How to Prepare and pull a shot of espresso

Overview
This document will help baristas and any person wanting to learn how a shot of espresso
is prepared and pulled. The equipment that will be needed for this would be a tamp, espresso
grinder, whole coffee beans, an espresso machine, and a 4 oz cup. In this document the
machine used is the La Marzocco Linea PB espresso machine. The machine parts have been
defined and labeled below.

Group head: Located on the front of

all machines, it brings the water out
of the machine and into the filter
basket of the portafilter.

Portafilter: a basket filter with a

handle that fits into the grouphead
of an espresso machine. Part of the
equipment that the espresso shots
come out of.

Tamp: used to flatten a bed of

espresso grounds, has a handle and
round flat end

Preparing the grounds

1. Press portafilter against the grinder and hold in place until the grinder stops.

2. Try to make the grounds in the portafilter flat as possible by tapping the sides of the
basket.
Tamping
1. Position the portafilter on the edge of the counter.

2. Pick up tamp in free hand (usually the more dominant hand) and press down on the
loose coffee grounds until it pushes back.

Pulling the shot

1. Turn the portafilter handle to the left, bring up to the machine, and line up the notches
on the portafilter with the grouphead.
2. Once in the grouphead, turn the handle to the right until it won’t turn anymore.

3. Place 4 oz glass underneath the portafilter and press the middle (the one not lit up in
the picture) button.