Pulling the perfect shot of espresso at home sounds simple—until it isn’t. One minute you’re aiming for café-quality crema; the next, you’re staring into a watery or overly bitter brew. The good news? Most espresso-making mishaps are easy to avoid once you know what’s going wrong.
If you’re brewing with top-quality coffee beans but still not getting the results you hoped for, this guide will help. We’ll walk through five common mistakes home baristas make when preparing espresso coffee, and more importantly—how to fix them.
- Using the Wrong Grind Size
The mistake:
Espresso requires a very fine grind—finer than what you’d use for a cafetière or filter coffee. If your grind is too coarse, your espresso will be weak, sour, and watery. Too fine, and your machine might clog or over-extract the shot, causing bitterness.
The fix:
Invest in a good-quality burr grinder and adjust it until your espresso flows like warm honey—typically between 25 and 30 seconds for a double shot. Pre-ground coffee may be convenient, but freshly ground espresso coffee offers better control and flavour.
Tip: Discount Coffee’s espresso blends are available as whole beans or pre-ground for espresso, so you can choose based on your setup.
- Inconsistent Tamping Pressure
The mistake:
Tamping compresses the ground coffee into the portafilter. Too light, and water flows through too quickly; too hard, and it struggles to extract. Uneven tamping can also cause “channelling”, where water finds weak spots and bypasses the rest of the coffee puck.
The fix:
Use firm, even pressure—typically 30 pounds of force. Practice on a bathroom scale to get a feel for it, and always tamp level with the basket. A simple, flat tamper works fine, but calibrated tampers help maintain consistency.
- Using Stale or Low-Quality Coffee Beans
The mistake:
Even the best espresso machine can’t work miracles with stale, over-roasted, or poor-quality beans. Espresso is highly concentrated, which means any imperfections in your coffee beans will be amplified in the cup.
The fix:
Always buy freshly roasted beans and store them in an airtight container away from heat and light. For the best results, use beans within four weeks of roast and grind just before brewing.
Explore Discount Coffee’s espresso coffee range, roasted in small batches for bold flavour and crema-rich consistency.
- Skipping the Warm-Up and Rinse
The mistake:
If your machine and portafilter are cold, they’ll drop the brewing temperature, leading to under-extraction. Some home users also skip flushing water through the group head before pulling a shot, which can introduce old grounds or stale water into the mix.
The fix:
Always let your machine warm up for at least 15–20 minutes. Run water through the group head before inserting your portafilter to heat and clean it. Warm cups also help maintain the temperature of your espresso from shot to sip.
- Ignoring the Brew Ratio
The mistake:
Eyeballing your coffee dose or guessing your shot yield can lead to wild variations in taste. Too little coffee, and the shot will be weak; too much, and it may taste burnt or overly intense.
The fix:
Weigh your coffee and your yield. A standard double shot uses around 18g of ground coffee and yields 36g of liquid espresso. A simple set of digital scales can elevate your home espresso game instantly.
For consistent dosing, pair our espresso-ground coffee beans with a simple dosing funnel and scale setup.
Bonus: Don’t Forget to Clean Your Equipment
Build-up of oils and old grounds can ruin your espresso flavour, even with the best beans and technique. Regularly clean your portafilter, basket, and group head to maintain taste and equipment lifespan.
Final Thoughts
Mastering espresso at home takes a bit of practice—but the payoff is worth it. With the right coffee beans, proper technique, and a few tweaks to your daily brew, you’ll be producing café-quality espresso in your own kitchen.
Whether you’re new to home brewing or ready to upgrade your routine, Discount Coffee’s espresso coffee range has you covered. Choose from bold Italian blends, smooth single origins, or classic roast profiles—all crafted for crema, body, and flavour clarity.