Posts Tagged ‘espresso machines’
Secrets to Perfect Espresso: Time and Ingredients
As we’ve said before in this blog, it doesn’t matter if you invest in state-of-the-art Solis espresso machines and have all of your settings perfect if your are using subpar ingredients. Since water and coffee are the only two ingredients in espresso, it’s imperative that they are both of the utmost quality. Once you’ve found some premium beans and some crisp, clean water, use these guidelines for the actual brewing process:
~Use 7 grams of coffee and 1-1.5 oz of water for a single shot (double these quantities for a double)
~The brewing time should be 20-25 seconds, regardless if you’re making a single or a double
~After 20-25 seconds, your espresso should be about the same volume as the water put in. If this isn’t the case, you’ll need to adjust one of the variables
If you’ve read this blog with any regularity, you know that Arabica beans are the gold standard of the coffee industry. But there are myriad other factors that affect the quality of the beans you put in your coffee maker, and many of them pertain to geography. The ideal is a tropical climate with rich soil at a high altitude, and even slight changes in precipitation, altitude or soil nutrients can vastly affect the final product.
Over the next few days, we will be highlighting some of the premier coffee growing locales around the globe. We’ll overview the different flavors associated with various regions and tell you what are the preferred blends. Tomorrow we’ll start off close to home with beans from North America and the Caribbean Islands.
From June through August I have a personal rule: No hot coffee. A couple of summers ago I tried to drink hot coffee during the summer, and it was a disaster. Since I drink about five cups a day, I was constantly sweating from the intense heat of the coffee. I probably should have realized the iced coffee solution immediately, but it took me the entire summer. Here’s one of my favorite iced coffee recipes for beating the heat:
~Brew some espresso in your espresso coffee maker and cool one shot.
~Mix the shot of espresso with 2-3 tsp. cocoa, ½ tbs. vanilla extract (the good stuff) and 1-cup of milk.
~Pour in a tall glass with ice. You can create a delicious coffee smoothie by simply putting the drink in a blender for a few seconds.
Now that we’ve covered the beans, it’s time to move on to the roasting process. If you don’t have a newfangled roasting machine to use in conjunction with your coffee makers, you can roast your beans in a simple convection oven. Simply lay the beans out on a baking sheet, preheat the oven to about 500 oF and roast for 15-20 minutes. There aren’t any steadfast rules when it comes to roasting coffee; as I said yesterday, the roast is largely a matter of personal preference. But you still need to know 
so you know when to stop. Here are some of the easiest indicators:
~Color: Once you create beans you like, burn that image into your mind and try to replicate it in subsequent roasts.
~Smell: As the beans become done, the smell will morph from green veggies to rich coffee.
~Sound: The beans will begin to snap and pop as the water is forced out as steam.
~Time: If you use the same roasting method each time, the duration of the roast will be your most reliable metric.
If you go to Starbucks or Tully’s for your daily dose of java, you may assume there’s one standard way to brew a cup of coffee, which certainly isn’t the case. When you go shopping for a coffee maker, you’ll be faced with several different brewing options, each of which has its own distinct features. Here’s a quick overview of some of the most popular:
~Drip Machines: When people think of coffee makers, they typically are thinking of drip machines. These machines work by forcing heated water through a filter with coffee grounds, creating a quick, economical cup of coffee.
~Pod Coffee Makers: This machine is essentially a drip/espresso hybrid, combining quality with fast-paced brewing.
~French Press: Made for the coffee purist, a French press is the most traditional means of brewing coffee still in practice. You’ll have to heat the unit on the stove and use a manual plunger to strain the coffee, but the extra labor is definitely worth it.
For most coffee connoisseurs, an espresso coffee maker and electric coffee grinder are indispensible kitchen accessories and I’m no different. In my house, there is constantly a pot of coffee brewing. Before I even wake up in the morning, the first pot of coffee is being brewed, so all I have to do is roll out of bed. But during the summertime, the last thing I want to do is drink a piping hot cup of coffee when the temperatures in the 90s.
To that end, during the summer I add one extra accessory to my repertoire of coffee countertop accessories: a blender. Since going without coffee simply isn’t an option, instead I create an assortment of blended drinks to satiate my caffeine cravings. And while I certainly enjoy a standard espresso, blended coffee drinks are in a league of their own. I love to experiment with different flavor profiles to see what I can create—from nuts and chocolate, to mint and vanilla.
If you’re a coffee addict like me, going without your daily caffeine fix is out of the question. During the summertime however, few people want to sip a piping hot beverage when the temperature outside is skyrocketing. Buying an iced coffee beverage from a local coffeehouse is certainly an option, but that gets pricey pretty quick—not to mention the fact that those frozen goodies are laden with saturated fats, sugar and artificial sweeteners. Here is a quick-and-easy iced espresso latte recipe that I borrowed from the Mayo Clinic. It tastes amazing and won’t ruin your beach body.’
Start by brewing two cups of espresso in your Solis espresso machine. Pour the espresso into a pitcher and add 2 Tbsp. of brown sugar, 1 ½ cups of fat free milk and 2 Tbsp. of sugar free syrup (the recipe calls for almond, but I like hazelnut. And, of course, you can experiment on your own). Add some ice and chill until cold. You can serve yours however you like; I top mine with some fat free whipped cream.