If you treat yourself to a espresso machinegood for you There’s no self-love like coffee-based self-love. Now, make sure you use it correctly so that home-brewed shots taste like the ones you have in Naples.

You don’t need a fancy, commercial-grade machine to get great shots because espresso is all about technique. With the right movements and measurements, you can brew quality espresso coffee with even a basic model.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source in Chrome.

As a budding coffee enthusiast with a thirst to improve my skills, I turned to an expert for help. Kaleena Teoh, co-founder of New York Coffee Project, shares the four most important considerations for making espresso shots at home.

But first…

The basis of espresso

“The word ‘espresso’ itself is not just a drink, it’s actually a brewing method that involves pushing hot water through a compact puck of coffee,” said Teoh, which can be done through a machine with a boiler, or manually, like a stovetop espresso pot. It requires a certain pressure and temperature calibration, but a high-end machine is not necessary.

“The two most important things are the engine’s ability to maintain pressure and temperature as you pull the shot,” he said. In most models used at home, you may not be able to make any changes, but gauges or displays that indicate pressure and temperature can be reassuring.

Read more: I Tried a $140 Espresso Machine That Pulls Creamy Shots and is Leaner Than a Blender

Make sure you follow the manufacturer’s process carefully, which may include heating the water before cooking. Making sure your espresso machine is clean is also important for quality control, as regular brushing of the grounds from the portafilter loading point and regular hot water flushing are important steps to maintain optimal performance.

1. Consider the grind size

Because espresso is a process, not a drink, there is no such thing as espresso beans, and you can choose a provenance and a roast that suits you for espresso, even a light one. The grind of any seed you choose will greatly affect the outcome of the shot you pull.

“The grind size should be around fine sand,” says Teoh, which is smaller than that used in drip coffee, French press or pour-over, but not as fine as the powder used for unfiltered brews like Turkish coffee. This element makes it more important to have a grinder that allows you to adjust the size of the grind with a dial, instead of just a few fixed settings that do not provide the necessary nuance.

Beyond the coffee machine itself, Teoh recommends another essential piece of equipment for the best homemade espresso. “If you have a basic machine that can maintain pressure and temperature, that’s enough, but if I had more budget, I’d spend it on a miller“said Teoh. “Having a good grinder, especially a good burr grinder, is very important for espresso.”

Teoh also naturally recommends the freshest coffee beans for the best espresso. Grinding to order is fine, but you’re also looking for beans that have been roasted as recently as possible, preferably within a few weeks.

2. Nail the coffee-to-water ratio

The “golden ratio” is different for espresso vs dripping coffeeFrench press or pour-over, as you generally have limited control over the amount of water that goes into the brew. Instead, you are looking for a specific ratio between the amount of grounds and the amount of liquid coffee that comes out in the end, and yes, professional baristas weigh the finished espresso to ensure quality.

“The ratio of coffee to water is between 1 to 1.5 and 1 to 2.5, which means that, for every one gram of ground coffee that we put in there, we want to harvest between one and a half to two and a half grams of liquid espresso in the cup,” said Teoh. “That ratio generally gives you a very good, what we call ‘strength.’ It’s not that bad. It’s not too watery either.”

For quick calculations as you experiment with these ratios, 1-to-2 is an average range to target. The smaller the ratio between grounds and liquid espresso, the stronger the coffee.

If your espresso machine has controls to adjust the strength of the coffee, experiment with them. If not, other factors you can control, which affect the result in terms of the ideal ratio, are the size of the grind, consistency, and puck pressure.

3. Prepare the puck well

After measuring your grounds into the portafilter, based on its size and the manufacturer’s recommended measurements for a single or double shot, level it before tamping. “Use your fingers to make sure it’s evenly distributed before you tamp down,” says Teoh, so you don’t end up with an uneven puck.

He said that the water will always find the path of least resistance between the tank and your cup, so if there is a place in the portafilter with a small or less pressure volume in the yard because it is not equal to begin with, that is where the water will go mainly, which will result in incorrect extraction.

A heavy, high quality tamp should be applied, the correct size for your portafilter. Portafilters come in different sizes, usually 51 or 54 millimeters in diameter for home espresso machines. You’ll want to upgrade if your machine doesn’t include a tamper or has a lightweight, plastic one.

Tapping the puck doesn’t involve using extreme force, but “you want to push to a point where you feel it push,” Teoh said. “You’re not using your whole body weight on it, but it’s also not like stamping a card. You want to push and create a dense, tightly packed puck.”

If you want to be precise about the pressure, some guidelines suggest applying between 20 and 30 pounds. Teoh noticed that too spring-loaded tampers available, to make it easier and more consistent to apply sufficient pressure.

4. Taste and adjust

This is your espresso, so your palate is the most important for the result. Small differences in the freshness and roast of the coffee, grind size, measuring grounds, tamping pressure and consistency, and temperature — to the extent you can control it — all affect different results.

Experiment with the above adjustments to achieve a balanced brew with a great mouthfeel and length of flavor, until it’s right for you.

“You may not be experienced in making espresso, but you are experienced as a consumer,” Teoh said, “so you know what you should taste in your cup, and if it doesn’t suit you, then you know something needs to change.”

Given all the possible variables above, hopefully it’s just a matter of tweaking a few things rather than needing a whole new system.

How important is crema?

A crema, or foam layer on top of your shot, can be desirable. However, this is not necessarily an indication of a properly pulled shot, nor does it affect the taste.

Teoh said carbon dioxide is trapped in the coffee beans during roasting, then released during brewing, creating a foamy crema. However, it is not the density of the puck that determines whether it will be visible during production.

“Your crema is not only CO2, but it’s also oils and insoluble matter in the coffee,” says Teoh. “There are a lot of aromatic compounds in there, but the real flavor of your coffee is in the darker liquid below. The crema doesn’t really bring much flavor, per se, but it helps the mouthfeel.”

The loss of crema may have less to do with the mechanics of the shot and more to do with the roast itself. “The freshness of the coffee makes a difference,” says Teoh, “and some coffee, if it’s too roasted, doesn’t have much crema either.”

To maximize your crema potential, you’re looking for beans from a darker roast that’s been roasted recently.