# This espresso ran in 8 seconds. That's why it tasted sour.

- Series: [How To Run It](https://miu.fm/howtorunit.md)
- Published: 2026-10-27
- Page: https://miu.fm/howtorunit/this-espresso-ran-in-8-seconds-that-s-why-it-tasted-sour

## Story

This espresso ran in 8 seconds. That's why it tasted sour.

Same beans, same machine, 8 steps later: 28 seconds, and sweet.

1. Weigh 16 g of beans
2. Grind just before brewing, finer than table salt
3. Stir out the clumps with thin needles
4. Level the bed
5. Tamp flat, once. Level beats force
6. Flush the group, then lock in all the way
7. Brew 32 g out in 25 to 30 seconds
8. Enjoy

Shown with a single-wall 51 mm basket. Most slim home machines (De'Longhi Dedica and its class) ship with double-wall baskets: with those, grind a little coarser and press lightly, and stirring and levelling matter much less. The machine is our own drawing of a generic one.

Which machine should we do next?

Sources: De'Longhi EC685 manual; Specialty Coffee Association; Tom's Coffee Corner; Prima Coffee on tamping; John Weiss, Home-Barista (2006).
Sounds: Freesound CC0 (sokworks, tosha73, RobinMetzler, greatsoundstube, dsmolenaers, bowlingballout, samplecat).

## Watch

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Qefj0UagdCs

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