Archive for November 5th, 2009
Three Factors That Go into Great Espresso
Espresso is a drink that’s enjoyed in many parts of the Western world – from sidewalk cafes in Rome to trendy. Lately, the delicious beverage is becoming a fixture of average American kitchens as well. Although brewing the perfect cup of espresso is more an art than a science, in today’s blog we’ll attempt to boil it down to three essential parts – those parts being pressure, temperature and timing.
You might note that all three of those factors can be controlled with utmost precision, but that’s without accounting for numerous other variables – the quality of the coffee beans, the consistency of the grind, etc. When brewing espresso, the espresso machine should be heating water to between 190 and 195 degrees. By the time the drink reaches your cup, it may have cooled off by as much as 30 degrees.
Pressure mostly has to do with the tamping process, which we detailed earlier this week. Thirty pounds of pressure is a good rule of thumb, and learning to apply a consistent amount of pressure to the coffee will improve your odds of brewing a dependably tasty cup of coffee. Timing is the factor that should be most indicative of your success when making espresso. Bear in mind that a single shot should be made with 7 grams of coffee, yielding 1.5 ounces of espresso in roughly 25 seconds. Any significant derivation from those figures will spell trouble.