Understanding the Recipe for an Espresso Brew Ratio

[@RobertsonDCCD]

One of the best introductory primers that I have seen to get anyone on the path to great espresso. Great work!

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Thanks so much! Keep an eye out for the next episode 😀

[@wakeawaken430]

I just discovered your channel I am a semi-professional barista and passionate home barista And I wrote semi, cause I work only at cafes that I like, that they appreciate my knowledge over so many years and they chasing the perfect cup, I hope you know what I mean Even for a pro barista your videos are very informative and it's nice to remember again and again some things, cause the good equipment make us lazy some times

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Thanks so much for your kind words! I know what you mean. From one cover lover to another 😀

[@FatmataSesay-h1d]

Thank you for your teaching. Have learnt a lot. Thank you

[@AlternativeBrewing]

You are very welcome 🤗

[@gregoryrobak456]

Great to the point explanations.

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Appreciate it, thanks!

[@TC_Prof]

Great video once again josh greatly explained too 👍👍

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Thanks so much 😀 Glad you think so!

[@pkerry12]

So i have a breville the oracle it auto dose 22g and auto tamps the light roast recipe i have is ratio 1:2.5 at 26 seconds (excluding my 12 second pre infusion) so I get 22g in and a double shot of 48g out at 38 second (incudes my pre infusion) i set my temp to 96 degrees, and i have a spot on double shot every time. Its so much easier when they give u a receipe!!

[@myname-mz3lo]

if you use freshly roasted whole beans buy in big ammounts it is cheaper . and you can freeze coffee without any problems whatsoever . in a freezer the beans take 5 years to go stale . but in regular temps it takes 3 weeks . best things ive started doing .

[@michaelsmith6094]

Cool video, good explaining.

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Hey! thanks so much!

[@CH-yp5by]

Dose size and ratio is also very much dependant on the roast profile, e.g. 18g in and 30g out so 1:1.75 ration is better than a 1:2 ration at 36g for darker roasts as you get the desired strength and sweeter coffee however, for lighter roast you need 36g out with 18g baskets in order to get the right strength.

[@AlternativeBrewing]

100% 🔥 thanks so much for the input

[@sleepygummy7816]

May I ask about coffee weight (grams) in the basket? 1. How many gram do you use for regular coffee routine? Some says 14g is enough for a double shot, while the other says 18g. 2. Are there any major differences between using lower dose (e.g. 14g) and higher dose (e.g. 18g) for a cup of coffee? Given that I can adjust other variables to get a proper extraction. Btw, I visited your channel multiple times before making purchases for machine (GCP), grinder (NZ) and accessories. Really great source of coffee knowledge. Thank you again.

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Your very welcome 😀 So the dose you use will limit the amount of liquid coffee you can produce. Maintain a brew ratio, the most typical being 1:2, means using a 14g dose, you'll only be able to brew a 28-30g Espresso. That in itself is okay - it's when you begin diluting this further with milk or water for other drinks, other than straight espresso, you begin to water down the shot. 40g seems to be an ideal amount of espresso for anything from 120ml - 270ml with milk or water, without being too weak or too strong. So we're sort of backtracking here, - where we choose the size of te drink we want to make and adjust the recipe/ratio of the espresso accordingly.

[@CH-yp5by]

For a median to dark roast you will find you can use a 14g basket and put in 15g to give 30g output is pretty good, provided you use a 6 oz cup for a flatwhite you will get a coffee thats fairly strong in flavour however, if you use a lighter roast you will need to add an extra gram at 16g which will fit in a 14g basket as lighter roast take up less volume than darker roasts when ground and now you can get 32g out with a 1:2 ratio. Traditional Italian style espresso shots are usually 25 to 28ml but because they use a dark roast the flavour is heavier so they can get away with small espresso shots and they use a 1:2.5 ratio. They do not measure weight in cafe's / bar in Italia, they fill the basket to the top so a single 7g basket to the top so is about 10g and a 14g basket they fill to the top which is about 16g.

[@CH-yp5by]

94 to 95 is for a median dark roast, for an Italian dark roast you need to drop that temp lower than 93 degrees 92 for a machine with a small boiler, with a bigger machine hence bigger boiler such as an E61 HX machine drop it to 90.

[@hazemelkady9087]

Thank you for this great video.. I have a question please.. You said we should calculate the brew time from pressing the button, but many others said we should calculate it from the first drop of espresso and actually the difference isn't small especially with the preinfusion time so what do you think?

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Hi there! Thanks for your question. Brew time is consistently calculated when water comes into contact with the coffee. This is when brewing, whether pre-infusion or percolation, begins. So it is always best to count from that moment. But I do understand that some very soft pre-infusions and manual espresso brewing - tend to lengthen the shot of the espresso out without too much negative impact - but this is outside of the general rule - for brewing Double Espressos. It's best to have the shot complete by 35 seconds max using no more than 20g in a 1:2 ratio and 9 bars. Change one of those things - and yes theoretically the time it takes to "cook" the espresso will change too. Definitely covering this off in a future video 😀

[@Markinthemix]

@@AlternativeBrewing Such a great video thanks - I have been pondering the same thing as the question here, using the soft infusion on the Silvia Pro X, I think I just need to do some experimenting with it turned off to get a baseline, but it's been a cause for confusion up to this point.

[@MichaelTrevisani-nx4cg]

Great video. You stopped the flow timer before all the coffee hit the cup. When do you stop the timer?

[@AlternativeBrewing]

When you press stop on the machine is the best time. There's a bit of coffee that comes out after this - but not all that much 👍

[@foodtoffey]

Nice

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Thanks

[@ManForToday]

Can someone help explain why I only got 1:15 ratio, what do I need to do to get 1:2? I had a coarse enough grind for optimal flow (any finer would result in just drops = lesser, worse shot). I had in 18g, got 21g in 28s (factory default timed). Do I need to extract for longer, manually, or grind finer?

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Coarsen the grind to get more out in the same amount of time. Aim for 36g out 🙌

[@ManForToday]

@@AlternativeBrewing Thank you!

[@alihayder1238]

Thanks for this valuable video. I have a question. How can I control my espresso yield? I am getting 1:3 ratio in 20+ seconds since I pressed for brewing. I want to bring it down to 1:2 within 25-30 seconds. But here is the problem; if I grind it finer, the pressure goes up, time improves but yield remains the same. What do I do?

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Thanks so much! I can help. Curious what machine are you using?

[@alihayder1238]

I use brevellie barista express. I am using an espresso machine for the very first time.

[@steph8408]

Hi Josh, what is the best method and best result in the cup when brewing a double shot ristretto (1:1 ratio)? Is it best to grind finer for a ristretto (1:1) so that the extraction time is the same as for when brewing an espresso (1:2) OR is it best to grind exactly the same as for an espresso then just shorten the extraction time to achieve the 1:1 ratio ?? Cheers.

[@jasonnestor7342]

1:2 is a balanced ratio

[@pkerry12]

I keep my coffee beans in the fridge

[@spencerdungan5382]

Thanks for info. 2 questions as I have a cheaper machine that doesn't measure water and the basket only fits 20 -30.grams at most. So my questions are: 1) what's the volume of water I should add for the 18 grams of espresso on my machine? 2) if I'm only doing 18 grams at a time this is considered 1 shot right? I wanted to know rough caffeine content per 18 grams so I can dial everything in. Thank you

[@AlternativeBrewing]

If using 18g of ground coffee - brew 36g of Espresso liquid out. This you will need to weight out in the cup - as it is happening or after that fact - adjust the grind size according to if it brewed out too fast or slow. 18g at a time is a Double shot 👌

[@spencerdungan5382]

@@AlternativeBrewing thank you. So when you say 36 grams of water out I should put 36 grams in my machine? Mine only has a brew function, it pulls automatically depending on amount of water you add. So if I didn't add enough it would be a super quick shot or more water takes me longer

[@AlternativeBrewing]

@@spencerdungan5382 ah I see ! ok - than add 55-60g of Water in 👌

[@spencerdungan5382]

@@AlternativeBrewing thanks for your help

[@adammacfarland6415]

Love your videos. I’m new to making espresso. Currently using a Flair 58 with good results. I am trying 15g and 18g baskets, both VST precision ones. I have dialed each to about the same brew time (obviously hard to pinpoint with the manual lever), same ratio, and same coffee, but the shots between the baskets taste different. Hard to put into words the exact differences, but different. So I am wondering if it is normal that these two would taste different, or is it something I can ‘fix’?

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Thansk so much! So - as an example - let me know if I get this wrong - You're brewing a 15g in / 30g out & and a 18g in / 36g out - and they're both taking the same amount of brew time? or are they both flowing at the same rate? By this I mean - if you're 18/36 is coming out at 24 seconds .... that's a 1.5g/ seconds flow rate. ... If you follow this same flow rate for the 15/30 - than you should be getting the 30g espresso out in 20 seconds. - this way - they should taste similar - but not identical - as the baskets aren't identical. If you were to get two 18g baskets and do the same thing - you'd discover they'd taste much the same. Now, if you're brewing both of the espressos at the same - then one of them will be either over or undercooked" depending on the time you brew it for. My recommendation would be to aim for a similar flow rate in both. Perhaps working off of the 18g basket - get the brew time right - where you're enjoying the espresso - then adapt the flow rate ... ( brew time divided by espresso weight) to the 15g basket and see how you go 😀

[@adammacfarland6415]

@@AlternativeBrewing ok! Great advice! I didn’t realize I should be matching flow rate instead of brew time. And now that you say that, the 15g dose did taste like it was ground too fine. So much to learn!

[@HighTeaWithTheQueen]

Hey need your help please. I bought the ascaso dream pid from you and I can't seem to get a decent cup of coffee. Heeeelpp

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Hi Deanna, thanks for reaching out to us. Could you please send us an email to [e-mail] so our team can assist you further with this. Also - check out our videos and brewing guides for espresso from our Home Page on YT and between them and our knowledgable staff - we can help you get back to brewing great coffee 😀

[@KellyanneGill]

What's the price on this machine please

[@kcbuys]

🙌🙌

[@jimbernard8964]

Whoa! Seriously? 1 to 2 bean to liquid ratio? I'm brand new to this. I'm using 14g grounds and end up getting about 70-80 grams of espresso before I put the foamed milk in. I can't even image getting only 28 grams of espresso. What am I missing? .

[@AlternativeBrewing]

the concentration will help carry some of the flavour notes of the espresso over in to the final beverage. With too much espresso brewed out - two things can occur. YOu'll over-extract the coffee, meaning you'll be ending up with bitter or burnt flavour notes in the brew espresso - and the larger volume means the espresso will be diluted down and loose it's strength - sometimes brewing less espresso - and mixing with the milk - can have more desirable flavour outcomes than brewing more.

[@louisd95714]

This is not a typical home coffee machine setup. The setup in this video cost between 2K and 3K, where most people cannot simply afford. Of course this setup makes great espresso!

[@RobertsonDCCD]

This is a typical setup for a home espresso enthusiast that has committed a good chunk of money to a hobby that can last a lifetime. It’s not a typical beginner setup, but neither is it the pinnacle of home brewing, which can easily top $10K between machine and grinder. Regardless, the author does a great job of making this less about the equipment, and more about the ingredients and technique. I could take everything he said and use it to dial in a recipe on a setup that cost less than $1,000. Without the basic skills he teaches here, a barista could brew on this high $$ setup and get some pretty unsatisfactory results.

[@AlternativeBrewing]

yes, you're right in saying a majority of espresso brewers at home would have a one-push button latte machine - these only have so much control before it's all automated. But there are plenty of machines in the lower end of affordability that still offer control over Temperature, grind and brew ratio. And at the end of the day - that is SO much of what is key to brewing great espresso. I actually just shared this with a friend who bought a Breville Machine - inbuilt grinder and all. He was able to control as much of what he needed to get on the right path to brewing the best espresso he could from his machine - and is very happy with the results.

[@louisd95714]

@@AlternativeBrewing I had a super automatic and got rid of it after a week. The “espresso” it put out left a lot to be desired. But I just ordered a Breville Barista Pro in black stainless steel and am looking forward to start using it. I was thinking of the Silvia but I do not think it would look nice in my kitchen. Maybe someday I will purchase one and place it in another room in my house.

[@menachemgavert7276]

"Home Espresso" tutorial!!! More like barista tutorial. Great video though but unless you're an out for lunch celebrity you would never call this a home Espresso video.

[@AlternativeBrewing]

Can you elaborate on that sorry? I would understand if the equipment is the roadblock. I'm using a $3-4K setup.

[@meredith18352]

Maybe the home espresso enthusiast but still lots of home espresso setups at least as good as this one, mine is a lot better. If making good coffee at home, to rival that of a cafe, these are all really important tips

[@threehanded8853]

After you learn the rules and techniques you learn to break the rules to suit your taste! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJLPXn5jj8SMea8

[@AlternativeBrewing]

So true! 😀