Espresso is a form of coffee preparation . It owes its term to obtaining this drink through an espresso machine . It is characterized by its rapid preparation at high pressure and a more concentrated flavor and texture.
What I need:
- 7-12g of freshly ground coffee (specialty coffee), depending on the size of the portafilter
- espresso maker using purified water
- good mill
- tamper (coffee compressor)
- 1 cup between 50 and 70 ml
How we will prepare it:
1. The Coffee
Choose a good specialty coffee, whole beans, that is high quality and fresh; The closer the roasting date, the better. The ideal would be not to use coffee roasted for more than 3 weeks as the coffee begins to lose its aroma. The freshness of the coffee is of supreme importance.
2. Grinding
Grind between 7 and 12 grams of coffee in a good grinder, a good ground coffee for espresso should take between 25-30 seconds to extract. If it is ground too coarsely then the water will pass through it too quickly, thus obtaining a low-extraction coffee with an acidic flavor, not sweet, salty and without an aftertaste. On the contrary, if it is ground too fine it will become compacted and water can hardly pass through, giving rise to an over-extracted coffee that is bitter, dry, astringent, empty. A good espresso coffee, ground correctly, should be neither acidic nor bitter, it should be sweet, transparent, clean, with complex acidity and a long aftertaste.
Once the coffee is ground, use the tamper to compress the coffee so that it remains homogeneous in the cup, the maximum pressure you should exert is 196 Newtons.
3. The Coffee Maker
With the coffee maker preheated to about 89-93ºC and always using purified water. Place the coffee in the portafilter and if you have followed all the other steps you will need between 5 and 8 seconds for the first reluctant drops of coffee cream to appear with a hazelnut color and a texture like honey, and 25 to 30 seconds for get the perfect espresso.
You should see a hazelnut-colored cream, called thick cream or thick foam, appearing on the surface, garnishing your coffee. When you move it and cut it with the spoon, it closes itself again.
Savor this moment with your perfect espresso, enjoy its intense aroma with notes of chocolate, fruit, flowers and sweet, depending on the origin of the coffee chosen.
We can prepare different types of espresso coffee. The most common are:
- Simple espresso , simple or alone : it is the extraction of 30ml of drink from 7g of ground coffee, with water at 88-93°C, 9 bar of pressure and in a time of 25sec.
- Double Espresso – This is, as stated, double the amount of espresso. It arises from the extraction of coffee from approximately 14g of ground coffee, in a time between 20 and 30 seconds, obtaining 60 ml of drink.
- Short espresso coffee, ristretto : obtained from 7g of ground coffee in a time between 15 and 20 seconds, giving an extraction of 15ml. Because less water passes through the same amount of coffee, a more concentrated drink is obtained. According to Italians it is described as " poco ma buono " (little but good).
- Long espresso: it is an espresso in which approx. 7g of coffee and 40ml of water are passed through, extracting it in a time between 30 and 40 seconds. It is an espresso diluted with a little more water (not to be confused with American coffee) .