Espresso coffee is a precise art
form of coffee making. There are several factors that must take
place to make a quality cup of Espresso. First the fresh
roasting of the coffee bean to bring out the truly gourmet
coffee flavor that you expect. The grinding is the next
procedure that must be done right in order to give you 20-25
seconds of extraction time. Espresso brewing requires the ground
beans to be very fine in order to reach that perfect state for
brewing. The next important step is the proper temperature of
the filtered water that must be passed through the coffee at the
specific pressure and timing that is critical to your espresso
coffee. The perfect espresso is
created when:
Recipe directions: 1 ½ oz (45 ml) filtered
water at the temperature of 195 oF (90oC) passes through ¼ - 1/3
oz (7-9 g) finely ground quality Espresso coffee. This water is
forced through the fine coffee grounds by the espresso machine
at 900 kilopascals atmospheric pressure (around 132 pounds/60kg
per sq in/2.5cm2), with the water being in direct contact with
the coffee for approximately 25 seconds.
What should your espresso taste like?
When you are ready to take a drink from your
espresso cup, it should leave a pleasant not bitter aftertaste.
The flavor should linger for about 10 minutes rolling into an
almost nutty flavor.
The crown on your cup of Espresso
The topping on the espresso is know as "Crema",
which is the floating dark golden cream free of any white or
light brown patches. That is the crown of the perfect espresso
coffee. The Crema is formed when the emulsified oils from the
coffee are released (because of the high pressure that is put on
the ground coffee beans) and mixed with the oxygen in the air.
The resulting finish is perfect crema that floats on top of the
espresso coffee. |