Espresso coffee was actually invented in France, before being perfected in Italy, and is today enjoyed around the world, making espresso coffee a truly universal beverage.

Espresso coffee is a particular style of coffee drink and not a specific type of coffee bean.Espresso coffee is made from very finely ground coffee beans, which is tightly packed, and through which hot water is forced at pressure, to extract maximum flavour. The result is a rich, dark and extremely flavourful concentrated black coffee. On average, a single espresso coffee is usually a 7g dose of finely ground coffee, which should take 20 seconds to make a 30ml shot of espresso. The perfect espresso should then result in a fabulous shot of dark coffee which is topped off by a beautiful, 3-4 mm head of thick golden foam known as "Crema ", which is a product of the coffee's natural oils and the source of its rich flavour and aroma. The ideal espresso should be served in cups that are dry and warm, possibly narrow in order to concentrate the espresso's aromas and crema.

Why The Coffee Grind is Critical

The ideal grind will result in a slow, steady flow of espresso coffee. As with most coffee, the best time to grind your coffee beans is immediately before brewing. If the grind is too coarse, the coffee will gush out and the espresso will be weak and under extracted. Too fine a grind and the espresso will drip out, one bitter drip at a time. The correct dose nearly fills your filter insert/basket with the freshly ground fine coffee, with a consistency between flour and sugar, and leaving a small gap for the grounds of coffee to expand as they become saturated.For lower pressure units, an extra fine grind with some granularity will work, you can even use an inexpensive coffee bean grinder to achieve this texture. High-pressure commercial coffee machines require a finer, more powdery grind, which can be obtained from a commercial grinder. The Portion of Ground Coffee Required. A single shot of espresso coffee requires roughly 1-1.5 table spoons or 7 grams of ground coffee. Be aware to not overfill your filter insert, always leaving a small gap to let the coffee expand.

What Is Coffee Tamping?

Tamping is the gentle packing down of the finely ground coffee into the coffee filter prior to brewing. This ensures that the water will flow evenly through the coffee grounds, producing a complete extraction of all the coffee flavour. The Extraction. A shot of espresso should ideally take 20 seconds for a 30ml of liquid coffee and should flow as freely as honey from a spoon. Should your extraction times be any shorter or longer, you may wish to check your coffee grind.A double shot of ground coffee should result in a double espresso of 60 ml. The pump pressure of the traditional cappuccino espresso machine should be at 9 atmospheres, and the water temperature between 84 and 93 C.

The Truth and Misconceptions about Espresso

The first misconception about espresso coffee is that it should be bitter and burnt tasting. Actually, a perfect espresso shot should be aromatic, bitter sweet and assertive, with a lingering aftertaste.The second myth is that drinking an espresso will keep you awake all night. However, despite an espresso having a strong flavour, it actually contains less caffeine than a regular coffee. Typically 60-80 mg of caffeine per shot of espresso as compared to 80-100mg per cup of regular coffee due to espresso's shorter extraction time.Finally, most people think it takes a lot of time and effort to prepare a shot of espresso, but as the name implies, it is easy and very quick to make a perfect espresso coffee.

Coffee Perfection! - DC Team x