Hi, I’m Paolo from “Le Piantagioni del Caffè” and I will explain how to make espresso at home just by following a few simple rules.

The first rule is about water. It must have a hardness between 3 and 9 French degrees.
Then it must be in the right dose: around 7 and 7,5 grams.
Another rule concerns grinding. It must not be too fine like white flour nor too coarse like yellow flour which is grainy. It must be somewhere in between.

One way to know if we have found the right grind is sticking to two rules: 25 seconds of brewing with 25 cc of coffee in a cup. So let’s grind the coffee.
Do not use old ground coffee because, just a few minutes after grinding, the coffee loses the carbon dioxide which is needed to brew the coffee at its best.
Another thing is to even the coffee, then pressing it hard.
The hard pressure compacts the coffee cloth in the filter, hence it is useful to make the most of it.