What is espresso? Three categories of espresso espresso: Ristretto Normale Lungo

When it comes to espresso, your first reaction may be a strong, bitter, heavy-flavoured coffee liquid. For baristas, adjusting the extraction of espresso can be said to be the most critical step of the day, because all kinds of popular espresso can't do without a small cup of espresso. Today, in front of the street, we will talk about what espresso is and the differences between all kinds of espresso.

What is espresso?

Espresso (Espresso) refers to coffee beans after fine grinding and proper use of powder, the use of semi-automatic or automatic coffee machine, the use of high temperature, high pressure, extracted in a short time. According to the definition of espresso, an espresso needs to meet several conditions: adequate pressure, water temperature, appropriate amount of powder, fine grinding and short-time extraction.

Make espresso different from other ways of making coffee (hand-brewed, cold extract, etc.), is the surface of the golden dense foam, this is Crema. Because the coffee beans are filled with gas after fresh roasting, the coffee is soaked in hot water at high temperature during the extraction process and is subjected to high pressure. In the case of hot expansion and cold contraction, the gas will be squeezed out of the surface of the cell wall, and the coffee extracted by hot water also contains some greasy substances, which can allow the coffee liquid to emulsify and cover its gas with the squeezed gas. to produce dense bubbles. Crema is made up of vegetable oils, proteins, sugars and some aromatic substances, so the freshly extracted espresso is fragrant.

Several types of espresso

According to the golden cup theory concept put forward by the European Fine Coffee Association, after water comes into contact with coffee powder, coffee releases about 30% of the soluble substance, and the remaining 70% of the macromolecular wood structure cannot be dissolved. Among them, there are only 2 / 3 substances with good flavor in 30%, so we need to adjust several key parameters to control the extraction rate at about 20%. According to the extraction method, espresso Espresso can be divided into three types: Ristretto (short extraction), Normale (normal) and Lungo (long extraction), all of which are quickly extracted by an Italian coffee machine.

Ristretto usually refers to espresso, also known as essence espresso. Compared with the common Espresso,Ristretto, the Flat White Australian White Coffee we often see is made on the basis of Ristretto. Ristretto means "limit". We can understand that by "limiting" the amount of coffee extracted, only the pre-interruption of espresso is taken, thus increasing the concentration of coffee.

For example, Qianjie extraction Espressso program is 20 grams of coffee powder extract 40 grams of coffee liquid, the powder-to-liquid ratio is 1:2, the time is 30 seconds. The extraction of Ristretto is only 70% of the Espresso, that is, 20 grams of coffee powder extract 28 grams of coffee liquid, of course, the time will be shortened accordingly. In addition, you can also adjust the grinding degree of the coffee to slow down the flow rate and make the concentration of the coffee liquid higher. Because each coffee shop will make different adjustments according to the coffee beans used, and the baristas want to present a specific flavor and taste.

Normale is the most common and popular espresso, it is actually the usual sense of Espresso, at present, most of the market is mainly produced Normale, but will not put too much emphasis. According to the gold cup standard, the extraction rate of Normale is between 18% and 22%, and the concentration range is 8% and 12%.

Lungo is coffee made with twice as much water as normal. "lungo" means "long, expand" in Italian and is also known as "elongated concentration", which means to extend the extraction time, thus reducing the concentration of coffee and making it softer to drink.

After many adjustments and tasting in Qianjie, the final extraction scheme is to control the ratio of powder to liquid of Lungo at 1:5. That is, using 20 grams of coffee powder, the extraction time is extended to 42 seconds, and 100 grams of coffee liquid is extracted.

Attention should be paid to the extraction of espresso

The golden Crema floats on top of the coffee liquid, which is the result of the distribution of carbon dioxide and various gases in fresh coffee beans in the water under high pressure. It is impossible to extract Espresso with perfect oil from coffee beans that have been stored for too long (more than 2 months), so Qianjie recommends freshly roasted coffee beans and proper cultivation. Coffee beans shipped in front of the street will be confirmed to be freshly roasted within 5 days, so that they are still fresh when they are received. Coffee beans need a period of exhaust after roasting, because most Italian coffee beans are roasted in medium and deep depth, such as sunflowers used in Qianjie stores to match coffee beans, which takes 7 to 10 days to emit carbon dioxide. Using cultivated coffee beans to make espresso is not only full of aroma, but also more stable in extraction.

There are thousands of parameters for extracting a good espresso. Qianjie believes that it mainly controls several key factors: the amount of coffee powder, grinding thickness, temperature, extraction time, extraction liquid weight. For example, when we drink espresso with a weak flavor, we need to improve the extraction rate by increasing the amount of powder, adjusting the degree of grinding, and increasing the water temperature; on the contrary, if the strong and bitter taste of espresso is too strong, the extraction rate should be reduced. it is necessary to reduce the amount of powder, adjust the degree of grinding or water temperature. No matter how it is adjusted, the ultimate goal is to extract a full-scented espresso.

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