How to Dial In Your Espresso
A data-backed guide to getting the best out of every bean.
What does “dialling in” actually mean?
Dialling in is the process of adjusting your espresso variables — dose, grind size, yield, and time — to extract the best flavour from a specific bean. Every bean is different: the same grind setting that made yesterday's coffee perfect will probably make today's new bag taste completely different.
It's not about memorising a recipe. It's about developing a systematic process so you can get any bean tasting great in as few shots as possible.
Start with a bean that has a recipe
The fastest way to dial in is to start from a recipe. Many Australian roasters publish recommended dose, yield, and time for their beans. When you have a starting point from the people who roasted the coffee, you skip the first three or four wasted shots.
On Espresso of Interest, you can browse beans that include roaster recipes. Add a bean to your shelf and the recipe is right there when you log your next shot — dose, yield, ratio, and time pre-filled as a target to hit.
Browse beans with recipes
Find your next bag from a roaster who tells you exactly how to brew it.
Beans with recipesThe four variables you control
Dose (input)
How much ground coffee goes in. Most double baskets take 16–20g. Pick a dose and lock it — adjust other variables instead.
Yield (output)
How much liquid espresso comes out. Combined with dose, this gives you your brew ratio (e.g. 1:2 means 18g in, 36g out).
Grind Size
The single biggest lever. Finer = slower extraction = more intense. Coarser = faster = lighter. This is what you adjust most.
Time
How long the shot takes. This is your feedback signal — it tells you whether your grind is right. Most shots land between 25–35 seconds.
These four numbers are all you need to log in Espresso of Interest. The app calculates your brew ratio automatically and tracks trends across every bean you try.
Start with a ratio, then adjust
The conventional starting point is a 1:2 ratio — for example, 18g in, 36g out, in about 28 seconds. This works well for most medium roasts.
Ratio guidelines by roast
Reading the shot: sour, bitter, or just right
Your taste buds are the best extraction meter. Here's the feedback loop:
Under-extracted. The water didn't pull enough from the grounds. Fix: grind finer, or increase yield (pull a longer shot).
Over-extracted. Too much was pulled from the grounds. Fix: grind coarser, or decrease yield (pull a shorter shot).
Balanced extraction. You're in the zone. Lock in these numbers and enjoy the rest of the bag.
Logging tasting notes alongside the numbers is what turns a single shot into useful data. After 5–10 shots with the same bean, patterns emerge that you'd never notice without records.
The grinder matters more than you think
Grind consistency is the bottleneck for most home setups. An uneven grind means some particles over-extract while others under-extract — you get both sour and bitter in the same cup.
You don't need the most expensive grinder, but investing in a good one makes dialling in dramatically easier. Fewer variables to fight means fewer wasted shots.
If your bean has a roaster recipe, use it as your grind starting point. A recipe that says “18g in, 36g out, 28 seconds” tells you exactly what time to aim for — then adjust your grind until you hit that window.
What changes when the bag ages
Freshly roasted beans release CO2 (degassing), which affects extraction. The same grind setting won't work forever:
- Days 3–7: Beans are still quite gassy. Expect some inconsistency. Start dialling in here.
- Days 7–14: The sweet spot for most beans. Flavour is developed and extraction is predictable.
- Days 14–28: Grind finer as degassing slows. You may need to adjust every few days.
- Beyond 28 days: Flavour starts to fade. Time for a new bag.
Tracking your grind adjustments over the life of a bag is one of the most useful things a shot log does. You start to see your own patterns.
Build a system, not a recipe
The goal isn't to memorise one perfect recipe. It's to develop taste intuition through structured feedback. Every shot you log teaches you something — even the bad ones.
Espresso of Interest turns your daily coffee routine into a feedback loop. Log your shots, review your trends, and let the data show you what your palate already knows.