Production technology of Italian espresso

I. Italian espresso (CAFFE ESPRESSO)

In Italy, espresso has at least two meanings: one is fast, and the other is old, probably from the age of enlightenment, referring to something specially prepared for you, which is a custom to please people. So, Caffe Espresso (Italian espresso) is a cup of coffee that is specially and quickly made for you.

The production of espresso is a delicate technique, which is widely misunderstood outside Italy, and the Italians do not explain it. The correct use of espresso machines and grinders represents four centuries of mankind's top achievement in exploring the extraction of aroma components from roasted coffee.

One of the reasons for the lack of standards for espresso production is that the technology is too new. The complexity of coffee is comparable to that of alcohol, but the tradition and practice of alcohol has a history of thousands of years.

By contrast, the espresso tradition is like a gourmet baby. In the early design, the Italian coffee maker used steam to generate pressure. The direct use of steam pressure means that the water temperature of the coffee is too high, which destroys most of the aromatic oil in the coffee, and occasionally the coffee machine explodes. Espresso really appeared on the world stage in 1947, when the Italian company Gaggia used spring pistons to produce hot water with pressure to make coffee.

The production of espresso is at the peak of all coffee-making methods, which can maximize the aroma of coffee, leaving excess acid, caffeine, etc., which are done by pressurization. However, outside Italy, there has never been a standard to examine this approach. The whole world knows how to buy these wonderful machines, but they know nothing about their potential. If you do it very carefully, espresso tastes as good as coffee powder smells, maybe even better. The best state is honey-like consistency, combined with unusual aroma and texture. But this pursuit is difficult to master.

As the singer sings, elegant people travel all over the world, looking for their true love, the purest and finest rare things in the world. Well, let's add an item to it. You search the world for a good cup of espresso. Maybe you are old when you find it, maybe this cup of coffee is the last song of your life, but you have been blessed by the god of luck, you are the happiest person in the world.

II. The form of espresso

Espresso is a science, but science can't tell you what coffee should taste like.

We often say that the production of espresso is an art similar to music. In a perfect small espresso (Espresso Ristretto), a great deal of aroma blends with the texture of the coffee. The finest aroma components are locked in the coffee fragrant oil, which only takes a while to taste immediately, and then leave some memory in the sweet, long aftertaste.

The whole purpose of the introduction is to make a cup of coffee: it is characterized by a deep reddish-brown syrup called Crema; this layer of oil characterizes the strong aroma of coffee without bitterness; and the ideal espresso smells like freshly ground coffee, with a velvet-like texture on the tongue.

Many people prefer the tradition of coffee roasting and blending in northern Italy. In this style, the coffee beans are roasted to a dark brown, but there is no oil on the surface of the freshly roasted coffee beans, which is the most caramelized and avoids the nutty taste overshadowing the natural sweetness.

The purpose of blending is to obtain a balanced and comprehensive fragrance. A single variety of coffee usually has some defects, which need to be offset or compensated by other varieties of coffee. Sweet, with a variety of fragrances and a sweet aftertaste, it can be called a good match. The aroma of coffee should be balanced, a certain ingredient can not dominate the taste of the whole cup of coffee.

After deeper roasting, the coffee beans are dark brown and slightly greasy, which can be seen in southern Italy and as far north as Naples, and you can feel more "roasting aroma" in the cup when tasting the coffee. This is an important distinction.

Coffee, which is called French baking in the United States, has a greasy, almost black surface. Espresso made from these deeply roasted beans has a smoky taste, and the roasted taste overwhelms the fine and sweet inherent in the coffee. This degree of roasting is more bitter than ordinary espresso. The traditional methods in northern Italy strike a perfect balance between the taste of baking and a variety of aromas. Unlike the tradition of fine wine, it takes two artistic creations to get a delicious cup of espresso. In the vineyard, the brewing and bottling of wine is mainly done by winemakers, and the masters are proud to create delicacies. As long as it is properly stored, when you open the bottle and present the wine, it will have a satisfactory taste.

The coffee is roasted, ground and packaged, and the rest is entirely up to the person who makes it. It is more difficult to make espresso consistently than to bake coffee. Similarly, as a producer, you are completely subject to the quality standards of coffee roasting and blending. A world-class espresso mix can easily be destroyed by an untrained producer, and the best bartender cannot go beyond the limits of the coffee he uses.

Third, many factors that affect a perfect cup of coffee

To take you into the world of espresso. On the basis of affecting the quality of coffee, we divide the production process into several elements to facilitate the organization of a large number of materials, not to say that these elements are independent of each other or can be defined separately.

For example, there are many small factors that affect the pump pressure, we just assume that they are normal, the valve seal in the machine is in good condition, and the outlet head seal ring is soft and tough, ensuring good sealing performance. We also assume that the pump is working properly, and so on. In reality, everything changes at different times. Therefore, do not fix your knowledge on these elements of our division. You can reorganize the elements to establish your own espresso making process. Different factors intersect and influence each other. There are thousands of possibilities for making mistakes, and only one combination can get the best results. To get a good espresso, you have to think about not only one factor, but also all the factors and how they relate.