ℹ️ troubleshooting tips

• working with your espresso maker - the biggest learning curve for me when making my favorite coffee shop drinks at home was dialing in my espresso machine. After years of using a moka pot and nespresso-style machines, we upgraded to a fancy Breville machine. Thankfully, YouTube helped me learn how to understand things like grind size and brew time! 🤓 Start with a medium grind first, then go from there. Most beginner mistakes come from grinding the espresso too finely at first.
• bitter coffee - if your coffee is bitter, there could be several contributing factors, like the coffee being too fine of a grind or the water flowing through too quickly. Try adding in a few drops of a homemade saline solution to help create a more mellow flavor with less acidity. This solution is my secret weapon for balancing flavor in drinks and helping to offset flavor imbalances-- just 3-5 drops can help immensely!
• too watery - make sure to fill your cup TO THE TOP with ice BEFORE you add the water + espresso. That way, your drink stays cold without melting too quickly. When you have too little ice, the hot/warm espresso can melt it too fast and leave you with a watery chilled coffee, not an ICED coffee!
• fresh ice - I know, it sounds crazy to harp on ice like this, but trust me, it really IS that serious! If your freezer is stocked with leftovers and has a...scent...to it, those smells get into your ice. And if your ice has a scent, it has a flavor. And if your ice has a flavor, your drink will too. This is why I have dedicated freezer space for ice that's also kept in a container away from lingering odors!