Master the Art of Coffee at Home

Start your day with a bold, barista-level espresso—without leaving your kitchen. With the right beans, gear, and a few pro tips, you can brew café-quality coffee at home.

Section 1: How to Make Coffee Taste Like a Barista

• Use Fresh Beans:
  Go for high-quality, freshly roasted speciality beans. Try FTO Soul as a great starting point, known for its balance and depth. Don’t buy supermarket beans.
• Grind Just Before Brewing:
  Use a burr grinder for consistent grind size and better extraction. Most home machines have inbuilt grinders, this is perfect. Buying pre-ground coffee will reduce the overall freshness experience and is a variable you can’t control that may be wrong for your machine.
• Use Filtered Water:
  Avoid distilled or chlorinated water. Minerals enhance flavour, and will greatly reduce cleaning maintenance.
• Dial in the Espresso Shot:
  Aim for 25–30 seconds extraction and 25–30ml shot volume. Adjust grind, dose, and tamp to taste. Experiment. Take your time.
• Steam Milk Like a Pro:
  Use cold whole milk. Position the steam wand just under the surface, create a whirlpool, and texture to velvety microfoam. Steam with hand on the jug, when you can't hold your hand there any longer, count to 3, stop. Do not over steam.

Section 2: How to Brew the Best Coffee at Home

• Get a Good Machine:
  Look for features like stable temperature and pressure control. If your machine doesn't have an inbuilt grinder, get a good quality seperate grinder, don't go cheap, its a very important component to good home coffee. Also, leave the group handle in the machine while on. A hot group handle is very important and often over looked.
• Choose the Right Beans:
  Buy specialty-grade, whole beans. Try FTO East Timor for a clean, organic cup. Experiment with other blends / single origins if need be. Don't buy supermarket beans, who knows how long they have been sitting there for and will mostly be of poor quality.
• Store Beans Properly:
  Keep beans in airtight containers away from light, heat, and moisture. Avoid fridges/freezers.
• Use a Scale:
  Precision matters. A 1:2 coffee-to-water ratio is a good starting point (e.g. 18g coffee, 36g espresso).
• Pre-Infusion Helps:
  If your machine supports it, pre-infuse to even out extraction and boost flavour. Three or four second pause is good.

Section 3: Troubleshooting Espresso Issues

• Sour?
  Likely under-extracted. Try a finer grind and firmer tamp.
• Bitter?
  Over-extracted. Go coarser and reduce tamp pressure.
• Uneven Crema?
  Check for consistent grind and level tamp.
• Inconsistent Shots?
  Standardise tamping and use a burr grinder for accuracy.
• Dirty Machine?
  Very important! Clean regularly to prevent buildup and maintain performance.

Wrap-Up With the right setup and some practice, you can craft exceptional espresso at home. Keep refining your technique, try new beans, and enjoy the process.

Custom Coffees has your back with premium blends to get you started.