This tool helps home baristas dial in espresso shots faster by analyzing shot metrics and suggesting adjustments.

Dialing in espresso can feel mysterious: a gram more here, a second less there, and suddenly the shot tastes completely different. Dial In My Shot is designed to make that process more transparent by turning your experience in the cup into clear, guided adjustments you can apply to your next pull. Instead of guessing, you log what happened and let the tool point you toward the most likely change.

The app starts with three core metrics: dose, yield, and time. Dose is how much ground coffee you put into the portafilter. Yield is how much liquid espresso ends up in the cup. Time is how long the shot ran from the first drip to the final drop. From those numbers, Dial In My Shot calculates a brew ratio and general shot style. A ratio near 1:2 in around 25-30 seconds is a classic starting point for a balanced modern espresso.

After you record the metrics, you describe what you actually tasted. You can log how sweet or bitter the shot felt, whether it seemed hollow or heavy, and which flavor notes stood out. These impressions are just as important as the numbers.

A fast, sour shot with a very light body often points to under-extraction: water rushed through the puck and did not pull enough sweetness or complexity. A slow, harsh shot with dry, ashy bitterness usually suggests over-extraction: the water spent too long in contact with the grounds and pulled the rough edges along with the good stuff.

Dial In My Shot connects those sensory notes back to practical adjustments. If your shot tastes sharp and thin, the tool will nudge you toward a finer grind, a longer shot time, or a slightly higher dose so you extract more from the coffee. If it tastes heavy, flat, or aggressively bitter, it will push you toward a coarser grind, a lower ratio, or a shorter shot time. When sweetness shows up clearly and bitterness feels integrated rather than spiky, you know you are close to an ideal extraction for that coffee and machine.

The goal of the tool is not to replace your palate but to support it. By pairing your notes with the underlying metrics, Dial In My Shot builds a repeatable workflow you can use every time you change beans, adjust your grinder, or tweak your machine. Over time, you learn how each variable behaves on your setup, so the path from "this tastes off" to "this tastes incredible" becomes shorter and more intuitive.

Dial-In My Shot is a free espresso troubleshooting tool created by The Home Barista's Quill, your go-to resource for espresso tips, brewing guides, gear reviews, and coffee culture. Join passionate home baristas mastering the craft, one perfect shot at a time.

Whether you're dialing in your first espresso or refining your technique with years of experience, The Home Barista's Quill shares weekly espresso technique deep dives, bean explorations, and practical brewing advice to help you pull better shots at home.

Explore more espresso resources:

• Read the latest espresso brewing guides
• Subscribe to the newsletter for weekly home barista tips
• Listen to The Home Barista's Quill Podcast

Questions or feedback about this tool? Contact Jim at jim@thehomebaristasquill.com.