Espresso Dial-In Troubleshooting Card

Sour? Bitter? Both at once? Fix it in one page.

A printable troubleshooting card for home espresso. Pin it by the machine and stop guessing which way to move the grinder.

The card tells you what a shot tastes like, what that actually means, and what to change — one variable at a time, so every shot teaches you something.

WHAT YOU GET

• 6-page PDF, instant download
• Both A4 and US Letter (two files, same content)
• THE CARD — a single page designed to be printed and pinned up
• The taste-to-fix table: sour, bitter, both, watery, ashy
• A full decision tree including choking and gushing shots
• Puck prep: WDT, levelling and tamping, and why level beats hard
• Temperature by roast level
• A dial-in log sheet, so you can find your way back to a shot that worked

THE ONE THING MOST GUIDES GET WRONG

Sour AND bitter at the same time is not "in between". It is channelling — and grinding finer to chase the sourness makes it worse. This card sends you to puck prep instead, and explains why.

WHO IT IS FOR

Anyone with a home machine and a grinder they can adjust. Beginners who want a starting point that works, and anyone who has been fiddling for weeks without the shot converging.

HONEST ABOUT WHAT IS YOURS

Grinder click counts are meaningless between machines, and this card says so rather than pretending otherwise. It teaches you the method and gives you a log sheet to find your own numbers.

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

No physical item is shipped. Files are available immediately after purchase. For personal use — print as many copies as you like for yourself.