A general guideline for making espresso usually says something along the lines of 2-2.5oz of coffee in 20-25 seconds. Does that recommendation imply 2.5 oz or 2.5 fl oz (gramms or milliliters?) If it's milliliters, should the crema volume be counted? I can't find this info anywhere... Thanks!

As for me, I use gramms as a reference point in this matter. 1 oz = 30 gramms. Bear in mind that different coffee, blends, freshness-play vital part in crema formation and the volume of it. Other than that, I do not look much for the exact weight/volume-taste should be your guide. And also, when it blonds-I flip the switch off.

Happy experimenting.

These are guidelines or starting points, not hard and fast rules. 2 oz = 60 ml in this case and that's including the crema.

The most important thing is the taste, of course, but when your just starting out and maybe haven't tasted any good espresso, guidelines can help get you in the ballpark. You don't want a gusher that rushes through in just a couple seconds or an overextracted pull that takes more then a minute.

Now that I'm pulling with a lever, I'm no longer timing my shots and I just pulled two very nice one ounce (30 ml) shots using 14 grams of Liquid Amber blend espresso 12 days post roast (roasted to FC+). The shots were sweet, citrus, with nice chocolate, thick crema, and a dark, rich, licorice flavor underneath.

Check out this thread that includes the Andy Schecter "standard" brew ratio definition. Although not universally approved it is pretty much what most of use or should use when describing the brew ratio.

You will see that volume does include crema. Personally I use weight to verify brew ratio. It is easier to get a "constant" result, has crema volume does reduce after a while.

Brewing ratios for espresso beverages

Hope this helps.

Thanks, everybody. Excellent chart!!

Wait, 32 grams of beverage for 16 grams of beans? ~1oz in weight for a double espresso with a corresponding volume of ~2 fl oz according to that chart. That's 32g/60ml ratio. Is that right? I have been getting 2 oz (60grams) out of 16 grams of beans for several months now... Wow. I'm gonna try a finer grind.

asdf777 wrote:I have been getting 2 oz (60grams) out of 16 grams of beans for several months now...

Unless your 2 oz of liquid has zero crema, it's going to weigh significantly less than 60g. Most of my shots are ~50% brew ratio normale doubles, and I generally pull ~50ml of liquid from a 15-16g dose of coffee. The 50ml liquid volume is 80-90% crema when I cut the pour, hence the disparity between liquid volume (milliliters) and weight (grams).

RapidCoffee wrote:Unless your 2 oz of liquid has zero crema, it's going to weigh significantly less than 60g.

I think you meant 2 fl oz. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but 2 oz of anything weighs 56.6990463 grams. Ounces or grams is a measure of weight. Fluid ounces or milliliters is a volume measure. That's what has been causing me personally a lot of confusion lately: when people said 2 oz, I couldn't figure out whether they actually meant 2 fl oz or actual oz (weight).

So yeah, I get a lot of crema, and my 2 oz of beverage is about 3 fl oz (90 ml) in volume. From the chart, it looks like the grind is way too coarse, which kind of explains the crappy coffee I've been getting.

asdf777 wrote:So yeah, I get a lot of crema, and my 2 oz of beverage is about 3 fl oz (90 ml) in volume. From the chart, it looks like the grind is way too coarse, which kind of explains the crappy coffee I've been getting.

Of course we're talking about fluid ounces (volume), rather than using ounces for weight/mass. AFAIK everyone is using grams for measuring coffee dose and liquid weight (mass) in the espresso world. Thank goodness.

IMO 3 fluid ounces (90ml) is too much volume for a double. It's the extraordinary 16g double that does not blond well before that point. You are either pulling lungos, or overextracted doubles. Either way, not to my taste.

RapidCoffee wrote: You are either pulling lungos, or overextracted doubles. Either way, not to my taste.

I'm confused again... Sorry for being geeky, but how would lungo be different from an over-extracted double?? That's how lungo is defined, as over extracted espresso, no? (http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/b ... ation4.asp)

In my case, the grind was just too coarse. The pull time was 28 seconds.