How To Pull A Shot of Espresso

Is there anything more exciting than New Espresso Machine Day? This blog post will provide an outline on how to pull a shot of espresso on your Rancilio Homeline espresso machine.

How to Pull A Shot of Espresso 

  1. Prepare Your Coffee: Grind fresh coffee beans into your portafilter. Read our Guide to Dialing in Espresso for more information.
  2. Distribute: Make sure the coffee grounds are evenly distributed. This can be done through various methods including a leveling tool, WDT tool, a quick side tap, or using your fingers. For consistency, you should choose a method that works best for you and do the same thing each time.
  3. Tamp: Tamping espresso is the process of compacting coffee grounds into the portafilter basket. To do so, hold your tamper evenly over the grounds and press down using around 20-30 lbs of pressure.
  4. Purge: Run the grouphead for 2-3 seconds before use.
  5. Brew: Insert the portafilter into the espresso machine. Initiate the brewing process. Allow the espresso to extract into a cup or shot glasses for a set time, typically between 25-30 seconds for a double shot. 
Dialing In Espresso Blog Post

Silvia Classic

The Silvia Classic is a single boiler espresso machine, which means you will have to switch between the two boiler modes when steaming milk and brewing espresso. Because of this, you will have to make sure that you have the steam setting OFF when pulling shots of espresso. 

To pull a shot of espresso on the Silvia Classic, you will turn on the machine. When the light turns green, your machine is at temperature and ready to brew. The coffee button will start and stop your espresso.

 

Silvia Pro X

The Silvia Pro X includes upgraded features like a digital display, shot timer, brewing temperature control, Variable Soft Infusion, and - perhaps most importantly for the sake of this blog post - a double boiler to steam milk and brew espresso at the same time. 

To pull a shot on the Silvia Pro X, you will turn on the machine. Once the digital display features your desired brewing temperature, hit the brew button  to start and stop your espresso.