About Your First Espresso

Your First Espresso exists because the first espresso machine is bought backwards: the machine gets the budget and the attention, the grinder is an afterthought or a blade, and the first hundred shots are sour, bitter or both, with no way to tell why. The forums know the fix, and they explain it in a vocabulary that assumes you already have it.

This site is the version we wanted to find: the three purchases in the order that works, what the words on the box mean (thermoblock, PID, pressurized basket, 54 mm), one recipe to start from, and how to tell from the cup which way to turn the grinder.

How the guides are written

We work from what manufacturers publish about their machines and grinders, from the makers' own brew guides and the Specialty Coffee Association's published standards for the brewing figures, and we say where each fact comes from. We use the kind of gear we recommend. We don't run lab tests, and we don't claim to.

How the site is paid for

Product links go to Amazon, and Your First Espresso earns a commission on purchases made through them. The details are on the affiliate disclosure page.

Contact

Corrections and questions: [email protected].

Your First Espresso is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the Specialty Coffee Association or any manufacturer.