How to Make Espresso at Home on a Semi-Automatic Machine

What you get: one shot of espresso, weighed in and out, and a recipe you can repeat tomorrow. How long it takes: the shot itself about half a minute. The warm-up depends on your machine. Breville's booklet gives 3 seconds for the Bambino Plus, and Gaggia's manual says to wait a few minutes.

A semi-automatic machine supplies the pressure and the temperature. You do the rest, and this page covers the whole round from a cold machine to a clean basket. Once you can pull a shot, dialing in is how you make it taste good with a new coffee.

What you need

• A pump machine. Any of them works for this routine. The steps below use the manuals for several machines, so where yours differs, follow your own.
• A grinder that goes fine. Breville's guide prefers burr grinders to blade grinders. Our grinder guide has the options.
• A scale with 0.1 g steps and a timer. You weigh the coffee going in and the espresso coming out. Our scale page covers the choice.
• Fresh beans. Breville recommends a roasted-on date on the bag, and using them between 5 and 20 days after that date. Stale coffee may pour too fast and taste bitter and watery.
• Filtered or mineral water. Breville's guide suggests either one, to avoid off-flavors.

Pull your first shot

1. Fill and warm up

   Fill the tank with fresh water before you switch on, then wait for the ready light. Gaggia's manual has you keep the portafilter in the machine so the whole brew unit stays at temperature.

2. Flush the group

   Run a short flow of water through the group head. Breville says this stabilizes the temperature before extraction. Then dry the basket.

3. Grind and weigh

   Start at a texture close to fine table salt, and weigh 18 g into the basket. If your basket is made for less, use what it is made for. Your manual gives the range.

4. Level and tamp

   Tap the portafilter or stir so the bed is even, then press until the coffee stops compressing, and keep it level. Wipe loose grounds off the rim so the seal is clean.

5. Lock in and pull

   Lock the portafilter in, set your cup on the scale, zero it and start the shot. Time from the start of the brew cycle, as Breville does.

6. Stop by weight

   Stop when the scale reads 36 g, whatever the clock says. Aim for 25 to 30 seconds, and accept 20 to 40 if you like the cup.

7. Taste and adjust

   Taste it before you change anything. If it ran fast and tastes sour or thin, grind finer next time. If it ran slow and tastes bitter, grind coarser.

8. Clean up

   Take the portafilter out slowly, knock out the puck, rinse the basket and flush the group.

The numbers behind the steps

This recipe is one good place to start. 1:2 in 25 to 30 seconds comes from Breville's guide. It's a good first recipe, not a standard. Italy's certified espresso is 7 g to 25 ml, in 25 seconds give or take 5, with water of about 190 °F (88 °C) at about 9 bar. Same word, a much smaller drink.

Choose a dose and read the yield here. The 1:1 and 1:3 ratios in the calculator also come from Breville's guide.

Tamping gets more attention than it deserves. Press until the coffee stops compressing, and keep it level. Force above that adds nothing measurable in the one test we found. Seven Miles Coffee Roasters pulled “a total of 25 shots of espresso at 10, 20 & 30kg”, and saw no difference in extraction time. In the same test, angled tamps gave less consistent flow, visible channeling and poorer taste, so level is what counts.

The bar number is similar. The 15 or 20 bar on the box is what the pump can reach. Espresso is brewed at about 9 bar. Nothing in this routine depends on that number on the box.

Common first-shot mistakes

• Guessing the dose. Without a scale you can't compare one shot with the next, and that's the only way to learn from them.
• Grinding to powder. Breville's booklet warns that water won't flow through a grind that feels like flour, and the shot turns dark and bitter.
• Ignoring the basket size. An 18 g recipe won't suit a basket made for less. Your manual gives the range.
• Pulling cold. Skip the warm-up and the flush, and you've changed the temperature without knowing it.
• Judging by crema. Crema shows CO2, so freshness and roast. It says little about flavor.
• Fixing a fast shot with force. Change the grind first. Breville calls it the first thing to adjust when the timing is off.

After the shot

Empty, rinse, repeat

Knock the puck out, rinse the basket and run a little water through the group. Breville's guide says to clean the machine and grinder regularly, so coffee oils don't build up, including the dispersion screen and the underside of the basket. If the first shot wasn't quite right, go to how to dial in espresso and change one thing at a time.

Read how to dial in

Making a latte or a flat white? Pull the shot as above, then read how to steam milk. If your shot keeps coming out sharp, why espresso turns sour goes through the causes.

Still looking for a machine?

Our guide for beginners sets out what to buy first and in which order, including budget options. For most people starting out, we recommend a small machine and a separate grinder.

We compare by spec sheet and published sources, and do not test machines ourselves. How we compare explains what that means.