Espresso & Drink Prep: the full procedure
Pull a dialed-in shot and build drinks to standard recipes so every cup is consistent.
- Applies to: Baristas.
- Frequency: Every drink.
- Scope: Covers espresso extraction and standard drink builds. Set your own recipes; the SOP holds everyone to them.
What you need
- Scale + timer
- Tamper + distribution tool
- Recipe card
The procedure, step by step
- Dose and prep the puck — Dose to recipe (e.g. ~18–21 g), distribute evenly, and tamp level.
- Pull to the recipe — Extract to your target yield and time (a 1:2 ratio over ~25–30 s is a common baseline). Weigh and time, don’t eyeball.
- Taste and dial in — Taste through the day and adjust grind by one variable at a time: sour/fast = grind finer; bitter/slow = grind coarser.
- Build to the standard recipe — Build each drink to its standard (shot count, milk volume, ratio) — espresso, americano, latte, cappuccino — so a drink is the same whoever makes it.
- Quality the cup — Check the shot/crema and the build before it goes out; remake anything off.
Quality check before you finish
- Dosed to recipe; distributed + tamped level.
- Pulled to target yield + time (weighed/timed).
- Dialed in by taste, one variable at a time.
- Drinks built to standard recipes.
- Cup checked before hand-off.
This is a free, source-anchored standard operating procedure (SOP) you can print and hand to staff. It documents the work sequence for a Coffee Shop business — not safety or regulatory rulings, which defer to the cited authorities, the applicable code, and your own health-and-safety plan. Open the tool above to print it, toggle ink-saver, or (with a free ToolFluency Business account) edit it to match your own workflow.
Sources
- Perfect Daily Grind — A Guide to Dialling In Espresso (perfectdailygrind.com)
- Breville — How to Dial In Espresso (breville.com)
- Specialty Coffee Association — Coffee Standards (sca.coffee)
About Free Espresso & Drink Prep SOP
Free printable espresso SOP: dose, grind, tamp, and extract to a dialed-in shot, plus standard drink builds (espresso, americano, latte, cappuccino) for consistency.
How to use
- Read the full procedure top to bottom before the work — the SOP runs in order and each step builds on the last.
- Toggle Ink-saver (black & white) for a cheaper mono print for the binder; leave it off for the full-color version.
- Click Print SOP to print or save as PDF. Print one per crew, laminate it for the binder, or attach it to the job in your scheduling system.
- Train new hires on it and have staff sign off. Found something out of date? Use the feedback link — flagged SOPs are re-researched against the source list.
Frequently asked questions
How do you dial in espresso?
Set your recipe (dose in, yield out, target time), pull a shot, then taste and adjust the grind: too fast/sour = grind finer; too slow/bitter = grind coarser. Re-check through the day as beans and humidity change. The SOP makes this a repeatable routine, not guesswork.
Why standardize drink builds?
Standard builds (shot count, milk volume, ratio for each drink) mean a latte tastes the same whoever makes it and whichever location. It also speeds training and keeps cost/portion consistent. Set your own recipes; the SOP holds everyone to them.
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