Espresso is a deeply flavored beverage made with core roasted and ground coffee. The word ‘espresso’ originates from Italy and dates back to around 1900. It describes a coffee that was prepared ”quickly for you”. Today in Italy, “caffè” means you order espresso coffee. The National Institute of Italian Espresso was even founded to preserve this great heritage

The brew rate or % brew of the espresso is the heart of the recipe! How do you manage the flow, consistency, and pressure of the coffee to obtain an ideal infusion rate? This famous % is the relationship that is played out between the quantity of coffee and the mass of the drink obtained infused. To understand this percentage, one must also understand what the brew/infusion ratio is.

Espresso is the illest -understood coffee. At first glance, it seems to be the simplest of drinks, but there is a neglected level of complexity to do it well. Thus, while everyone around the world competes to create complex art, mastering a perfect espresso is much less. However, it constitutes the basis of all the other cafes, so making good espresso is what you should focus on first.

What is “good” depends on where you are, your financial means, and if you do it at home or in a coffee shop. To make a good espresso at home, it may take a different approach or objective to make a good espresso in a cafe. What defines an espresso is the way it is brewed, the grind, the extraction, the milling, and the quality of the water. It is even before we have covered the litigious subject of which the “best” grains are.

Why make Espresso at home?

No one makes espresso coffee at home unless you like coffee. Making a real espresso requires an espresso machine and perhaps a separate mill. Thus, the costs are already added beyond the point where you can justify the savings about the daily purchase of a cup in your local cafe. Its cream (foam located above the coffee) is hazelnut in color with a very dark brown tendency, which coats the 25 ml cup.

The texture is particularly thick, the drops of cream are very small and there are no air bubbles or white spots. The cream does not dissipate, not allowing a glimpse of the coffee underneath, it must maintain itself.

The cup diffuses an intense fragrance with notes of flowers, fruits, toast, and chocolate.

Its body is aromatic, dense, full, soft, and fragrant.

All these sensations are felt in the mouth for a long time after swallowing the coffee, its aroma is long-lasting. Acidity and bitterness are well balanced. There is no, or barely perceptible, astringent taste (sensation of dryness in the mouth).

How to make Espresso.

We could sum up the espresso to a few figures which will serve as basic criteria in all cases.

It is necessary to pass about 40 ml of water at a temperature between 85 and 90°C with a pressure of at least 10 bar through 7 to 8 g of very finely ground coffee packed with a pressure of 20 kg. The extraction time is 25-30 seconds, the cup is preheated to 50°C, and the espresso coffee at 65°C with a beautiful golden-brown cream at least 2 mm thick to be enjoyed within 2 minutes!