Italian espresso production steps the standard method of espresso operation process adjustment teaching

Although we rarely take the initiative to drink Italian concentrate in our daily life, we can't make all kinds of popular drinks, such as American, latte and cappuccino, without a cup of qualified Italian concentrate as the base. So this article will tell you how to extract espresso in front of the street.

What are the characteristics of an espresso machine?

Espresso (Espresso) is a percolation method using precision metal filter. Compared with manual trickling extraction, the biggest difference is pressurization. The high pressure in the espresso machine penetrates the coffee pressed powder, that is, even though the coffee powder itself is extremely fine, it can still ensure moderate percolation and balanced extraction. The finer the coffee powder is, its surface area increases exponentially, so one of the advantages of ultra-fine powder is that the extraction speed is very fast. Not only faster, but also of better quality. High pressure can squeeze water into the inner cell wall of coffee powder, allowing it to release rich oils and aromatic flavor substances.

When we brew coffee in any way, the purpose is to release the positive flavor substances from the coffee through water, so as to get a delicious coffee liquid. Coffee beans are made up of a variety of substances, 30% of which are soluble in water, such as fruit acid, caffeine, oils, carbohydrates and so on. Among them, only about 20% of the aromatic small molecules with positive taste will be released first, while the remaining large molecules with woody and bitter taste will take longer to extract. So the barista's job is to adjust the corresponding parameters to extract more high-quality ingredients from the coffee.

Espresso symbolizes coffee with a complex and condensed flavor, and no other brewing method can show such mellow thickness and texture. If you want to get a good cup of coffee, excellent extraction is essential, and the aromatic compounds and taste compounds of the coffee in the cup are balanced. To put it simply, it is sour, sweet and bitter that are all comfortable, so you need to judge the state of espresso by tasting and decide how to adjust to make a qualified concentrate.

In operation, there are many factors that affect the concentrated flavor from a coffee bean to a cup, including grinding degree, boiler pressure of coffee machine, water temperature, filling strength of cloth powder, powder quantity, extraction time, extraction liquid weight and so on. Usually, the pressure and water temperature of the coffee machine will be set and will not be changed easily. Cloth powder and filling strength will be controlled according to the habits of baristas. The four major factors used to adjust the extraction in daily life are powder quantity, time, liquid weight, and grinding degree. As the saying goes, "A skilful wife cannot cook a meal without rice". If the food is delicious, the raw materials must be selected, so the quality of coffee beans is very important.

What kind of coffee beans are used in Italian concentrate?

Due to the fine grinding, high water temperature and high pressure extraction of espresso, espresso converges a variety of flavors, and various flavor compounds hit our tongues exponentially. Therefore, if we use lightly roasted single coffee beans for extraction, the taste may be too strong to mask the aroma of the coffee. As a kind of crop, coffee will change with climate and soil, even if it comes out of the same place, the flavor of each batch of coffee beans will be different, and the blending of coffee beans uses a way of learning from each other. to ensure that each coffee bean can show a balanced and stable aroma and taste.

Qianjie recommends the self-baked "sunflower warm sun mixed coffee beans" in Qianjie, which is made of Ethiopian sun red cherry coffee beans (30%) and Honduran sherry barrel coffee beans (70%). The entrance of Italian espresso is the flavor of sherry, vanilla and cream, with tropical fruits and fermented red cherries, making the coffee in the cup rich and soft. The aroma emitted after swallowing is memorable. Both American coffee diluted with water and latte with milk are rich in aroma and taste.

A freshly made espresso is covered with a thick, dense golden foam called crema. This is the result of bubbling of carbon dioxide produced by freshly roasted coffee beans under high pressure in the coffee machine. In order for everyone to drink the full aroma of coffee and enjoy the most complete taste stage, Qianjie only delivers freshly roasted coffee beans within 5 days.

The steps of making espresso

The daily espresso produced by Qianjie stores uses "sunflower warm sun blending". Before opening the door every day, Qianjie baristas debug the extraction parameters of Italian concentration before officially starting to produce.

The front street uses the capacity of a double powder bowl, which is about 18 to 20 grams, and 20 grams of coffee powder is used when it is produced in front street. In front of the street, the extraction ratio is 1:2, that is, 20 grams of coffee powder, and 40 grams of coffee liquid is extracted. The time is related to the flow rate of coffee powder. generally, the duration of a single extraction is controlled at 20 to 35 seconds, because the coffee is easy to taste thin within 20 seconds, while it is easy to be extracted for more than 35 seconds, and the concentration in front street is mostly in the range of 28 to 30 seconds.

Before extraction, you need to dry the powder bowl, turn on the bean grinder, grind out the amount of double coffee powder, and place it on an electronic scale to increase or decrease the weight of 20 grams. Then use the cloth powder machine to smooth the coffee powder, press the powder down vertically, and fill the coffee pressed powder tightly to ensure that the coffee extraction is more stable.

Then turn on the extraction switch and wet the head for 1 / 2 seconds, while taking away the coffee grounds stuck on it. Place an electronic scale under the cup connected to Espresso, return the weight to 0, and place it under the boiling head during extraction.

Gently buckle the handle to the boiling head and start pulling down the extraction switch. Observe the change of the extract, when the electronic scale shows that the coffee extract is 40 grams, the time is about 30 seconds, pull the extraction switch. The brewing parameters will change subtly according to the daily air humidity and the state of coffee beans, so it is necessary to adjust the amount of coffee powder, scale and the amount of coffee liquid extraction.

The extracted Espresso can be drunk directly and gargled with a glass of water to taste the dense grease foam and the mellow taste of the underlying coffee liquid. If you can't accept the strong bitterness, you can also add water and milk according to your preference to dilute and soften the strong taste.

Suggestion on parameter adjustment of Italian concentration

When we brew coffee daily, the extraction adjustment of coffee needs to be combined with experience, especially when we make it at home, the cup output is small, and small changes in various factors can easily affect the final concentrated taste. Qianjie suggests that you can record more parameters in order to summarize and adjust. For example, Qianjie stores have to be debugged before business every day, and various parameters are also within the preset range, so there is no need to make substantial adjustments. But by directly tasting the flavor of espresso, judging the extraction state, and then fine-tuning the above parameters.

If the same extraction ratio, espresso appears bitter and other negative flavor, but the concentration is moderate, it may be too long to extract the bitter taste. The general solution is to thicken the degree of grinding. When the taste of espresso is light and the concentration is low, the insufficient extraction may be caused by too fast flow rate or too little powder, so the extraction concentration can be increased by adding powder or fine grinding. The above parameters are constantly changing with the extraction state, we need to pay more attention to the adjustment direction brought by the extraction variables in order to better get the high quality flavor of the coffee in the pinch cup.

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