How to Dial In an Espresso Shot: Everything A Beginner Needs to Know 

This seriously has to be one of the best explanation-style videos for espresso that I've seen to-date. Thank you for this.

All these other "professionals" looking videos, should learn from you because you made it soo easy to follow and understand, and you made it relatable through humility and understanding for all of us beginners. Thank you.

If you have just found this video then you have struck gold. I have watched dozens of videos over the 2 years that i"ve had this machine & its always been a hit or a miss. This video explains the process superbly with perfect results immediately, thank you.

This is the best “how to use an espresso machine” video I have seen yet. Super helpful, thank you so much.

Good explanation :) also a good note that no one really touches on: The finer the grind size, the less volume that the ground up coffee takes up in the portafilter, so it appears like there's less coffee because the size of the coffee grinds is smaller. Fear not, you still have the same grams of coffee, it's just compacted into a smaller volume. The tamper must therefore travel deeper into the portafilter to achieve the same tamp pressure. The pressure of tamping must remain the same when tweaking between different grind sizes to keep within the boundaries of changing one variable at a time.

Out of so many videos finally someone who can just explain what we NEED to know after buying the Breville pro, and before it drives you insane, just watch this video first! Thank you Hijab & Apron

Thank you for making this video! You being a novice and explaining things from your POV and you explaining things made it not as complicated sounding as other videos that I have seen. I’m not as intimidated to purchase an espresso machine anymore. Blessing sent to you and your family from Hawaii!

Close to perfect video!!! Wow this is so detailed!! I’ve had this machine for about 3 months and it’s a real game of trail and error 🤣 one thing I want to let you know (if you didn’t know already) is with the single or double shot button, you just have to hold it in for a second or two and then it goes onto manual mode. That way you can control exactly how long (in seconds) that the extraction time goes for. Keep making great content! Just when I think I’ve learned it all, I find a helpful video that humbles me. Thank you so much 👏👏

So glad your video came up in my feed. I have watched a few and this one is way up in the top in terms of content, narration, duration and most importantly the practical things to do to get the best expresso from a new machine. The tips on accessories are helpful too. Well done.

This was SO helpful! You explained the process in a clear, easy to understand format. Can't wait to put what I have learned into action in the morning!

I have a PT job at a retailer that carries Breville machines. The variables of the brewing process can be tricky to explain with clarity. You do a beautiful job. I particularly love how you slow the cadence of your voice when explaining important tips. The listener can really dial in on dialing in!

I am so impressed by the presenter for her tips and she only had it for about 4 weeks. Great job explaining too!!

This was such a good explanation and beautiful to watch. We did a video on getting the best out of your Breville machine, and we have some similar ideas but you’ve outdone me with how clearly you explained the detail or dialing in 🙌🏼 I enjoy watching your stunning videography more than my face much more 😂 Well done 🙏🏻 - Jimmy

This is exactly the espresso maker i am planning to purchase, and am also planning to use exactly the same accessories. The only other two accessories I plan to be purchasing are a WTD tool and and portafilter screen. This is an excellent tutorial! The only part that was left out is that the portafilter should be heated up in hot water or by pulling blind shots because the Barista Pro does not heat it up. Also, it doers not warm up the cups.

This was literally the ONLY espresso for beginners video that was ACTUALLY for beginners. Thank you!!❤️

Wow! Thanks a lot, this really helped us dial in our Breville. Clear instructions and great cinematography. Your videos are next level, and criminally underrated. Subscribed.

Just bought the same machine and this video is everything that I need. Thank you for creating this gem of a guide!

This was by far the most straight forward explanation to help me get started on my new breville barista pro machine! Every other video has been so confusing with options.

Hands down the most informative video for someone wanting to get stuck in. Thank you

Absolutely great video. Best tutorial and description ever from the 1000’s of online videos. Clean, clear and mellow voice-over. You need to join the advertising industry. Great camera and audio recording as well. You covered so many points that many “pro baristas” fail to speak about. Thank you!

I have been binge watching your videos! Honestly; they’re so helpful and so well explained.. I’m beyond impressed. I have watched and subscribed to some big names in the “coffee connoisseur” RU-vid content, and while they’re certainly great, you are not far behind at all (if any). You deserve so many more subs! Keep up the good work; one of these days the algorithm god will find you! In the meantime; I just subscribed!!!

What a cohesive video 👏🏽 Just a small note regarding the brewing time You can change the brew time in the settings by doing a custom shot to get the right time for the yield you want! 🙏🏽

“If you shard” got me subscribing !! Thank you for this video

My husband bought me this exact same machine for Christmas. I was LOSING MY MIND trying to get the espresso right! To the tune that I was contemplating returning the machine and gong back to my regular filtered coffee. Until I saw this video. I watched many other videos but this one is the one that saved the day! Thank you so much for explaining this so well! My husband is very happy that I am keeping the espresso machine!

One of the best and easily explained videos. Love the way you explain each part. This one deserves more views. Keep creating more. Just got my first Espresso Machine. Will try to follow your instructions.

Most helpful video I’ve found after owning my machine over six months. You had me at “shart!” I thank you. Your delivery and presentation are right on point and easy to understand. I’m headed straight to my machine to calibrate.

I've been watching a ton of espresso videos from baristas and the usual experts....but your video really made it simple/practical to understand

I recently acquired a bottomless portafilter from amazon. I was scared because I know these typically do not hide mistakes. I was pleasantly surprised to pull a beautiful double shot the first time. The double sided tamp and distribution tool as well as correct puck prep is everything.

This great for beginners and those that forget some of the basics. You have done a great job here, very informative!

This video was so comfortable to follow. You nailed the perfect balance of being instructional and conversational. Thank you so much!

I’ve watched many professional baristas incapable of explaining it this well. They’re always going on about the bars this and bars that. We know a good cup requires a minimum bar pull 🤦🏻‍♂️ You did what they can’t Bravo! 👏 👏👏

I’ve had my Breville Espresso Machine for about a year now and I think this is a very good guide and I do pretty much the same things! Nice job!

the salam aleikom was so comforting to hear

4 weeks of owning an espresso machine and you can pull out amazing latte like that! WOW

This has to be the most in-depth and helpful review on dialing in the espresso. Thanks so much!

Wow, thank you for such an easy to understand, clear and enjoyable video! My Barista Pro is due to arrive tomorrow and I have a lot to learn (previously just used Tassimo pods). I didn’t realise the coffee rabbit hole was so deep. Love the video and your setup, keeping everything clean and tidy! Need to look into that distribution/tamping tool you have there. Thank you!

My Breville Baritsa Pro arrives tomorrow and this video has definitely been helpful to watch. Very clear and easy to follow. Will definitely be watching this again once my machine arrives!!

Here I am over caffeinated trying out all my espresso shot trying to get the perfect dial. Great vid. Loved every second of it.

I brought that scale. Very nice and I love you have the bottomless portafilter, showed the inner burr setting and use the dosing cup which I feel like are all great to make perfect coffee.

Okay this was so aesthetically pleasing, that sunlight, that chrome, that golden coffee créma 🤌🏼 but also really helpful! Also, who knew there was so much math involved in pulling the perfect shot. 😭 I’m going to try this over the weekend and see how many tries it takes me to get something decent. 😂 great video!

I set my inner grinder to number 2 and my grindsize is about 07-06 and it’s my go to settings for months now when dialing in espresso 😊

This video should be attached with every Breville espresso machine sold. I have been making espresso at home for many, many years and I get asked to help people new to at home espresso. This will now be my go-to video that I share to help people. Thank you for a job well done.

Thank you for this. I bought the same machine a few weeks ago, and am struggling a bit. Great to see how much the dosing cup and the distributor/tamper assist with your successful workflow. Also - although you don't refer to it in this video, but we do see it a couple of times - great latte-art!

This was incredible. I’m waiting for my machine to arrive :) thank you Breville for being on back order for the last 3 months. I was so nervous but this was so detailed I feel way more prepared. Can’t wait to keep watching your content.

Hi Hijabs! 🙂 I've had my Barista Express for 7 and 1/2 years. Send it in to Breville for repairs only to find out it's busted, for good. (I used it...to death.) B-ville was kind enough to discount me on a new machine and I selected the Pro. Looking at videos for the Pro I came across your video. After viewing many others I found your video to be well organized, informative and relevant. You obviously done your homework and took the time to adapt it into a useful video. Nice work and Thank you!

Thank you, Leena!! Excellent content. The only thing missing was a picture of the smile on your face as you enjoy this. 🙂💜

Yep ! Definitely subscribing :D Your filming skills are goals, so beautiful and relaxing to watch. I recently got a Breville/Sage Dual Boiler and I remember how messy and ridiculous my first shots were 😂 As you said, over time and with passion you start to enjoy the process :) I still have a looong way to go though, especially for the latte art part haha Anyway, thank you for this video ! Gonna binge watch the other ones :D

1.5 speed, thank me later 😊

Great explanation! You’re very easy to understand. You can also pause this machine mid grind by pushing the portafilter inward, tap your grinds flat, and restart the grind again. Also this machine has a manual mode. So you can hold down either shot button and it will pre infuse until you let go, when you let go it will start the shot, and press again to stop the shot. I’m about to watch more of your videos! You may have already explained this lol

Thank you! I just got a barista touch and was feeling very intimidated as I have no experience with espresso machines. I was feeling discouraged cause I heard it's difficult to dial in but changing the Burr grinder and measuring the beans was a good starting point. I was able to get a decent shot with crema on my second attempt and will continue playing around with my grind. Thank you!

Really clear and useful video! Thanks for all the tips. I’ve just started using the Barista Pro myself. However, no matter how much I change the grind setting to finer, I can’t seem to get an extraction time anywhere near 25-30 seconds for my desired yield ratio of 1:2 (18g of coffee to 36g of expresso). The best I got was around 20 seconds when the grind setting was at 1. Perhaps I need to change the internal burr setting to 4 like you did (currently on 6). I’m using a distribution tool like the one you have and think I am tamping down hard enough (but not too hard) so can’t think what else may be causing such a fast extraction aside from the coffee beans themselves. Any tips or hints as to why you (or anyone else reading this) think this may be happening would be really helpful! Thanks in advanced :-)

“If your shaft…” I giggled, too. Great video! Thanks.

Probably one of the best video's for beginners out there! James hoffman is great and all but i dont wanna know the science just yet i just wanna know how to dial in my espresso machine!! Thanks!

You are great at making this seem simple! Bravo !

this is probably the most helpful and well-organized guide that hits all the key points. Can't wait to give my espresso machine another try tomorrow

very informative one of the best on setting up a shot on a Breville

Of all the espresso videos I've watched, I enjoyed yours the most. Thank you for your articulate words.

One of the best introductory videos on espresso.

WOW THOUGH! just perusing the internet in order to buy a coffee maker and just came across this video and the tutorial is so easy to follow! WOW THOUGH

I can't believe i always learn a new things everytime i watch Espresso video! Thanks for sharing!

Best explanation video out there. Had no idea you could change the internal burr

I first of all stayed because of this Salaam greet, and guess what it was worth it. You probably have the best content

I've watched a lot of dial in videos. Your video has been the most helpful. It's unpretentious and spoken in an easy to understand manner. Thank you!

Great video... my way to prevent mess during grinding is I grind halfway, knock the portafilter, then continue grind until the amount I want... less mess 😁

When I started I was doing all that mess too, using towels under the whole procedure and spilling coffee grounds everywhere... I solved most of the mess by simply doing the distribution over my knock box, and then using a portafilter station for the tamping, my portafilter station is also a distribution and tamping station so it makes everything organized and beautifully displayed on my coffee countertop.

I have watched so many videos on how to make the best espresso and NONE have explained the process as well as you…I stopped using my machine because no matter what I did it didn’t taste good. I think this will help…can’t wait to try!

Barista Express user here, I usually bang down the portafilter on the mat after transferring the grounds from the dosing cup. That way they even out more to where the lips were. Hope you're using a slightly bigger basket than the stock one before doing so, as 19 grams could potentially be brimming over unless it actually settles just at the edge. Also if you feel extra finicky, use a WDT tool (acupuncture needles held in place by a handle) to de-clump and fluff your grounds before running the distributor over. It could eliminate channelling in your shot, as was kinda happening in your video lol. Just extra steps to ensure a satisfying flow of extraction, is all. Keep it up.

This was a very well-written production. It is much appreciated.

This was just a very nice Video, so first at all, thanks a lot! I have my barista pro for maybe 3 years and I've got a lot of very nice 53,3mm tools I can highly recommend (tamper and distributor by normcore, wdt tool and a funnel wich you can fix on the porta filter) but I was not drinking too much coffee the last time and I was a bit frustrated with some new special beans and how fast my pour was. So I needed your video to save some beans and get an idea again for the correct setting! Buy the way I really like your voice, it is so calming. I could run this video in the evening to sleep better 😅! I wish you the best and greetings from Germany Tom (Sorry for my bad English skills)

This is probably the most thorough explanation video on espressos. Thanks!

Thanks to your video, I learned how not to waste coffee beans and how to set the grinder better. Thank you very much for this video!

One of the most aesthetically videos i’ve every seen. Extremelly helpful, keep up the good work!

Today, I just bought the same machine as you. After spending HOURS finding a beginner guide on how to even use this machine, I found yours. You did SUCH AN INCREDIBLE job with this video. I've watched it twice already, and I am so eager to buy my first bag of beans. I'm also going to buy the dose cup with your link, just because I appreciate all you did in this video. Please make more instruction videos for beginners on how to use this Breville machine please! AWESOME JOB!

Try pressing and holding the single shot start button. On most consumer machines you can program the shot time. Let go just before you hit your target, as you explained.

Thank you I have the same grinder but a different espresso machine and this is my second day

The thing that I found that worked for me was actually holding down the single or double shot button to pre infuse the expresó a little longer (mostly the single shot button) for about 5 seconds. Then releasing it and letting it brew for another 20 seconds after that actually manually stopping the machine by pressing it again.

Had a much better pull this morning - actually resembled an espresso shot :)

Ah what a helpful video! As many of your viewers have mentioned already, your explanation and breakdown is so well done for a beginner! I’ll be shortly getting this machine and am researching how to pull the best shot possible and my favourite thing you reference is the words of encouragement at the end. It’s so true and cannot be overstated that despite all the research when we have the machine in our hands, we have to explore how it all feels to get the hang of it! Thanks you 🤌🏻🤌🏻☕️☕️☕️

this feels like a self help tutorial in a good way

Love this video!! Thinking of getting my first espresso machine and this video just got me more excited about it!! 😊

I'm new to this. And this is one of the best explanations of the process I've seen yet. Bravo.

Salam Alaykum! I come back to this video every morning when I try to dial-in. I don’t have it down just yet. thanks for making this a simple and pleasant video to listen to

Wow, I thought I was alone feeling so lost. This video is super helpful.

Most helpful step-by-step for Breville espresso on RU-vid!

One of the best filmed espresso coffee on RU-vid with very rich level of details with very little likes.. Unfortunately.. Keep it up👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Glad I found your tutorial! Nice job on the production, too.

I personally use both a dosing cup along with a dosing funnel. And it's good to get a dosing funnel that doesn't have the lip that goes inside the rim of the filter basket/portafilter. I then WDT and I don't have to worry about a gap around the inside of the filter basket/portafilter. Just my 2¢ and what my process has evolved into over the years with great repeatable results. Great video! And thanks for sharing!

very informative, thank you. I just bought this machine and ordered some things off Amazon.

Thank you for not talking a mile a minute. Excellent video thank you so much!

Just bought the same machine.This is a super-helpful,concise video with no excess waffle. Thank you!

I learnt the correct tamp by using a set of bathroom scales and would tamp to about 14kgs of downward pressure

Thank you for explaining every step in an easy to understand way. I now know why my first 3 attempts came out watery.

I rarely comment on videos, but I figured maybe it's time to break the mould. I just wanted to say this is one of the best beginner videos I've watched. I've been a home barista for the past 3 years or so (I started with an AeroPress, then graduated to a Gaggia Classic Pro, which I modded a bit, just installed a PID, changed the pressure from 12 bars down to 9 and disabled the eco timer, but I'll be replacing the power switch with the normal power switch that comes standard on the American models as opposed to the rocker style switch on the UK versions,), so I can be a bit of a coffee snob at times, but this video reminded me of James Hoffmann's videos, both in teaching ability and videography skills. I love how you explained all the core components of good espresso-making in such a simple way and how you dropped some tips (along with the humour, lmao) in there. And props on your use of scales and a bottomless PF. Also, your latte art destroys mine, and I've been brewing lattes for like 2 years+ so fair play, lol. And if you would like to discuss espresso in more detail, then feel free to message me on here :)

WOW. SUCH A WELL THOUGHT OUT EXPLANATION OF HOW TO PULL A SHOT WITH ALL THE IMPORTANT POINTS FACTORED IN. VERY WELL EXPLAINED AND SIMPLIFIED FOR WHAT OTHERWISE CAN SEEM INTIMIDATING. WELL DONE AND THANK YOU

Dont need any tools to even the coffee in the portafilter. You just tap the portafilter a bit on the table to distribute the inside, then with a normal tamper you turn a few times to distribute the top. Finally you press the tamper. My espresso are so good every time

Good job! I just had to put it on 1.5 speed to not fall sleep! But very informative!

This is the BEST video I have seen after hours of research thank you!!!

Seriously one of the best explanation videos ( and I watched soooo many since getting my machine 2 weeks ago)

Your explanation of dialing in espresso is so easy to understand and follow. Thank you so much!! Please keep it coming 😊

It's good to know that in this busy world there are still people who do all this drama to have a coffee..