double trouble for espresso: your shots taste flat AND your machine slowly dies from scale buildup. The heat and pressure accelerate everything.

Fix it: Brita filter, soft bottled water, or mineral packets + distilled.

Ideal water (50-100 ppm)

Soft enough to protect your machine, hard enough to extract good flavors. Check your local water hardness online, or grab a cheap TDS meter.

Pro tip: Descale your machine every 2-3 months anyway. It's cheap insurance.

Adjusting for Roast Level

Light and dark roasts require completely different approaches.

Light Roast

  • • Rest: 2-3 weeks off roast
  • • Temperature: 94-96°C
  • • Ratio: 1:2.5 to 1:3
  • • Time: 15-25 sec (fast is OK)

Harder to extract, needs higher temp and longer ratio

Medium Roast

  • • Rest: 7-14 days off roast
  • • Temperature: 91-93°C
  • • Ratio: 1:2 to 1:2.5
  • • Time: 25-30 sec

Standard approach, good starting point

Dark Roast

  • • Rest: 3-7 days off roast
  • • Temperature: 88-91°C
  • • Ratio: 1:1.5 to 1:2
  • • Time: 25-35 sec

Easy to extract, don't overdo it

Quick Help

Too sour?

Let more espresso flow (e.g., from 36g to 42g).

Too bitter?

Grind coarser and stop extraction earlier.

Too strong?

Use less coffee, or add hot water afterwards.

Too watery?

Use more coffee and fill your portafilter properly.

Words of Wisdom

Dose by volume, not weight

Fill your basket until there's no screen imprint on the dry puck. Different coffees weigh differently: 18g of dark roast ≠ 18g of light roast in volume.

Yield is your #1 lever

Want more extraction? Don't grind finer, just let more water through. Sour shot? Run it longer. Light roasts love 1:2.5 or even 1:3 ratios.

Your grinder > your machine

A €200 machine with a €500 grinder beats a €1500 machine with a €100 grinder. Every time. Invest in grind quality first.

WDT actually works

A few needles breaking up clumps sounds silly. But WDT dramatically improves extraction evenness. It's the cheapest upgrade that actually matters.

Turbo shots are legit

Coarse grind, fast flow (15 sec), high yield. Sounds wrong, tastes great, especially with light roasts. Don't knock it till you try it.