How to make a good cup of espresso (2)

Then we discuss another concept: "do not use a single coffee dish (single filter)", "a single serving is easy to" over-extract "!"

I think: "single coffee dish" is not unusable, but has a different usage! If there is data, it is suggested that you put away the "single coffee dish", do not use it, and throw it away. Wait, in fact, they are all well-intentioned, just want to save you "try and make mistakes" time. Because, if you only use "double coffee dish (double filter)", you will save half your energy and half your time, although you will waste twice as much coffee powder during the test phase, but who cares! And the "double coffee dish" is indeed easier to control.

When I make a cup of coffee, I usually use a "single coffee dish" with a pressure of about 8 to 9 grams, and the surface of the coffee reaches the upper edge of the safety line. When the extraction does not exceed 30 centimeters, the "single serving" does not seem to directly lead to "excessive extraction" due to lack of powder. Usually, "packing" is not solid enough will be the main reason.

"double" is easier to have solid filling and pressing, because its chassis area is relatively large, and the inside of the container does not have a "waist" like the "single coffee dish", so filling and pressing "double coffee dish" is indeed less likely to make mistakes.

But the cooking method of "single" and "double" must be different! Because if I use the same cooking method, I will drink it "differently", so I propose to discuss it from the cooking method. The difference lies in two key points:

Key one: "the amount of powder should be different." Some people will respond directly: "nonsense!" Why else would you call single and double? It means twice as much. In fact, it is not true that the amount of coffee powder in a "single" order must be half that of a "double": the amount of coffee powder in a "double" must be twice that of a "single". So is it more than twice or less than twice as much? My experience is: "not necessarily!" Maybe it's more, maybe it's less. "so how to adjust it"? I will reply: "do not have to rely on the amount of powder to adjust, there are other ways can also be adjusted." "

Key two: "pressure" is different! The pressure of cooking "single" should be different from that of "double" according to the "appearance" of "single coffee dish". However, the part about stress will be discussed later. In this part, the factor of "stress" will be excluded first.

You should remember the previous small experiments, our conclusion is: in the pressure, coffee powder … Under the premise that the factors are fixed, we try our best to keep the stability of the "damping factor", that is, the "porosity". However, we now extend the application to "single coffee dishes" and "double coffee dishes". As long as we repeat the previous experiment 1, it should not be difficult to find that if the method used in the "single coffee dish" is copied to the "double coffee dish", it is likely that the "Tf" will already be different. Usually "Tf" is getting smaller, that is, getting 30 kilos of coffee more quickly. The result is that the coffee doesn't get thicker, it just comes out faster. This supports the argument that "the porosity of a single coffee dish is not the same as that of a double coffee dish". What's the difference? You can experiment on your own to prove the difference.

When you see this, you must have questions: there are two sets of data for making a cup of coffee, one for "single coffee dish" and one for "double coffee dish", but it is so complicated to make a cup of coffee! So I said that the data told us to put away the "single coffee dish", not to use it, to throw it away. Wait, wait, If you really have the spirit of "breaking the sandpot and asking to the end", the following experiments can continue.

Experiment 2: caliber measurement of coffee dishes

Objective: to understand the difference between "single coffee dish" and "double coffee dish".

Step 1: take out the "double coffee dish", open up, and measure its diameter with a ruler, which is usually between 45 mm and 60 mm (my FAEMA data is 58 mm). And calculate its "area" (my FAEMA data is 29 ^ 2 × π = 841π), recorded as "A0".

Step 2: take out the "double coffee dish", the side of the hole facing up, with a ruler to measure the diameter of the hole part, each angle will be different, take its average. The data is usually between 35mm and 45mm (my figure is 43mm), and its "effective effluent coverage area" is calculated (my FAEMA data is 21.5 ^ 2 × π ≒ 462π), recorded as "Ad". Although the real "effluent area" will definitely not be this data, but we only need to "cover the area" (Note 4). Step 3: take out the "single coffee dish" and calculate the average in the same way. The figure is usually between 25 mm and 35 mm (my figure is 29 mm). The "effective effluent coverage area" (my data is 14.5 ^ 2 × π ≒ 210π) is also calculated and recorded as "As".

"A0" refers to the "stress area", that is, the area of "coffee cake" that receives pressurized hot water. "Ad" refers to the "effective effluent coverage area" of "double coffee dishes". "As" is a "single coffee dish". "A0" must be greater than "Ad" or "As".

Note 4: generally speaking, for machines produced by the same factory brand, "single coffee dishes" and "double coffee dishes" will have the same way of drilling, the same hole size, the same arrangement. The only difference is that there are holes in the chassis. So instead of calculating the real "hole area" (that is, the "effluent area"), we can directly replace it with the "covered area".

For my machine, "Ad" is not only twice as much as "As", it is 2.2 times. This data gives us an important message: if you only double the amount of powder, you only provide twice the "damping factor" to "plug" the 2.2-times-large hole, which does not seem to be enough! Therefore, my approach is to adjust the "grinding thickness" by half to one grid to make up for the 2.2 times of the "damping factor". Please note: my approach is not to directly increase the amount of powder by 2.2 times, although I have previously explained whether the amount of powder is 2 times, but that is because the concept of "damping factor" has not been established before.

Once I have made up the damping factor of 2.2x, I will also get a 30-inch cup of coffee in the same "Tf" time, but it is rather strong, so it can also be called Double! But it doesn't have to be delicious! (not "30" + "Tf" = "must be delicious"). So we start all over again: find a way to get a set of quantifiable data "how much time" and "how much", so that the unquantifiable "delicious" appears more often, and then slowly and finely adjust the "coffee powder" and "grinding thickness" … In the end, you will adjust the "damping factor" and "porosity" very well and stably, and at the same time, there will always be a "delicious" Double Espresso, which will always be appreciated by you and others, remember? This is the art of cooking Espresso.

Why not adjust the amount of coffee powder first? Because adjusting the amount of coffee powder will change the thickness of the coffee cake, that is to say, it may exceed the safety of the coffee dish. Why not increase the "filling pressure" first? Because you are not a machine, even if you jump on it, you may not have enough pressure. Moreover, the "packing pressure" had better always be stable, because you never know how much effort you have put into it. So it would be better to adjust the "grinding thickness" first. If your machine already uses twice as much powder as "Tf", then maybe your "Ad" happens to be twice as much as "As"! You might as well CHECK it. But none of the four machines I have are just right. The real purpose of the above two experiments is to help you understand: "Why do you use so much powder?", "Why do you grind it this way?" and "Why do you fill it in this way?"

I don't know if you have found out about these three "why?" I haven't explained how I did it from beginning to end! In fact, I don't have an answer at all! I have no answer at all to tell you! I have no way to give you a clear answer to save you time of "trial and error". I can't tell you: "A few grams of coffee powder is right!", "how fine the grinding should be!", "there are several movements in the filling and pressing action, the first move... , the second move... ".

Why don't I have an answer? There are only two reasons: 1. "I don't know what coffee beans you use?" 2. "I don't know what flavor you like?"

According to the analogy I mentioned earlier, the same "damping factor" and the same "porosity", I mean: for coffee cakes with the same "strength", you can have several "typical practices", and you can try them all. Try to see if there are any subtle changes in taste. For example, use a thickened half-grid of powder with a little more weight (slightly bending the index finger or other method), or thinning the half-grid (that is, your most commonly used scale) but using a full-smooth powder, or even thinning the half-grid with a smaller amount of powder (slightly bending the index finger or other methods). It is interesting to "fine-tune" with the "typical practice" you have established. However, you may have to rinse your mouth every time you try it, and you'd better do it two or three times and record it separately. It is best to finish these tests at the same time to avoid errors due to changes in temperature or humidity. Finally you will know: what flavor do you like!

But this is not once and for all, because coffee beans will change, freshness will change, temperature will change, humidity will change, and coffee machines will change. In the end, you will get into the habit of cooking a few cups as soon as you turn it on, in order to grasp the characteristics of today, and then …

What I want to explain is: "taste preferences, everyone is different." Let me cite an example that is easy to understand: Tainan snacks walk all over Taiwan, including rice cakes, meat dumplings, vegetable dumplings, fish crisp rice; Fish ball soup, milkfish porridge, shrimp rolls, shrimp soup; salty rice pudding, daddy; eel spaghetti, stir-fried twigs; earthen fish Geng, coffin plate, tripod file, Hanker's Noodle Soup, Taiwan Style. Everything is a classic of snacks and delicacies. Let's take eel spaghetti as an example. Suppose: you happen to go to Tainan to eat "eel spaghetti" and ask a passer-by casually on the road, "which eel spaghetti is the most famous and delicious?" probably, if you ask three people, the answer you get is three different eel spaghetti. Why is this? Because people in Tainan know the taste of "eel spaghetti" very well, and they all have their own best recommendations. If you really eat all three, maybe you can taste the characteristics of the three, maybe you think they are all the same, maybe you don't appreciate the word "eel". But old Tainan is amazing! Old Tainan's tongue is clearly aware of the differences between different families and why he recommended this one. He can really tell you why.

Espresso coffee? Let's not! The same sentence: Taiwanese do not grow up on lattes every day. Taiwanese are more familiar with the taste of "chicken essence"! Only when we often cook by ourselves, often drink what is cooked by others, and often drink what is cooked by different people, will we gradually realize "which is good" and "which is bad". "establishing your own evaluation criteria" is the starting point for appreciating coffee.

I often have this experience: occasionally accidentally "happen" to cook a very good cup of Espresso, moved, quickly recall how to cook, so I hurriedly grind powder, powder, handle, and boil, just drop the first drop, I thought to myself: "not good!" this "flow rate" seems to be different! Sure enough, this cup is just coffee water, not Espresso.

Why use exactly the same conditions twice (at least I try to make it the same), but two cups are 108000 li? I will do it for the third and fourth time.) Sometimes I encourage myself: "it's okay!" It's a good thing I can drink the difference! All right, Riga! "Oh! It sounds strange, but it's true. "look" is not quite the same, you have to let the tongue try, whether "drink" to get different, this is also a kind of "accumulated experience"!

A lot of data will tell you: "what kind of" flow rate "(Note 5) is normal," what kind of color is normal "," how big a cup is normal ". No, no, no. However, this is the experience of "them", not yours; it is the indicator used by "them" to assist in judgment, not yours; to put it more clearly: "they" think that delicious coffee will be like this, but I would like to advise you: "do not follow". Just refer to it. The experience of "them" is that they can save you the time of "global search" (Note 6) and allow you to do only "local search". However, I often think: "is it possible?" In fact, the answer you want is outside this "local"? "(this is a very picky idea, I do not know whether it is necessary to" murder "coffee powder in exchange for experience), but I would rather suggest a more painstaking" global search ". At least you will really understand:" Why don't people suggest doing this? "and" what is the result of this? "

I am sorry that I have to use metaphors such as "global search" and "local search", because I would like to advise you to establish your own "evaluation criteria". If you taste all the practices, including those suggested and not recommended, the "database" (what taste) created by your tongue should be quite complete. at the same time, your "index file" (how to cook it) should also be structured (because you have done it yourself). If you want to use it one day, there will be something for you to find. It's like the final exam of "OPEN BOOK". How can you find the answer if you don't bring a book? If you don't do an index, it will be slow, tired, leaking and leaking, and the answer is absolutely incomplete. You even think it's too late to copy. It will turn people to death, won't it?

Note 5: "flow rate" is a very scientific term, but the description of "flow rate is too fast" or "flow rate is too slow" is very unscientific. Kobe Cuomer's book uses the words "coda di topo" and "mouse tail". It should mean: pull down a thin black, and the traffic starts to increase in about ten seconds. But "rat tail" should be more "thick"? How nerve-racking! Note 6: "global search" and "local search" are two mathematical terms, especially the "simulation mode" or "optimization mode" of "homework research". "Global search" means to search for all possibilities to find a "global solution"; "local search" means to find all possibilities within a limited range to find a "local solution".

Some people will say, "drinking coffee is not drinking coffee!" Why are you working so hard? "that's right! Drinking coffee is just drinking coffee! This is a very healthy concept! I think so, too. I even put a pamphlet on every table in my cafe to promote what I call "a healthy coffee culture". Instead of talking about "how to make coffee" or "how to taste coffee". I really think "enjoy the coffee shop" is the first priority of drinking coffee. If you look at a coffee shop from the outside, it is not your type, even if its coffee is the first in the world. My favorite coffee shop is a coffee shop with the ability to think. The owner of the coffee shop gives the coffee shop the ability to think, and the customers in it enjoy it. The medium is coffee, the cafe is space, it's as simple as that. "Hot pot?!"Oh! Thank you! I don't think I'm hungry yet. When I eat hot pot, I don't think about anything else. I just think about one thing: "where are you going to eat ice later?" Lower your body temperature. Only when I drink coffee can I have the ability to think and have room for imagination. (the title of my series of discussions is: coffee can also be a gourmet "culture", so even if I don't discuss "technology" and discuss some "ideas", it should not be beside the point.)

But then again, as for a coffee lover who desperately wants to get a cup of coffee that he is satisfied with, I would answer like this: "because they have already spent more than 20,000 yuan on an Espresso coffee machine." "enjoying the coffee shop" will not be his first choice at this stage. Since he will spend more than NT $20,000, he must want to make his own taste, and he will certainly want to "squeeze out" the full potential of the coffee machine. Otherwise, you can just go to the coffee shop and drink coffee. There is also air-conditioning blowing and listening to music. Hey! In fact, thanks to these crazy coffee lovers, let's still have a position to discuss: how to make good coffee. These crazy coffee lovers (perhaps nicknamed them "coffee maniacs") are very cute, and the "pick-up and instructions" attached to the coffee machine alone will not satisfy him! The ordinary chain of Italian cafes can't satisfy him either! When he is making coffee, his eyes are always red and staring at the "mouse tail"; he wrinkles his nose hard and sniffs the fragrance first; his locked eyebrows are already telling others: I will not nod easily unless this cup of coffee can really pass me! If it is a thin Klima, he will not give it to you to drink; if the color is too yellow and not dark enough, he will not give it to you to drink; unless he really "looks" satisfied with that cup, he will not give it to you to drink. He is really a lovely "coffee maniac". In fact, he is equivalent to buying a "experimental instrument" worth more than 20,000 yuan to go home to do the experiment. I recall that when I first bought a KRUPS six or seven years ago, the original price was 4800 yuan. After a long time, I finally got a 20% discount and changed it to 3840. Without saying a word, I asked for 4000 yuan from the ATM and immediately moved one home. It was my classmate and my girlfriend (now my wife) who suffered. Of course! Milk is also "beat" a lot! Besides himself, thanks to my girlfriend's "dog", he won't think the milk is too thick.

Having written so much, I would like to emphasize once again: "there is no absolute standard for coffee!"

Its only criterion is: "your tongue!" If you say it tastes good, drink it. It is definitely not other people's praise or criticism. I often hold the idea that the "standard" of a good cup of coffee should be based on my tongue, not from books, not from the Internet, not from photos, not from others, not from a good business cafe, it's just that simple: you say yes is enough. It is subjective, it varies from person to person. No one is the "God of Coffee". He says good is good. If you don't follow suit, you are a layman. This state of mind is undoubtedly "the king's new clothes"! You don't have to go along with it if you can't feel it.

It's like "listening to the stereo." the owner of the audio store unplugs the "rectifier tube" of the vacuum tube expander. Please note that it is not an amplifying tube, not a signal tube, or just the most basic kind of diode, a diode used to "rectify" and supply electricity. He changed into another "brand" rectifier tube, all of the same model! He asked you, "Yes!" There is! There must be a change in the voice! Did you hear that? "are you going to say yes or no? You can say, "mm-hmm! Yes! "whether you hear the difference or not. You can also say, "No!" because you really can't tell the difference! The point of this example is: whether you recognize the sound change or not is not very important (in fact, there is! I admit)! I have my own "sound view". I want to "listen to music". I don't want to "listen to the stereo". A signal line (that is, the kind of line that transmits signals) if it costs 20,000 to 30,000 (this is not the most expensive), I would rather spend 20,000 to 30,000 to buy CD and listen to the music. I will not lose my own "sound view"!

I think it's the same for drinking coffee. The establishment of their own "evaluation criteria" will not "follow others" and will not "turn the helm in the face of the wind".

How to establish your own evaluation criteria? The same sentence: often cook by yourself, often drink from others, often drink from different people, often this will accumulate the judgment of the tongue on Espresso coffee, will gradually realize "which is good" and "which is bad".

I am often asked this question: "Why do you drink coffee?" It's so bitter, what's good to drink? "I describe it like this: you drink coffee because you like the" excitement "of" coffee ", so you try your best to get the" stimulation "you want.

If what I say is acceptable to everyone, then I will ask again: "drinking Espresso means that you need that kind of stimulation." Huh? If you obviously don't like it, or don't need this kind of "stimulation" at all, you don't have to drink Double, you don't have to drink Single, do you? You can also have fun from Cappucinno and enjoy delicious food from Americano. It's like a "spicy hot pot". How many people can eat "extra spicy" without diarrhea the next day? How many people have to be "hot all over the sky" to have fun? Didn't these people go to the Flame Challenge a long time ago? It's enough for most people to be "spicy", isn't it? As the Taiwanese saying goes, "if you don't have that kind of ass, don't take that kind of laxative." this is really the best comment!

Heh! This long piece of nonsense above is actually intended to bring out the second point we are going to discuss: "other additives".

Just like I cite the example of "spicy hot pot", it is not only eating "spicy hot pot" that can be regarded as eating "spicy hot pot". Isn't it the same to drink coffee? It is not only drinking Espresso, it is drinking coffee; it is not drinking Espresso, it is a master, it is an expert, and there is no so-called "high and low". Coffee is a kind of "irritation" in taste, and Espresso is just one of the grades. Drink it only when you need it, but only when you are used to it.

As I said at the beginning: few Taiwanese have to drink a few cups of Espresso every day in order to survive. Taiwanese are more acceptable to Cappucinno, Latte, Fa Bo, smoothie and floating ice. This is good, too! Fancy drinking is more interesting and acceptable to more people, which is very good! It's like "mixing wine", every kind of "base wine", whether it's "gin", "lime" or "vodka", drinking it alone will make you intuitively "pungent", except for the "tough guy" in the movie. few people drink the whole bottle. However, after adding soda and mixing fruit wine, it is a feast for the eyes, not to mention the change in the taste of "ugly duckling turning into swan".

He he! I will cite two examples of "spicy hot pot" and "mixed wine". In fact, I want to emphasize that "other additives" are also very important. It is "easy to control" and "influential". It can turn the "extra spicy" that is not acceptable to everyone into "medium spicy", "small spicy", or even half of the "mandarin duck pot". Good! Eating "mandarin duck pot" can also enjoy "hot pot", isn't it?

However, I must stress again: making Espresso well is the foundation of all Espresso coffee! Even if you don't drink Espresso directly, you still have to ask for the quality of Espresso first. Just like the bottom of the soup of "spicy hot pot", "small spicy" is diluted with water, but "extra hot" is not enough to add chili to the pot, is it?

I think there are at least the following "other additives": water, ice; milk, foamed milk, cream, cream, condensed milk; lemon (skin, silk, shavings), orange; sugar, wine, chocolate (sauce, powder), cinnamon. Wait, too much. These "additives" are often used for the sake of "taste". The purpose is nothing more than "ice", "lighter", "fragrance", "palatability". , or even "look good". These additives have no standard than coffee itself. Every cafe has "secret skills" and everyone has "tricks".

I have no unique skills to share with you in this part, but since I am surfing the Internet, we might as well discuss the title "other additives". Take a look at the "secret tricks" of the cafes you have been to? What are the "tricks" that everyone has hidden?