Espresso Pod Brewing Tips

How can I get the best espresso using E.S.E. espresso pods?

Pods make it easier, but the act of making great espresso is still a delicate undertaking.

First, the theory. Possibly the most important factor of producing a good shot of espresso is maintaining correct temperature during the extraction. Much of the cost of more expensive machines is in hefty parts made of brass which has a high heat capacity. The idea is to get all these parts warmed up to the correct temperature and hold them there during the extraction.

To do this I am suggesting the following steps which are designed to bring all necessary parts up to working temperature and keep them there while brewing:

1. Turn on your machine and attach the portafilter (without a pod) into the machine. If your machine requires it, perform the necessary priming operations. (See your machine's manual.)
2. Let the machine warm up for at about 10 minutes. All the metal parts need to reach stable operating temperature.
3. Once the espresso machine has warmed up and primed, place a cup under the portafilter spout, press the brew button, and run it for about 20 seconds. This will further warm and stabilize the parts of the machine and warm the cup with hot water.
4. Remove the cup and dump the hot water.
5. Remove the portafilter and dry the water from the filter basket, and most importantly, from the strainer screen in the group head (the part of the machine that the pod fits against). Carefull, these will be hot!
6. Open your espresso pod package and quickly place the new pod in place. Some pods can be used with either side up, but many pods have a specific orientation.
7. Attach the portafilter to the machine (more info below). Tighten the portafilter until it is snug. Try to be consistant with this snuggness.
8. Place the cup under the portafilter.
9. Press the brew switch and run for approximately 20 to 25 seconds. (Unless some other factor is off, this should produce about 1 ounce of espresso. If this much time has produced more than 1 ounce, then the espresso is under-extracted and watery and there are other issues that must be addressed.)
10. Drink your espresso. (Remember the scene from Godfather II when Don Fanucci drinks his espresso?)
11. If you are going to make more shots, your machine is now up and running and stabilized.
12. When you are done remove the spent pod. Now place the portafilter back into the machine and run the pump until the water runs clear to clean the screens in the head and filter basket. Then remove the portafilter and dry it and clean the catch tray.
13. Switch off the machine.

Troubleshooting your espresso shots

An ideal extraction of espresso will exhibit the following characteristics:

1. The stream of espresso will be thick and viscous in consistency and not watery. It will not chug and splash. It will be creamy and look somewhat syrupy.
2. About 1 ounce will be produced in about 20 seconds or so from the time the pump is switched on (I recommend testing with a graduated shot glass so as to leave the guessing aside). If you’ve filled up a demitasse in that time then the coffee is under-extracted and thin. 25 seconds is fine too, but at some point you will have extracted all the good stuff the coffee has to offer and are now pumping out over-extracted flavorless coffee. The appearance of a lighter spot in the crema indicates that you’ve extracted all the goodness and began to extract badness. It’s best to take less of good espresso than more of an inferior shot.
3. The crema (foam layer) should ideally be caramel in color with darker flecks of cinnamon color. The crema should be thick. Note: This Holy Grail of espresso extraction is rare to achieve using pods. It requires expensive equipment, training, and experience to produce this perfect espresso. In my experience, the best that most pods can do is a lighter tan colored homogeneous crema.

While it is possible to get insufficient volume during an extraction, it is much more common to get under-extracted coffee – that is, the water flowed through too quickly resulting in a thin, watery, flavorless espresso. This can be caused by the following:

1. Water seeping around the pod
2. Water jetting through the pod
3. System temperature not stabilized.
4. System temperature too high or too low.
5. Pump pressure too high.
6. Poor quality pod

Let’s look at these in detail.

Water seeping around the pod

Many expensive machines designed for traditional ground coffee have this problem. You can purchase special pod filter baskets which will help, but it appears that even with the use of these special filter baskets, water can be forced around the pod. I am working on an accessory to prevent this.

Water jetting through the pod

This is why you need to dry the strainer screen and filter basket prior to inserting the pod. The water is under high pressure -- any discontinuities in the coffee will create a path of least resistance, allowing the high pressure water to flow through a localized area. The water will flow out too quickly though that small area and most of the coffee in the pod will be bypassed. The resulting extraction will be weak and bitter. If you are getting full 1 ounce shots way too soon (much less under 20 seconds) then this could be the problem.

System temperature not stabilized

This is common and can be dealt with by following the above instructions. The idea is that all the parts of the machine that come in contact with the water and brewed coffee should pretty much be the same temperature. A poor quality machine will not be able to achieve proper temperature stability. There’s only so much you can do with a poor quality machine. Good machines are necessarily expensive.

System temperature too high or too low

This is actually different from temperature stabililzation. You could have a machine in which all the metal components are the same temperature, but the temperature is wrong. If the temperature has gone too high, the water will flow too quickly through the pod (or ground coffee) resulting in weak, under-extracted coffee in too little time. If you are getting full 1 ounce shots way too soon (much less under 20 seconds) then this could be the problem.

I've seen machines that make the first couple of espressos nicely, but with continued use the coffee begins to flow too quickly and tastes bad. The machine has gone through an ideal temperature range and has now become too hot. Fortunatly, this is usually fixed by simply replacing the temperature sensor.

Pump pressure too high

I think this is also a problem, even on expensive machines. See if you can get your machine adjusted by the factory service. It should produce 9 bars (atmospheres) of pressure for proper extraction. It would appear that many, perhaps most, produce too much pressure.

Poor quality pod

Espresso in pods must be ground and tamped properly. A poorly constructed pod will allow water to pass through too quickly. All of the pods sold by PodMerchant are of high quality, so this should not be the problem if you are using pods purchased from us.

Portafilter tightness

When using ground coffee, you just close the portafilter until it seems snug. There is space between the coffee and the strainer screen in the group head. But how this works when using pods can be different.

If you have a machine specifically designed for pods (such as the machines from Francis Francis! or Espressione) presumably there should be no problem. The portafilter and group head clamp together holding the pod securely and preventing water from flowing around the pod.

Traditional machines are different. Usually the portafilter/filterbasket positions the pod up against the strainer screen of the group head. Thus when you close the portafilter, the pod will be squeezed as you move the handle to the right. Tightening the portafilter further will squeeze the pod more. How much to tighten the handle? That’s a very good question. I’d say snug but not too tight. You’ll have to experiment. And once you've found the right amount, be consistant each time you tighten it.

Please also see our Espresso Brewing FAQ for more information.