Enter your dose and yield below and see right away if your shot is under, balanced, or over extracted.
Your brew ratio is simply your yield divided by your dose. A 1:2 ratio means for every gram of coffee in, you're pulling two grams of espresso out. It's a starting point, not a fixed law, and it shifts a bit depending on the roast.
Espresso dose is simply how much dry, ground coffee you put in the portafilter before you brew. It's the "in" half of your ratio, and it's largely set by your basket size, not something you change from shot to shot.
Most people pick a dose that fills their basket properly, then leave it alone. Once it's set, grind size becomes the variable you actually adjust shot to shot.
Espresso yield is the weight of liquid espresso that ends up in your cup, the "out" half of the ratio. It's measured by weighing the cup on a scale, not by eyeballing the line on the glass.
Yield is also the easiest thing to fine-tune on the fly. If your ratio and taste are close but not quite there, nudging the yield a couple of grams up or down is often enough.
The ratio tells you what happened. It doesn't tell you how to fix it on its own, that's where grind size comes in.
A standard espresso ratio is 1:2, meaning 18g of coffee in and 36g of espresso out. Light roasts often taste better closer to 1:2.5, while dark roasts can shine at 1:1.5 to 1:2.
Ratio only tells you how much liquid you pulled relative to your dose, not how fast it flowed. Two shots can share the same 1:2 ratio and taste completely different depending on grind size and time. Ratio is a diagnostic, not the whole picture.
Keep your dose constant and treat grind size as your main lever. Use yield to fine-tune once the grind is close, rather than changing dose shot to shot.
Yes. Light roasts are denser and often taste better with a longer ratio, around 1:2.5 or higher. Dark roasts extract faster and can taste better with a shorter ratio, around 1:1.5 to 1:2.
It depends on your portafilter basket. A single basket usually holds 14 to 16g, a double holds 18 to 20g, and wider VST-style baskets can take 20g or more. Once you pick a dose that fits your basket, it's best to leave it constant and adjust grind size instead.
Yield is the weight of liquid espresso in your cup. A standard yield sits around a 1:2 ratio, so about 36g from an 18g dose. Shorter yields around 1:1 to 1:1.5 make a ristretto, and longer yields past 1:2.5 make a lungo.
Dialshots tracks your shots and tells you exactly what to adjust after each espresso.
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